Ex Parte GROSS et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Oct 10, 2018

14471292 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 10, 2018)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO.
14/471,292
65363 7590
Todd A. VAUGHN
Jordan IP Law, LLC
FILING DATE
08/28/2014
10/12/2018
12501 Prosperity Drive, Suite 401
Silver Spring, MD 20904
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Jorg GROSS
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.
0541-1219 6024
EXAMINER
CASTRIOTTA, JENNIFER
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3733
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
10/12/2018 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):
tvaughn@jordaniplaw.com
admin2@jordaniplaw.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte JORG GROSS, BERND KAHLER, and MICHAEL SCHMID
Appeal2018-001409 1
Application 14/471,2922
Technology Center 3700
Before MURRIEL E. CRAWFORD, KENNETH G. SCHOPPER, and
MATTHEWS. MEYERS, Administrative Patent Judges.
SCHOPPER, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
This is an appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the rejection of claims
22-27 and 29-37. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We REVERSE.
1 Our decision references the Appeal Brief ("Appeal Br.," filed Aug. 14,
2017), the Reply Brief ("Reply Br.," filed Nov. 27, 2017), the Examiner's
Answer ("Ans.," mailed Sept. 27, 2017), and the Final Office Action ("Final
Act.," mailed Mar. 8, 2017).
2 According to Appellants, the real party in interest is "MAGNA STEYR
FUEL SYSTEMS GESMBH." Appeal Br. 3.
Appeal2018-001409
Application 14/471,292
BACKGROUND
According to Appellants, the disclosed "[ e ]mbodiments relate to a
vehicle tank having a container with a cohesive volume and at least two
baffle plates which extend perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the
container. The baffle plates, which are directly and tightly connected with
the walls of the container, collectively form a swirl pot." Spec. ,r 2.
CLAIMS
Claims 22, 27, and 33 are the independent claims on appeal. Claim 22
is illustrative of the appealed claims and recites:
22. A vehicle tank, comprising:
a container;
baffle plates which extend perpendicularly to a
longitudinal axis of the container and which are directly
connected to walls of the container to collectively form, with
the walls, a swirl pot;
a filler pipe on the container to permit filling of the
vehicle tank; and
a suction line structurally integrated with the filler pipe,
and which extends to the lowest point of the swirl pot to permit
evacuation of fuel from the swirl pot, wherein:
- above a predetermined height to the top of the
container, the entire surface of each baffle plate has
orifices formed as sieves to retain coarse contaminates
inside the swirl pot; and
- below the predetermined height the baffle plates
do not have orifices formed as sieves, and respectively
have a first valve and a second valve at a lowest point
thereof to allow an inflow of fuel into the swirl pot from
outer chambers of the container due to a detected
hydrostatic pressure difference between a corresponding
outer chamber and the swirl pot.
Appeal Br. 1 7.
2
Appeal2018-001409
Application 14/471,292
REJECTIONS
1. The Examiner rejects claims 22-25, 27, 29-31, and 33-36 under
35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as unpatentable over Ohlsson3 in view of Kleppner4
and Keefer. 5
2. The Examiner rejects claims 26, 32, and 37 under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as
unpatentable over Ohlsson in view of Kleppner, Keefer, and Hoopes. 6
DISCUSSION
In rejecting claim 22, the Examiner finds that Ohlsson discloses a
vehicle tank including a container 101 with baffle plates 104 and 105 that
include walls in which "above a predetermined height to the top of the
container, the entire surface of each baffle plate has orifices (110, 11, 112)
forming a sieve, and below the predetermined height, the baffle plates do not
have orifices formed as sieves." Final Act. 3. The Examiner also finds that
the "multiple orifices ( which allow finer particles and liquids) and some sort
of solid part connecting the orifices (which retains larger or 'coarse'
particles) combine to make up a sieve." Id. at 11 (citing Merriam-Webster).
The Examiner determines that "Ohlsson clearly shows a combination of
multiple orifices connected by a solid part which therefor makes it a sieve."
Id. The Examiner relies on the same findings in rejecting each of the other
independent claims on appeal. See id. at 5-6 ( claim 27); 7-8 ( claim 33).
As discussed below, we agree with Appellants that the Examiner erred
insofar as the rejection relies on a finding that Ohlsson discloses a baffle in
3 Ohlsson et al., US 2008/0035649 Al, pub. Feb. 14, 2008.
4 Kleppner et al., US 6,305,417 Bl, iss. Oct. 23, 2001.
5 Keefer et al., US 2013/0193150 Al, pub. Aug. 1, 2003.
6 Hoopes et al., US 1,924,741, iss. Aug. 29, 1933.
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Appeal2018-001409
Application 14/471,292
which above a predetermined height the entire surface of the baffle has
orifices formed as sieves, as required by each of the independent claims. See
Appeal Br. 7-11.
Ohlsson discloses a fuel tank 101 that is separated into sections by
partitioning walls 104 and 105, which separates the tank into chambers 107,
108, 109. Ohlsson ,r 20; Fig. 4. "The fuel chambers [107, 108, and 109] are
... in communication with each other via large holes 110--112 in the
partitioning walls," and these holes are "relatively large in order to freely
permit flow of fuel between the chambers on the condition that the fuel level
reaches up to each opening." Id. at ,r 20. The Examiner indicates that any
solid part connecting multiple orifices would combine to make up a sieve.
See Ans. 8. We disagree that the claims may reasonably be interpreted so
broadly. Rather, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand from the
plain language of the claim that the entire surface of the baffle above a
particular height includes orifices that act as sieves, i.e., orifices that act to
separate finer particles from coarser particles over the entire surface of the
baffle above a predetermined height. See Merriam-Webster.com,
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sieve (last visited Oct. 1,
2018). Thus, consistent with the Specification, the broadest reasonable
interpretation of the claim requires a baffle that includes orifices over the
entire surface of the baffle above a certain height that act to separate coarse
and fine particles. See, e.g. Spec. Fig. 1; ,r 21.
We agree with Appellants that the Examiner has not shown that
Ohlsson teaches baffles in which the entire surface above a certain point
includes orifices that act as sieves. As discussed, Ohlsson only expressly
discloses a surface including only three holes that are "relatively large."
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Appeal2018-001409
Application 14/471,292
One of ordinary skill in the art would neither consider these holes to be
"orifices formed as sieves" nor would they consider the three holes as
described and depicted in Ohlsson to cover "the entire surface" of the baffle
above a certain height, under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the
claim. We see no indication that the "relatively large" holes in Ohlsson
would act as sieves and the only depiction of such holes clearly shows that
they do not cover the entire surface of the baffle above a certain height. See
Ohlsson Fig. 6.
Based on the foregoing and because the Examiner does not rely on the
other art of record in a manner that cures the deficiency discussed above, we
are persuaded of reversible error in the rejection of each of the independent
claims, 22, 27, and 33. For the same reasons, we are also persuaded of error
in the rejections of dependent claims 23-26, 29-32, and 34--37.
Accordingly, we do not sustain any of the rejections before us.
CONCLUSION
We REVERSE the rejections of claims 22-27 and 29-37.
REVERSED
5