Ex Parte Arthur et al

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Aug 29, 2012

11475753 (B.P.A.I. Aug. 29, 2012)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARKOFFICE
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
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
11/475,753 06/27/2006 David A. Arthur GP-307392-GAPR-CHE 1027
65798 7590 08/30/2012
MILLER IP GROUP, PLC
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION
42690 WOODWARD AVENUE
SUITE 200
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI 48304
EXAMINER
MARTIN, ANGELA J
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1727
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
08/30/2012 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 BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
____________________

Ex parte DAVID A. ARTHUR, ABDULLAH B. ALP, and
JOSEPH MUSSRO
____________________

Appeal 2011-009278
Application 11/475,753
Technology Center 1700
____________________

Before RICHARD M. LEBOVITZ, JEFFREY B. ROBERTSON, and
RAE LYNN P. GUEST, Administrative Patent Judges.

ROBERTSON, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL

Appeal 2011-009278
Application 11/475,753

2
STATEMENT OF CASE
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from a rejection of claims 1-
20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We REVERSE.

THE INVENTION
Appellants state that the invention relates generally to a system and
method for controlling the current flow to end cell heaters in a split fuel cell
stack. (Spec. Para. [0001].)
Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject
matter:
1. A fuel cell system comprising:
a fuel cell stack including a first end cell and a second end
cell;
a first end cell heater positioned in the first end cell and a
second end cell heater positioned in the second end cell; and
a controller, said controller configured to provide a control
signal to the first and second end cell heaters so that the
temperature of the first and second end cells is maintained at a
temperature above the operating temperature of the fuel cell
stack.
(Appeal Brief, Claims Appendix1 17.)

THE REJECTIONS
I. The Examiner rejected claims 1 and 15 under
35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as anticipated by Kato et al. (US
2004/0053092 A1, published March 18, 2004). (Examiner’s
Answer, dated February 16, 2011, “Ans.” 3-4.)

1 Appeal Brief filed November 29, 2010, hereinafter “App. Br.” and Claims
App’x, respectively.
Appeal 2011-009278
Application 11/475,753

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II. The Examiner rejected claims 2-14 and 16-20 under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Kato. (Ans. 4-5.)

ISSUE
The dispositive issue on this appeal is:
Whether the Examiner erred in finding that Kato discloses end cell
heaters positioned in end cells as recited in the claims?

DISCUSSION
Regarding the end cell heaters recited in the claims, the Examiner
found that Kato teaches electrical heaters “embedded in” terminal plates in a
fuel cell stack. (Ans. 3, 5.)
Appellants contend that the terminal plates disclosed in Kato are not
end cells, but rather are structures located between an end plate and a fuel
cell. (App. Br. 10.) Thus, Appellants argue that Kato does not disclose end
cell heaters positioned in end cells as recited in the claims.
We agree with Appellants that Kato does not disclose end cell heaters
positioned in the end cells. One of ordinary skill in the art, in interpreting
the claims on appeal in light of the Specification, would have understood
that “end cell” as recited in the claims refers to a fuel cell located at the end
of a fuel cell stack. (Spec. [0008], [0010], [0016].)
Kato discloses that electrical heaters may be embedded in each of the
terminal plates. (Paras. [0018], [0048].) Kato distinguishes terminal plates
14, which are made of a metal having high conductivity (Para. [0045]), from
fuel cells 2, which include a membrane electrode assembly (Para. [0042]).
Indeed, Kato discloses that the terminal plates are placed at the ends of the
fuel cell stack and exterior to the outermost fuel cell units. (Paras. [0044],
Appeal 2011-009278
Application 11/475,753

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[0048]; Fig. 2.) The heaters are embedded in the terminal plates, but not in
the end cells of a fuel cell stack as required in the instant claims.
Accordingly, the Examiner has failed to establish that Kato anticipates
claims 1 and 15.
Regarding Rejection II, because the Examiner similarly relied on Kato
in order to reject the remaining claims, we reverse Rejection II for the
deficiencies discussed supra.

DECISION
We reverse the Examiner’s rejections.

REVERSED

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