Ex Parte HANKINS et alDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardJul 24, 201813943495 (P.T.A.B. Jul. 24, 2018) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR 13/943,495 07/16/2013 Jeff HANKINS 25534 7590 07/25/2018 CAHN & SAMUELS LLP 1100 17th STREET NW SUITE401 WASHINGTON, DC 20036 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www .uspto.gov ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 1501.0002 9613 EXAMINER WARD, THOMAS JOHN ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3742 MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE 07/25/2018 PAPER Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte JEFF HANKINS, CHRIS HAYDEN, and ERIC JURCZYSZAK1 Appeal2017-009610 Application 13/943,495 Technology Center 3700 Before STEVEN D.A. McCARTHY, JAMES P. CALVE, and MICHELLE R. OSINSKI, Administrative Patent Judges. CAL VE, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Final Office Action rejecting claims 1-10, 12, 14--16, 18, 19, and 22. Appeal Br. 2. Claims 13 and 17 are cancelled, and claims 11, 20, and 21 are withdrawn. Id. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We REVERSE. 1 EEMAX, Inc. is identified as the real party in interest and also is the applicant pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 1.46. Appeal Br. 2. Appeal2017-009610 Application 13/943,495 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER Claims 1 and 18 are independent. Claim 1 is reproduced below. 1. A heating unit comprising: a first manifold having at least one inlet; a second manifold connected to the first manifold and having at least one outlet; a third manifold; one or more heating systems each of which extends from the third manifold to the second manifold by passing through the first manifold, each of the one or more heating systems having an inner tube and an outer tube, wherein the inner tube is partially enclosed within the outer tube such that a gap extending along the length of the inner tube and the outer tube is formed therebetween; and a fluid flow path connecting the at least one inlet to the at least one outlet, the fluid flow path extending from the at least one inlet of the first manifold, through the gap formed between the inner tube and the outer tube, to the interior of the inner tube and to the at least one outlet of the second manifold. Appeal Br. 18 (Claims App'x). REJECTIONS Claims 1-3, 6, 8, 12, 14--16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as being unpatentable over Ellingwood (US 2011/0203781 Al, pub. Aug. 25, 2011), Fernandez (US 5,325,822, iss. July 5, 1994), and Castaneda (US 2003/0026603 Al, pub. Feb. 6, 2003). Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as unpatentable over Ellingwood, Fernandez, Castaneda, and Lonergan (US 1,718,970, iss. July 2, 1929). Claims 7, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as unpatentable over Ellingwood, Fernandez, Castaneda, and Sturm (US 7,046,922 B 1, iss. May 16, 2006). 2 Appeal2017-009610 Application 13/943,495 Claims 18 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Ellingwood, Fernandez, Castaneda, and Rogers (US 4,185,187, iss. Jan. 22, 1980). ANALYSIS Claims 1-3, 6, 8, 12, 14-16, and 19 Rejected Over Ellingwood, Fernandez, and Castaneda Regarding claim 1, the Examiner finds that Ellingwood discloses a heating system 10 with a first manifold (outer chamber 42 of upper header 16), a second manifold (inner chamber 46 of upper header 16), and a third manifold (as bottom header 18) with vertical burner 8 and tubes 12, 14 that extend from the third manifold (bottom header 18) to the second manifold (top header 16), but without "passing through the first manifold," as recited in claim 1. Final Act. 3. The Examiner finds that Fernandez discloses an electric tankless fluid heater module 8 with a first manifold (portion connected to pipe nipple 11 ), a second manifold (portion connected to elbow 20), and a third manifold as chambers 60, 70 that allows heating elements 40, 41 to pass through heating module 8 as shown in Figure 8. Id. The Examiner determines it would have been obvious to modify Ellingwood's vertical burner 10 with Fernandez's chambers 60, 70 to provide an efficient, uniform heater for water. Id. at 3--4. The Examiner relies on Castaneda to teach a fluid heating system with an inner tube ( central tube 108) enclosed by an outer tube ( outer cylindrical envelope 110) where central tube 108 and envelope 110 are separated by a gap (lamp module 118) as shown in Figure 1. Final Act. 4. The Examiner determines it would have been obvious to modify Ellingwood's tubes 12, 14 with Castaneda's central tube 108 to reduce operation and repair costs. Id. 3 Appeal2017-009610 Application 13/943,495 Appellants argue persuasively that Fernandez does not teach heating elements 40, 41 as extending from a third manifold to a second manifold by passing through a first manifold as claimed. Appeal Br. 6; Reply Br. 5. In particular, Appellants argue that heating elements 40, 41 of Fernandez do not pass through pipe nipple 11, which the Examiner considers to be the first manifold, and also do not extend from chambers 60, 70, which the Examiner considers a third manifold, to relief vent 21, which the Examiner considers a second manifold at elbow 20. Appeal Br. 6; Reply Br. 5. The claimed heating unit comprises first manifold 710 with inlet 714, second manifold 702 with outlet 708, and third manifold 716. One or more heating systems 50 extend from third manifold 716 at one end of heating unit 700, to second manifold at another end of heating unit 700 "by passing through the first manifold," which is positioned between second manifold 702 and third manifold 716. See Spec. ,r,r 47-50, Figs. 7, 8. In contrast to this claimed arrangement, Ellingwood and Fernandez both teach heating units with inlets and outlets located on the same manifold. Ellingwood positions inlet 40 and outlet 44 on upper header 16, which is at the top of heating unit 10. Ellingwood ,r,r 55, 56, Figs. 7-11. Heating tubes 12, 14 extend from bottom header 18 ( the third manifold) to upper header 16 as the Examiner correctly finds. However, as the Examiner also correctly finds, tubes 12, 14 do not extend from bottom header 18 to upper header 16 "by passing through the first manifold," which the Examiner identifies as outer chamber 42 of upper header 16. Tubes 12, 14 only extend to upper header 16. They do not pass through upper header 16 or its outer chamber 42. Instead, tubes 12, 14 extend from bottom header 18 to upper header 16, i.e., between bottom header 18 and upper header 16. See id. at Fig. 7. 4 Appeal2017-009610 Application 13/943,495 Fernandez does not remedy this deficiency in Ellingwood. Instead, Fernandez teaches heating unit 7 with a fluid inlet (port 62) and a fluid outlet (port 73) located at a bottom of heating unit 7. The Examiner considers this feature to be a first manifold. Final Act. 3; Ans. 11. Heating elements 40, 41 extend from this "first manifold" through chambers 60, 70, which the Examiner finds as either a third manifold (Final Act. 3) or second manifold (Ans. 11) to elbow 20 at a top of heater 7, which the Examiner considers the other manifold. See Final Act. 3; Ans. 11. In either case, heating elements 40, 41 do not pass through the "first manifold" at the bottom of heater 7 in order to extend from a manifold at the top of heater 7 to chambers 60, 70 in a middle of heater 7. Nor is it apparent how chambers 60, 70 can be a second manifold "having at least one outlet" as claimed when both inlet 62 and outlet 73 are located at the "first manifold" at the bottom of heater 7. The Examiner's finding that "teachings of Ellingwood and Fernandez ... put forth a first, second and third manifold [that] are described in detail to allow heating elements to pass through all three manifolds" (Ans. 11) does not establish that the references, individually or in combination, teach or suggest heating systems that extend from a third manifold to a second manifold (that includes an outlet) by passing through a first manifold (that includes an inlet) as claimed. Ellingwood and Fernandez position an inlet and an outlet on the same manifold. Neither reference teaches to position a first manifold with an inlet between an upper and lower manifold such that heating elements extending from the upper (second) manifold to the lower (third) manifold pass through a middle (first) manifold as claimed. Thus, we do not sustain the rejection of claims 1-3, 6, 8, 12, 14--16, and 19. 5 Appeal2017-009610 Application 13/943,495 Claims 4 and 5 Rejected Over Ellingwood, Fernandez, Castaneda, and Lonergan The Examiner's reliance on Lonergan to teach a trunnion as recited in claims 4 and 5 (Final Act. 6) does not cure the deficiencies of Ellingwood, Fernandez, and Castaneda as to claim 1, from which claims 4 and 5 depend. Thus, we do not sustain the rejection of claims 4 and 5. Claims 7, 9, and 10 Rejected Over Ellingwood, Fernandez, Castaneda, and Sturm The Examiner's reliance on Sturm to teach features recited in claims 7, 9, and 10 (Final Act. 7-8) does not cure the deficiencies of Ellingwood, Fernandez, and Castaneda as to claim 1, from which these claims depend. Thus, we do not sustain the rejection of claims 7, 9, and 10. Claims 18 and 22 Rejected Over Ellingwood, Fernandez, Castaneda, and Rogers Independent claim 18 recites a heating unit with the features recited in claim 1 and electrical resistive heating elements. The Examiner relies on Ellingwood and Fernandez to teach the first, second, and third manifolds with heating elements extending therebetween as for claim 1. Final Act. 8- 9. We agree with Appellants that Ellingwood and Fernandez do not teach these features for the reasons discussed above for the rejection of claim 1. Appeal Br. 14. Thus, we do not sustain the rejection of claims 18 and 22. DECISION Wereversetherejectionsofclaims 1-10, 12, 14--16, 18, 19,and22. REVERSED 6 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation