Appeal 2006-2637
Application 10/178,878
communication between said lower and upper chambers and the top plate is
mounted to a fuel cell stack and a reformer. See rejected independent
claims 1, 25, and 28.
In asserting that Mukerjee anticipates appealed claims 1-3, 6-9, and
12-31, the Examiner contends that:
Mukerjee et al. teaches that the manifold is an assembly
comprising a plurality of components including a bottom,
middle, and top plate as well as a lower partitioned element and
that said top plate has a means for mounting the stack and
reformer. Mukerjee et al. also teaches that the partitioned
elements are integral with the manifold (claim 1 and column 6,
lines 28 et seq.). Because of the open claim language and
broadness of the recited claim terms used in claims 12-16, the
Mukerjee et al. reference reads on the claims as so recited. The
examiner also notes that the orientation words used are relative
to a reference point, which has not been provided by applicants.
Therefore the specified parts according to the orientation words
can be situated practically anywhere within the apparatus.
Answer 4.
Appellants contend that:
… the Mukerjee reference does not anticipate all of the
limitations included in claims 1,25 and 28. Specifically, the
Examiner's interpretation that the housing (80) teaches a middle
plate, an upper partitioned element, and a lower partitioned
element is unsupported by the Murkerjee reference….
As best seen in FIG. 4 of the Murkerjee reference, the
housing (80) is merely a single partitioned element having a
plurality of chambers represented by passages (87, 91, 95, 99,
102) that extend between top and bottom plates (82, 84). The
housing (80) does not include a pattern of upper chambers
defined between the top plate (84) and a middle plate, and a
pattern of lower chambers defined between the bottom plate
(82) and a middle plate. Appellants submit that interpreting the
passages (87, 91, 95, 99, 102) as both the upper and lower
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