Ex Parte UckunDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardMar 3, 201612732545 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 3, 2016) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR 121732,545 03/26/2010 Serdar Uckun 35699 7590 03/07/2016 PVF--PARC c/o PARK, VAUGHAN, FLEMING & DOWLER LLP 2820 FIFTH STREET DAVIS, CA 95618-7759 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. PARC-20090861-US-NP 3355 EXAMINER MOONEYHAM, JANICE A ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3689 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 03/07/2016 ELECTRONIC 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. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address( es): sy _incoming@parklegal.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) NITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte SERDAR UCKUN Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 Technology Center 3600 Before HUBERT C. LORIN, ANTON W. PETTING, and BRADLEY B. BAY AT, Administrative Patent Judges. PETTING, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE1 Serdar Uckun (Appellant) seeks review under 35 U.S.C. § 134 of a final rejection of claims 1-18, the only claims pending in the application on appeal. We have jurisdiction over the appeal pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). The Appellant invented a way for "aggregating one or more participants in an electric power system in order to provide an energy service." Specification para. 2. 1 Our decision will make reference to the Appellant's Appeal Brief ("Br.," filed August 13, 2012) and the Examiner's Answer ("Ans.," mailed December 4, 2012), and Final Action ("Final Act.," mailed March 14, 2012). Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 An understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of exemplary claim 1, which is reproduced below (bracketed matter and some paragraphing added). 1. A method for aggregating an energy service from one or more participants, comprising: [l] sending, by an aggregator, a plurality of price points to a respective participant, wherein each price point indicates a price that corresponds to a particular range of phase angles between a voltage waveform and a current waveform; [2] receiving, at the aggregator, a price point selected by the participant, wherein the selected price point corresponds to a phase angle to which the participant agrees to adjust; [3] calculating, by a computing device, a purchase price to charge the participant based on the phase angle that the participant agrees to provide; and [ 4] aggregating from the one or more participants an energy service with reactive- power reduction. The Examiner relies upon the following prior art: Weiss US 2004/0167677 Al DiMartini US 2008/0177678 Al Aug. 26, 2004 Jul. 24, 2008 Anderson, E. J., and A. B. Philpott, "Using Supply Functions for Offering Generation Into an Electricity Market", Operations Research, Vol. 50, N0.3 (May- Jun., 2002), pp.477-489). 2 Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 Claims 2, 8, and 14 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, as failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention. 2 Claims 1, 2, 5-8, 11-14, 17, and 18 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over DiMartini and Weiss. Claims 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, and 16 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over DiMartini, Weiss, and Anderson. ISSUES The issue of obviousness turns primarily on whether the references describe or show predictable performing the second and third limitations based on a phase angle the participant agrees to provide. FACTS PERTINENT TO THE ISSUES The following enumerated Findings of Fact (FF) are believed to be supported by a preponderance of the evidence. Facts Related to the Prior Art DiMartini 01. DiMartini is directed to communicating between a utility and individual customer locations. DiMartini para. 1. 02.DiMartini describes providing each individual customer location with an advanced utility meter and using each such individual 2 The Examiner withdrew a similar rejection against claims 1, 7, and 13. Ans. 2. 3 Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 utility meter to communicate between the utility and the advanced utility meter, between the advanced utility meter and individual customers and between the advanced utility meter and equipment located at each individual customer location. The system comprises (a) individual input and output portals disposed at each individual customer location; (b) a data center aggregator for gathering data from each individual customer location and for retransmission to the utility, and for disseminating data and instructions from the utility to each customer location; ( c) a data management system for sorting data from the data center aggregator, for transmitting data to individual back office systems within the utility and for transmitting data and instructions from individual back office systems to each individual customer location; and ( d) means for communicating between the utility, the data center aggregator, the data management system and the input and output portals disposed at individual customer locations. DiMartini para. 2. 03.DiMartini supports customer awareness of their instantaneous kWhr electricity pricing and it can support the utilities in the achievement of its load reduction needs. DiMartini helps facilitate load reduction at the customer's site by communicating instantaneous kWhr pricing and voluntary load reduction program events to the customer and to various enabling devices at the customer's site. DiMartini para. 88. 04.DiMartini describes how, under normal operating conditions, the utility provides from two to twenty four hours notice to the 4 Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 customer that load reduction is required and will occur. In a system emergency only a few minutes notice is provided. DiMartini provides mechanisms to deliver the signal to the customer's equipment. DiMartini para. 97. 05. DiMartini' s customer notification system conveys critical pricing information associated with existing and anticipated new tariff offerings designed to reward customer response behavior. DiMartini notifies customers when they are approaching or are in critical pricing periods, giving them the opportunity to react accordingly. DiMartini para. 129. 06.DiMartini's network optimizing involves feeder loading, voltage profile, efficiency, reliability and quality. DiMartini's outputs include average voltage at customer site, voltage variations seen by the customer, power consumption by time interval, harmonics (voltage and/or current), power production by customer-supplied distributed generation, and customer power factor. DiMartini para. 179. 07.DiMartini's utility signals may consist of power factor modifications. DiMartini para. 193. 08.DiMartini's customer's distributed generation (DG) unit helps control real or reactive power imbalance on a distribution circuit. DiMartini para. 203. 09. DiMartini describes how load management for economic dispatch purposes is a process wherein customers have agreed to allow the utility to directly, modify or curtail energy use associated with 5 Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 Weiss equipment or systems beyond the customer meter for a specified price. DiMartini para. 203. 10. Weiss is directed to planning energy supply and, more particularly, to negotiating an energy supply specification with one or more energy suppliers for energy consumers. Weiss para. 2. 11. Weiss describes an energy coordinating body or bodies, such as energy management systems of an energy alliance, and energy suppliers connected therewith provided with an interface for the exchange of planning data and also with an algorithm for controlling power plant output and/or the selection of partial energy services, in order to provide a total energy supply service package. This algorithm works roughly like an "exchange" and negotiates energy supply and demand in a format that enables automated optimization starting from a mixture of local optimization (within each of the energy suppliers) and global optimization (within the alliance of energy management systems). Weiss para. 18. 12.Weiss describes how reactive power is created by inductive loads in power distribution networks. Reactive power loads generators and transmission equipment of the energy supplier, but does not do any real work. Parties might commit to a certain percentage limit of the power factor (i.e., the ratio of true power or watts to 6 Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 apparent power or volt amps) in terms of a minimum phase limit value (e.g., 0.9). For example, a low power factor is usually associated with motors and transformers. An incandescent bulb has a power factor of about 1.0, while a one HP motor has a power factor of about 0.80. Thus, the parties might negotiate a limit of reactive power in the energy supplied by the energy supplier to the energy consumer. Alternatively, the parties might employ a power factor price curve, plot or table of price versus various power factor values. Weiss para. 116. ANALYSIS We summarily affirm the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph as it is uncontested. As to the art rejections, we find first that as a matter of terminology in the electric power arts, the terms phase angle and power factor, at least in the context of the claims and disclosure, are essentially synonymous. They are two ways of expressing the same thing, namely the difference in phase between voltage and current in alternating current induced by reactive loads, such as inductors. The Examiner takes notice of this at Answer 9-10. This issue of terminology arises because the claims refer to phase angle whereas both references refer to the same thing as a power factor. Appellant does not appear to dispute that the references describe sending price points, receiving a selected price point, calculating a purchase price based on the agreed phase angle, and providing the energy service with reactive power reduction. The sole issue is whether the references describe 7 Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 or show predictable doing so based on a phase angle the participant agrees to provide. The only limitations that refer to the participant agreement are the second and third limitations. The first and fourth limitations are uncontested. As the Examiner found, DiMartini describes load management as a process of modifying the customer's equipment usage beyond the power meter, which is a process that alters the phase angle the customer provides. DiMartini describes doing so by sending signals to customer equipment. As no implementation is recited or narrowed, allowing the utility to direct this management is still within the scope of having the phase angle alteration provided by the customer's circuits, and so by the customer. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW The rejection of claims 2, 8, and 14 under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, as failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention is proper. The rejection of claims 1, 2, 5-8, 11-=14, 17, and 18 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over DiMartini and Weiss is proper. The rejection of claims 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, and 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over DiMartini, Weiss, and Anderson is proper. DECISION The rejection of claims 1-18 is affirmed. 8 Appeal2013-005334 Application 12/732,545 No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § l.136(a). See 37 C.F.R. § l.136(a)(l)(iv) (2011). AFFIRMED 9 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation