Tag: USPTO

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Analysis of New Rossi PCT filing based on US Patent 9,115,913 issued 25Aug15

On August 25, 2015 a US patent issued to Leonardo Corporation on an invention by Andrea Rossi. Discussion of this patent is available in previous postings on ColdFusionNow.org here:

• Analysis of Rossi US Patent 9,115,913 Issued 25Aug15 Part 1
• Analysis of Rossi US Patent 9,115,913 Issued 25aug15 Part 2

This US patent, US 9,115,913, was filed directly before the US Patent Office by Andrea Rossi on March 14, 2012 and thereafter assigned to Leonardo Corporation, both of Miami Beach, Florida. This filing was unusual in that it was not laid-open for public examination – “published” – as of 18 months from its earliest filing date, as is typical for virtually all countries around the world.

This publication procedure applies even for the United States in respect of the bulk of American applications. Instead, the applicant in this case took advantage of a special provision in US law that allows a request for non-publication to be made if supported by a certification that the invention disclosed in the application has not been and will not be the subject of an application filed in or destined for another country that provides for publication at eighteen months after filing.

The attorney for Rossi and Leonardo Corporation, knowing that this US application was going to issued patent in August, 2015, filed a statement before this occurred withdrawing the above certification and thereby freeing-up the possibility of filing patents for the same invention abroad. As a consequence, a PCT application was filed on July 28, 2015. That PCT application was published as part of the PCT filing procedure on February 4, 2016. A summary of key data from this application is as follows:

________________________________________

Pub. No.: WO/2016/018851
Application No.: PCT/US2015/042353
Publication Date: 04.02.2016
Filing Date: 28.07.2015

IPC: F24J 1/00 (2006.01)
F MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
24 HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
J PRODUCTION OR USE OF HEAT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
1 Apparatus or devices using heat produced by exothermal chemical reactions other than by combustion

Applicants: ROSSI, Andrea [US/US]; (US)
Inventors: ROSSI, Andrea; (US)
Agent: OCCHIUTI, Frank; (US)
Priority Data: 61/999,582 01.08.2014 US

Title (EN) FLUID HEATER
(FR) DISPOSITIF CHAUFFANT POUR FLUIDE

Abstract:
(EN)An apparatus for heating fluid includes a tank for holding fluid to be heated, and a fuel wafer in fluid communication with the fluid. The fuel wafer includes a fuel mixture including reagents and a catalyst, and an electrical resistor or other heat source in thermal communication with the fuel mixture and the catalyst.
https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2016018851

This is Rossi’s patent assault on the World. This is an extension of the US patent of August 25, 2015, and it is an upgraded rewrite. This document has the potential of producing patents in over 100 countries around the World. This includes further patents in the US.

Patents are relevant for two reasons:

• the “story” that they contain, and
• the potential monopoly that they may generate.

This published application is relevant for both.

Addressing the description of the drawings and instructions for building a working system, I have compared the disclosure in the US patent to the disclosure in the published PCT application. For convenience, I will reproduce that comparison now in its entirety. Square brackets indicate deletion. Black upright text represents the original text in the US patent and italics represents the changes added to that original text to produce the published PCT application.

Rossi US patent amended in italics to produce Published PCT Application of 6Feb16

FLUID HEATER

CROSS – REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of the August 1, 2014 priority date of U.S. Application No. 61/999,582, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
This disclosure relates to heat transfer systems, and in particular to devices for transferring heat to a fluid.

BACKGROUND
Many heat transfer systems use hot fluids as a heat transfer medium. Such systems include a heat generator for generating heat, a heat transfer medium in thermal communication with the energy source, and a pump to move the heated medium to wherever the heat is needed. Because of its high heat capacity and its abundance, a common heat transfer fluid is water, both in its liquid and gas phase.

A variety of heat generators are in common use. For instance, in nuclear power plants, nuclear fission provides energy for heating water. There also exist solar water heaters that use solar energy. However, most heat transfer sources rely on an exothermal chemical reaction, and in particular, on combustion of some fuel.

SUMMARY
In one aspect, the invention features an apparatus for heating fluid, the apparatus including a tank for holding fluid to be heated, and a fuel wafer in fluid communication with the fluid, the fuel wafer including a fuel mixture including reagents and a catalyst, and a heat source, [for example an electrical resistor], or ignition source in thermal communication with the fuel mixture and the catalyst.

The heat source or ignition source can be an electrical resistor, or a heat source that relies on either heat from combustion, such as combustion of natural gas, or a heat source that relies on inductive heating.

Among the embodiments are those in which the fuel mixture includes lithium and lithium aluminum hydride, those in which the catalyst includes a group 10 element, such as nickel in powdered form, or in any combination thereof.

In other embodiments, the catalyst in powdered form, has been treated to enhance its porosity. For example, the catalyst can be nickel powder that has been treated to enhance porosity thereof. [In those embodiments that include an electrical resistor, the].The apparatus can also include an electrical energy source, such as a voltage source and/or current source in electrical communication with the [resistor.] heat source.

Among the other embodiments are those in which the fuel wafer includes a multi-layer structure having a layer of the fuel mixture in thermal communication with a layer containing the electrical resistor. heat source.

In yet other embodiments, the fuel wafer includes a central heating insert and a pair of fuel inserts disposed on either side of the heating insert.

A variety of tanks can be used. For example, in some embodiments, the tank includes a recess for receiving the fuel wafer therein. Among these are embodiments in which the tank further includes a door for sealing the recess. In yet other embodiments the tank includes a radiation shield.

Also included among the embodiments are those that further include a controller in communication with the voltage source. Among these are controllers that are configured to [cause] vary the voltage in response to temperature of the fluid to be heated.

In another aspect, the invention features an apparatus for heating a fluid, the apparatus including means for containing the fluid, and means for holding a fuel mixture containing a catalyst and a reagent, and means for initiating a reaction sequence mediated by the catalyst to cause an exothermic reaction.

Another aspect of the invention is a composition of matter for generating heat, the composition including a mixture of porosity-enhanced nickel powder, lithium powder, and lithium aluminum powder, and a. A heat source in thermal communication with the mixture can be used for initiating a nickel catalyzed exothermic reaction.

Yet another aspect features a for generating heat. The composition includes a fuel mixture and a catalyst. The catalyst comprises a group 10 element.

Embodiments include those in which the catalyst comprises nickel. Among these are embodiments in which the nickel is in the form of nickel powder and those in which the nickel powder has been treated to enhance porosity thereof.

Another aspect of the invention is a method of heating a fluid, the method including placing a mixture of nickel powder, lithium powder, and lithium aluminum hydride in thermal communication with the fluid; and heating the mixture, thereby initiating an exothermic reaction in the mixture.

These and other features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying figures, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a heat transfer system having a heat source;

FIG. 2 is a cut-away view of the heat source in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the wafer for use in the heat source of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary resistor in the central layer of the wafer shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows the heat source of FIG. 1 operating with a conventional furnace.

FIG. 6 shows plural heat sources like that in FIG. 2 connected in series.

FIG. 7 shows plural heat sources like that in FIG. 2 connected in parallel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a heat transfer system 10 includes a pipe 12 for transporting a heated fluid in a closed loop between a heat source 14 and a thermal load 16. In most cases, for example where there is hydraulic resistance to be overcome, a pump 18 propels the heated fluid. However, in some cases, such as where the heated fluid is steam, the fluid’s own pressure is sufficient to propel the fluid. A typical thermal load 16 includes radiators such as those commonly used for heating interior spaces.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heat source 14 is a tank 20 having a lead composite shield, an inlet 22 and an outlet 24 , both of which are connected to the pipe 12 . The interior of the tank 20 contains fluid to be heated. In many cases, the fluid is water. However, other fluids can be used. In addition, the fluid need not be a liquid fluid but can also be a gas, such as air.

The tank 20 further includes a door 26 that leads to a receptacle 28 protruding into the tank 20 . Radiating fins 30 protrude from walls of the receptacle 28 into the tank 20 . To maximize heat transfer, the receptacle 28 and the fins 30 are typically made of a material having high thermal conductivity, such as metal. A suitable metal is one not subject to corrosion, such as stainless steel.

The receptacle 28 holds a multi-layer wafer 32 for generating heat. A voltage source 33 is connected to the wafer 32 , and a controller 35 for controlling the voltage source 33 in response to temperature of fluid in the tank 12 as sensed by a sensor 37.

As shown in FIG. 3, the multilayer fuel wafer 32 includes a heating section 34 sandwiched between two fuel sections 36 , 38 . The heating section 34 features a central layer 40 made of an insulating material, such as mica, that supports a resistor 42. It should be noted that other heating sources can be used, including heat sources that rely on combustion of, for example, natural gas, as well as heat sources that rely on electrical induction. The use of gas thus avoids the need to have a source of electrical energy for initiating the reaction.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary central layer 40 having holes 44 through which a resistive wire 42 has been wound. This resistive wire 42 is connected to the voltage source 33 . First and second insulating layers 46 , 48 , such as mica layers, encase the central layer 40 to provide electrical insulation from the adjacent fuel sections 36 , 38.

Each fuel section 36 , 38 features a pair of thermally conductive layers 50, 52, such as steel layers. Sandwiched between each pair of conductive layers 50, 52 is a fuel layer 54 that contains a fuel mixture having nickel, lithium, and lithium aluminum hydride [LiAlH.sub.4] LiAlH4 (“LAH”), all in powdered form. Preferably, the nickel has been treated to increase its porosity, for example by heating the nickel powder to for times and temperatures selected to superheat any water present in micro-cavities that are inherently in each particle of nickel powder. The resulting steam pressure causes explosions that create larger cavities, as well as additional smaller nickel particles.

The entire set of layers is welded together on all sides to form a sealed unit. The size of the wafer 32 is not important to its function. However, the wafer 32 is easier to handle if it is on the order of 1/3 inch thick and 12 inches on each side. The steel layers 50, 52 are typically 1 mm thick, and the mica layers 40, 48 , which are covered by a protective polymer coating, are on the order of 0.1 mm thick. However, other thicknesses can also be used.

In operation, a voltage is applied by the voltage source 33 to heat the resistor 42 . Heat from the resistor 42 is then transferred by conduction to the fuel layers 54 , where it initiates a sequence of reactions, the last of which is reversible. These reactions, which are catalyzed by the presence of the nickel powder, are: [<del datetime=”2016-05-14T22:30:44+00:00″>3LiAlH.sub.4.fwdarw.Li.sub.3AlH.sub.6+2Al+3H.sub.2 2Li.sub.3AlH.sub.6.fwdarw.6LiH+2Al+3H.sub.2 2LiH+2Al.fwdarw.2LiAl+H.sub.2]

3LiAlH4- Li3AlHs + 2A1 + 3H2
2Li3AlHs- 6LiH + 2A1 + 3H2
2LiH + 2A1 – 2LiAl + H2

Once the reaction sequence is initiated, the voltage source 33 can be turned off, as the reaction sequence is self-sustaining. However, the reaction rate may not be constant. Hence, it may be desirable to turn on the voltage source 33 at certain times to reinvigorate the reaction. To determine whether or not the voltage source 33 should be turned on, the temperature sensor 37 provides a signal to the controller 35 , which then determines whether or not to apply a voltage in response to the temperature signal. It has been found that after the reaction has generated approximately 6 kilowatt hours of energy, it is desirable to apply approximately 1 kilowatt hour of electrical energy to reinvigorate the reaction sequence.

Eventually, the efficiency of the wafer 32 will decrease to the point where it is uneconomical to continually reinvigorate the reaction sequence. At this point, the wafer 32 can simply be replaced. Typically, the wafer 32 will sustain approximately 180 days of continuous operation before replacement becomes desirable.

The powder in the fuel mixture consists largely of spherical particles having diameters in the nanometer to micrometer range, for example between 1 nanometer and 100 micrometers. Variations in the ratio of reactants and catalyst tend to govern reaction rate and are not critical. However, it has been found that a suitable mixture would include a starting mixture of 50% nickel, 20% lithium, and 30% LAH. Within this mixture, nickel acts as a catalyst for the reaction, and is not itself a reagent. While nickel is particularly useful because of its relative abundance, its function can also be carried out by other elements in column 10 of the periodic table, such as platinum or palladium.

FIGS. 5-7 show a variety of ways to connect the heat source 14 in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 5, the heat source 14 is placed downstream from a conventional furnace 56 . In this case, the controller 35 is optionally connected to control the conventional furnace. As a result, the conventional furnace 56 will remain off unless the output temperature of the heat source 14 falls below some threshold, at which point the furnace 56 will start. In this configuration, the conventional furnace 56 functions as a back-up unit.

In FIG. 6, first and second heat sources 58 , 60 like that described in FIGS. 1-4 are connected in series. This configuration provides a hotter output temperature than can be provided with only a single heat source 58 by itself. Additional heat sources can be added in series to further increase the temperature.

In FIG. 7, first and second heat sources 62 , 64 like that described in FIGS. 1-4 are connected in parallel. In this configuration, the output volume can be made greater than what could be provided by a single heat transfer unit by itself. Additional heat transfer units can be added in parallel to further increase volume.

In one embodiment, the reagents are placed in the reaction chamber at a pressure of 3-6 bar and a temperature of from 400 C to 600 C. An anode is placed at one side of the reactor and a cathode is placed at the other side of the reactor. This accelerates electrons between them to an extent sufficient to have very high energy, in excess of 100 KeV. Regulation of the electron energy can be carried out by regulating the electric field between the cathode and the anode.

Having described the invention, and a preferred embodiment thereof, what I claim as new and secured by letters patent is:

[Note: The following text is based on automatic Optical Character Recognition processes. Please use the PDF version for legal matters]

CLAIMS
1. An apparatus for heating fluid, said apparatus comprising a tank for holding fluid to be heated and a fuel wafer in fluid communication with sai fluid, said fuel wafer including a fuel mixture including reagents and a catalyst, and an ignition source in thermal communication with said fuel mixture and said catalyst, wherein the ignition source is selected from the group consisting of an induction heater, an electrical resistor, a heater that relies on natural gas combustion, and a heater that relies on combustion of fuel.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said ignition source comprises an electrical resistor.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said ignition source comprises an induction heater.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said ignition source obtains heat from combustion of natural gas.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fuel mixture comprises lithium and lithium aluminum hydride.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said catalyst comprises nickel powder.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said nickel powder has been treated to enhance porosity thereof.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said catalyst comprises a group 10 element.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a voltage source in electrical communication with said ignition source.
10. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a voltage source in electrical communication with said ignition source.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fuel wafer comprises a multi -layer structure having a layer of said fuel mixture in thermal communication with a layer containing said ignition source.
12. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said fuel wafer comprises a multi -layer structure having a layer of said fuel mixture in thermal communication with a layer containing said ignition source.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fuel wafer comprises a central heating insert and a pair of fuel inserts disposed on either side of said heating insert.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said tank comprises a recess for receiving said fuel wafer therein.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said tank further comprises a door for sealing said recess.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said tank comprises a radiation shield.
17. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a controller in communication with said voltage source.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said controller is configured to cause vary said voltage in response to temperature of said fluid to be heated.

19. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said tank is configured for holding fluid to be heated, wherein said fuel wafer is configured to be in thermal communication with said fluid, wherein said resistor is configured to be coupled to a voltage source, wherein said apparatus further comprises a controller in communication with said voltage source, and a temperature sensor, wherein said fuel mixture comprises lithium, and lithium aluminum hydride, wherein said catalyst comprises a group 10 element, wherein said controller is configured to monitor a temperature from said temperature sensor, and, based at least in part on said temperature, to reinvigorate a reaction in said fuel mixture, wherein reinvigorating said reaction comprises varying a voltage of said voltage source.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said catalyst comprises nickel powder.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said nickel powder has been treated to enhance porosity thereof.
22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said fuel wafer comprises a multi -layer structure having a layer of said fuel mixture in thermal communication with a layer containing said electrical resistor.
23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said fuel wafer comprises a central heating insert and a pair of fuel inserts disposed on either side of said heating insert.
24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said tank comprises a recess for receiving said fuel wafer therein.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein said tank further comprises a door for sealing said recess
26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said tank comprises a radiation shield.
27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said reaction in said fuel mixture is at least partially reversible.
28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said reaction comprises reacting lithium hydride with aluminum to yield hydrogen gas.

29. An apparatus for heating a fluid, said apparatus comprising means for containing said fluid, and means for holding a fuel mixture containing a catalyst and a reagent, and means for initiating a reaction sequence mediated by said catalyst to cause an exothermic reaction.
30. The apparatus of claim 29 , wherein said catalyst that comprises a group 10 element and a reagent comprises lithium and lithium aluminum hydride, said apparatus further comprising means for periodically reinvigorating said reaction sequence.

31. A composition of matter for generating heat, sai composition comprising a mixture of porosity-enhanced nickel powder, lithium powder, and lithium aluminum powder.

32. A composition of matter for generating heat, sai composition comprising a fuel mixture and a catalyst, said catalyst comprising a group 10 element.
33. The composition of claim 32, wherein said catalyst comprises nickel.
34. The composition of claim 32, wherein said catalyst comprises nickel powder.
35. The composition of claim 34, wherein said nickel powder has been treated to enhance porosity thereof.

36. A method of heating a fluid, said method comprising placing a mixture of nickel powder, lithium powder, and lithium aluminum hydride in thermal communication with said fluid; and heating said mixture, thereby initiating an exothermic reaction in said mixture.

Analysis of the PCT Published Application

The “Detailed Description” is the story portion of the patent disclosure, which should enable skilled workman to put the invention into use. The claims represent the proposed monopoly that the applicant aspires to obtain. At this stage in the patenting process, when we are addressing simply an application, these claims may be considered to be a “wish list”. The claims, however, are a useful guide to what the inventor thinks is important in the story.

The story has only modest changes over those contained in the disclosure of the US patent. The most significant change is the broadening of the means for heating the fuel to include not only an electrical resistor, but also other specific means:

“The heat source or ignition source can be an electrical resistor, or a heat source that relies on either heat from combustion, such as combustion of natural gas, or a heat source that relies on inductive heating.”

This change shows up in the claims.

Here is Claim 1 of the issued US patent:

1. An apparatus for heating fluid, said apparatus comprising a tank, an electrical resistor, and a fuel wafer,
wherein said tank is configured for holding fluid to be heated,
wherein said fuel wafer is configured to be in thermal communication with said fluid,
wherein said fuel wafer includes a fuel mixture that includes reagents and a catalyst,
wherein said electrical resistor is in thermal communication with said fuel mixture and said catalyst,
wherein said resistor is configured to be coupled to a voltage source,
wherein said apparatus further comprises a controller in communication with said voltage source, and a temperature sensor,
wherein said fuel mixture comprises lithium, and lithium aluminum hydride,
wherein said catalyst comprises a group 10 element,
wherein said controller is configured to monitor a temperature from said temperature sensor, and, based at least in part on said temperature, to reinvigorate a reaction in said fuel mixture,
wherein reinvigorating said reaction comprises varying a voltage of said voltage source.

This claim has a “loophole” in the sense that if heating could be provided by mechanism other than an electrical resistor, then the claim would be avoided. This “loophole” has been closed in the revised disclosure and new proposed set of claims that are included in the PCT filing. In fact, this new set of claims represents a fresh “wish list” that has not been whittled down by a patent examiner before a patent office. Significantly, this PCT application can re-enter the United States at any time up to February 1, 2017. This will allow Rossi and Leonardo Corporation to get “another bite at the apple” before the US Patent Office.

On exiting the PCT in 2017 the owners of this application will be entitled to make National Entry patent filings in the over 100 countries who are members of the PCT. Accordingly, this application represents a possible World initiative by Rossi and Leonardo Corporation to control the heat generation process described in the above patent disclosure. In fact, National Entry applications already been made before the European Patent Office and in Australia, both on March 16, 2016.

Applications published by the PCT system are accompanied by a preliminary, nonbinding, Search Report. In this case, the Search Report identifies relevant Prior Art here:

https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/docservicepdf_pct/id00000032223758/ISR/WO2016018851.pdf

The code is at the bottom. The symbol “X” means that a claim actually describes something that is already known. This, if true, will knock the claim out. The symbol “Y” means that the claim describes an obvious variant on something that is already known. This is an arguable ground for rejection that could prove troublesome. And the symbol “A” means that the document is closely related, but not relevant to examination.

The PCT Searcher/Examiner also provides a rather lengthy analysis here:

https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/docservicepdf_pct/id00000032229115/WOSA/WO2016018851.pdf

This is a US Patent Office Searcher/Examiner providing his opinion. Although he is doing so on behalf of the WIPO as part of the PCT system, there is a good probability that this opinion is exceptionally lengthy because of the reluctance by the US Patent Office to endorse or allow many patent applications directed to “Cold Fusion”.

It is important to note that, although the greater part of the claims have been criticized in the above opinion, claims numbers 19 through 28 have not been challenged. There is a very good prospect, therefore, that these claims will eventually be present in patents that will be granted not only in the United States but elsewhere in the world. Based on a quick comparison, these claims, particularly claim 19 which dominates the others, appear to parallel the claims that have already been allowed in the US patent granted August 25, 2016.

David French is a retired patent attorney and the principal and CEO of Second Counsel Services. Second Counsel provides guidance for companies that wish to improve their management of Intellectual Property. For more information visit: www.Second-Counsel.com.

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Patenting Cold Fusion Inventions before the US Patent & Trademark Office – Part 2

The following is Part 2 of a paper prepared By David J French in support of a Poster Presentation at ICCF-18, the 18th International Conference on Cold Fusion held in Columbia, Missouri over July 21 – 27, 2013. Part 1 is available at ColdFusionNow here. Part 2 now follows.

Patenting Cold Fusion Inventions before the US Patent and Trademark Office

. Part 2

Treatment of Cold Fusion Inventions before the USPTO

With the USPTO receiving over one half million applications a year, Examiners do not customarily require applicants to file proof that their alleged invention will work as represented. However, the USPTO has classified Cold Fusion and LENR technology in the same category as “perpetual motion”, anti-gravity, time travel, universal Cancer cures and guaranteed cures for baldness. These are considered to be cases where there is doubt that the alleged invention will work. In these fields Examiners are expected to require applicants to demonstrate that the alleged invention actually works. To impose this requirement the Examiner must establish a basis for a legitimate doubt in a communication to the applicant before requiring the applicant to provide proof of operability. Unfortunately, Examiners faced with Cold Fusion applications have in many instances used excessively negative and inflammatory language regarding the history of Cold Fusion science in attempting to place such a doubt on record.

Persons filing patent applications in this field have to be prepared to face a prove-it-works requirement. They do not have to prove that Cold Fusion works per se; they only have to prove that what they represent in their application is true. The disclosure accompanying their patent application must be sufficient to enable ordinary but knowledgeable workers in the field to reproduce what is promised in the patent application. This is not an area where a patent can be obtained on the basis of a prediction or prophetic insight.

Responding to a Prove-it Challenge

The best procedure to follow in answering such a requirement from a US Examiner is to place the original patent disclosure in the hands of an independent agency that will follow the instructions in that document and report-back, hopefully, that they obtained the results as predicted in the patent filing. Such evidence may not rely on after-developed understandings or procedures but must be based on the original document as filed, together with publicly available knowledge existing as of that date.

Relevant message: Make sure your Disclosure is complete when you make your formal patent filing. Be sure the invention works. Don’t promise too much. You may have to prove it!

Example that failed

James H Cook, a retired 80 year old engineer residing in Simi-Valley, California filed an application on August 19, 2009 before the US Patent Office for an invention entitled: “Energy Generation by Nuclear Acoustic Resonance”
This application became abandoned on March 9, 2013 for failure to respond to the US Patent Office Examiner’s first office action of September 9, 2012. Before addressing the reasons for the abandonment the nature of the invention and the filing will be explored. Here is an extract from the Abstract:

“(This invention) solves the problems of reliably initiating a low energy fusion reaction by loading deuterium into palladium metal via the process of electrolysis and by initiating the fusion reaction via the application of nuclear acoustic resonance. Affixed on each side of an electrolysis cell are piezoelectric transducers driven by corresponding frequency synthesizers. Surrounding the cell is a magnetic field produced by a magnetic field generator. The application of nuclear acoustic resonance, i.e. the combined application of an alternating magnetic field and of high frequency acoustic waves causes the deuterium atoms resident in the closely packed palladium metallic lattice to fuse into helium atoms with the consequent release of energy that is inherent to the fusion process.”

This is an example of a Prophetic invention: it is based on a prediction that something will happen rather than on actual tests. No data was given reporting test results. Instead the disclosure stated that this idea arose when the inventor heard about a reported melt-down in a Fleischman and Pons’s original pre-1989 experiment. He surmised that this was due to:

• “a low-level alternating magnetic field in the vicinity of the experiment caused by a transformer (presumably 60 Hz.) on the opposite side of the wall against which the fume hood containing the experiment was mounted”
• “An unrelated experiment in another part of the room was generating ultrasonic acoustic waves in the Megahertz range. It is believed that two frequencies, differing only slightly from each other, are necessary. (See the article, The Truth About DNA, subheading “A past experiment that was incomplete,” published on the Internet at www.kryon.com/k chanelDNA04.html.)”
• “This application of high frequency acoustic waves causes the hydrogen atoms packed within the crystal lattice of the palladium cathode to undergo spin transitions. Upon reaching the Larmor frequency of the hydrogen atoms and achieving resonance, transitions between spin energy levels are generated. This produces a resonance scan. (See Inventor’s Theory of Operation, infra.) It is believed that for reliable initiation of the low energy fusion reaction, the first and second acoustic wave generators (17, 21) must operate at different frequencies. The specific frequencies required remain to be determined by experimentation.”
Note the frank statement that the “specific frequencies required remain to be determined by experimentation”. This was fatal.

The Examiner’s objections

Here is what the Examiner said about this application:

• “…..this “ColdFusion concept is still no more than just an unproven concept or theory.”
• “The general consensus by those skilled in the art and working at these various laboratories is that the fusion conclusion made by Fleischman and Pons was based on experimental error”
• “The general consensus by those skilled in the art is that there is no reputable evidence to support the claims of excess heat production, or the production of fusion by-products such as neutrons, gamma rays, tritium, or helium.”
• (this is) “a field that the general scientific community considers fraudulent.”
• “Since Fleischman and Pons’ 1989 announcement, there has been a continuing stream of publications demonstrating that virtually none of the ’Cold Fusion’ claims are valid.”

The Examiner summed up by reciting that he had provided a reasonable and sufficient basis for challenging the adequacy of the disclosure, concluding that the specification failed to meet the requirements of the Patent Act in terms of enabling workmen to implement the invention as promised.

The Applicant`s dilemma

The requirements for sufficient disclosure allow that it is OK to impose some modest degree of experimentation on future workmen if such experimentation will inevitably produce the right answer without undue effort on the part of an ordinary workman. However in this case, the existence of the specific frequencies that make the invention work is critical: the admission that such parameters remain to be established placed this invention in the category of an “unfinished work”. As well as imposing a prove-it requirement the Examiner rejected this filing for having an insufficient disclosure.

The applicant was given an opportunity to reply. He then decided to abandon his application. Ironically he might have been right. But his application did not meet the required standards and it could not be amended
An inventor can make an invention based upon a prediction, but

• the prediction has to be true
• the prediction has to be supported by instructions on how the benefits of the invention can be delivered reliably by others, once the patent comes to an end.
• Patents do not, however, issue for proposals which are, essentially, a suggestion that others pursue a specific line of research.

Relevance of Examiner`s condemnation of Fleischmann & Pons

The Examiner`s comments regarding Fleischmann & Pons are not relevant in the sense of requiring a response. The Examiner’s criticisms were only presented to justify his requirement that the applicant prove that the invention as described works and that the description of how to make it work was sufficient.
Filing evidence that the invention really works and that the disclosure is enabling would have resulted in an Allowance (so long as the Claims were worded to avoid the Prior Art). Unfortunately the disclosure was irreparably inadequate: it failed to teach the special acoustic frequencies that would initiate the Cold Fusion effect.

Conclusion

It’s very easy to obtain a US patent for Cold Fusion. Just file an application:

For a useful idea that works,

that includes a description on how to make it happen, and which

specifies a feature that is new (done in one or more “claims”).

Easily said, but challenging to fully understand.

David French is a retired patent attorney and the principal and CEO of Second Counsel Services. Second Counsel provides guidance for companies that wish to improve their management of Intellectual Property. For more information visit: www.SecondCounsel.com.

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Patenting Cold Fusion Inventions before the US Patent & Trademark Office – Part 1

The following is a paper prepared by David J French in support of a Poster Presentation at ICCF-18, the 18th International Conference on Cold Fusion held in Columbia, Missouri over July 21 – 27, 2013. The paper as reproduced on ColdFusionNow is divided into two parts. Part 2 is available here. Part 1 now follows.

Patenting Cold Fusion Inventions before the US Patent and Trademark Office – USPTO

Part 1

This paper is about the challenge of obtaining a patent before the United States Patent and Trademark Office – USPTO. The USPTO has developed a reputation for refusing applications directed to “Cold Fusion” technology. There is a general belief amongst the Cold Fusion community that some staff members at the USPTO have been hostile to granting patents in this field. In fact, the experience of almost every applicant in this field is that Examiners have a strong prejudice against granting patents for Cold Fusion inventions.

However I had some personal exchanges with the USPTO in the fall of 2012 that ended with a declaration that the USPTO will issue properly drafted patents which are directed to new technology in the field of Cold Fusion/generation-of-unexplained-excess-energy if accompanied by a proper disclosure and a demonstration that the asserted procedures will work as represented. The communication from the USPTO stated:

“As you noted in the email, Cold Fusion or Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) is the subject of intense study and interest of many. Clearly, further investigation into this area could be useful and will hopefully one day will provide a major source of energy.

“You note that the USPTO can require patent applicants to provide evidence that the invention works and that the disclosure is sufficient to enable others to make and or use the invention. The United States Code requires as much, and defines the requirements for patentability in 35 U.S.C sections 101, 102, 103 and 112. Particularly, the enablement requirement, which refers to the requirement of 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph that states the specification, must describe how to make and how to use the invention. The invention that is defined by the claim(s) of the particular application is the invention that one skilled in the art must be enabled to make and or use. (See MPEP 2164) This is the requirement of law in order to obtain a valid patent. These requirements are applied to all inventions whether they are ground breaking technology or incremental improvements.

“We also thank you for your suggestion to have a message that “The USPTO is open for business in the field of Cold Fusion for properly prepared patent filings” before the Cold Fusion revolution arrives. This is already the case. Any non-provisional application, including those in the area of Cold Fusion, is eligible for patenting also long as it meets the requirements of 35 U.S.C. Sections 101, 102, 103 and 112.” [end quote]

The basic requirements for the granting of a patent as referenced are that an application must address:

1. Proper subject matter for patenting,
2. A technology that works in the sense of being useful for humanity in some way,
3. A disclosure that will enable knowledgeable but uninventive workers to reproduce the invention, and
4. A stipulation (in the form of one or more Claims) as to what will be controlled by the exclusive rights to be granted, rights that must apply only to things that are new.

Many patent attorneys add a further requirement namely that the patent must be directed to something which is inventive, or in the terms of the statute, a feature that is “not obvious”. Non-obviousness is judged in view of what has been known previously. I like to include that requirement as really being a sub-characteristic of being “new”.

New US Law from March 16, 2013

As from March 16, 2013 the requirement for being “new” under US patent law is that the thing being patented must not have been “previously available to the public”. This means previously available anywhere in the World, at any time, in any manner whatsoever. The United States has finally joined Europe and the rest of the world in defining patent entitlement in this manner. If you think about these words, you will probably agree that this means that your invention must be “pristine on the planet Earth”! Never having been made available to the public anywhere not only requires that your applied technology be new, but it also must not be obvious in view of what was previously known. That is how inventive character or non-obviousness can be included under this new definition and requirement for patent novelty.

Patent novelty item 4 above, is a big issue. It cannot be addressed in this paper. But the remaining numbered items are relevant to “cold fusion” inventions and will now be addressed.

Subject matter for patenting – Science vs Technology

Patents are about technology rather than scientific discovery. In Europe under the European Patent Convention (EPC Article 52) and under the international Patent Cooperation Treaty – PCT inventions must be “susceptible of industrial application” in order to be patentable. This expression is further defined in EPC Article 57 which provides: “An invention shall be considered as susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture.” This emphasizes that patents are not about theories. Patents are about technology. The difference between science and technology is that science delivers understanding – from the Latin scienter, “to know”, and technology delivers something that is useful for human beings. Often, technology is the application of science.

In the past, it has been thought in the United States that there must be something tangible or mechanical about an invention. However, the US definition for something which is patentable, called “patentable subject matter” is: “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement”(35USC101). In the last 20 years we have seen an explosion of patents in the world of business activities and relating to human behavior in general. These patents have issued on the premise that inventions in these fields can be characterized as “processes”, now often called “methods”. The argument is still ongoing as to whether this opening-up of patenting to non-tangible arrangements that focus on human behavior, eg “business methods”, fits within the patentability requirements of the US statute. But for purposes of the Cold Fusion community, patenting has to focus on a technical, that is a mechanical or chemical, arrangement or procedure that is useful and reproducible.

The next two issues address why Cold Fusion patents have been encountering serious difficulties at the USPTO.

Utility and Disclosure Requirements

For an invention to be useful, it must “work”. This means that it has to deliver a useful result.

Not only does the invention have to work but the application has to describe how others can build something useful that works. The written document accompanying a patent filing must include a description that will “enable” competent workmen, after the patent expires, to carry out the instructions and obtain the promised useful result. The disclosure must “enable” others to obtain the benefits of the invention. The disclosure must provide a “recipe” that is complete.

If the instructions are inadequate, then a patent application will be refused. If the patent slips through it can still be canceled before a Court on the grounds that it should not have been issued in the first place.

You must write the Specification so that your invention may be practiced by a Person Having Ordinary Skill in the Art (POSITA) without undue experimentation. This individual is assumed to be knowledgeable, but he/she is not inventive. If the invention either intrinsically does not work, or the instructions to create it are inadequate, then a patent application will be refused.

What are the lessons to be learned from these points? One lesson is that it is a false triumph to slip something past the Patent Office. Any oversights of an Examiner can be addressed by a Court. The test of litigation is a very hot furnace. Only the sturdiest steel can take the heat. So you want to obtain your patent on a legitimate basis and do it right at the very beginning. Consequently, if you assert that you have a method for delivering unexplained excess heat based on what you believe to be a “Cold Fusion effect”, you must be absolutely certain that you are achieving this result. Furthermore, you have to provide a description that will reliably allow others to achieve the same result.

Warning: there is a deadline to get the “story” right in the Disclosure. Once a final patent application has been filed, the “story” contained in the disclosure cannot be changed. You can change your claims as long as they are restricted to things already described in the original filing. But you cannot make changes to the text in order to upgrade your description, your “recipe”, for making the invention work.

Reproducibility

The history of ColdFusion is shot through with examples of intermittent replication right from the very beginning, starting with Fleischmann & Pons. I am not focusing on the failure of various illustrious institutions to duplicate the Fleischmann and Pons test results. Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons had trouble duplicating their experimental demonstrations themselves. James Patterson in the 1990’s until his death in 2008 represented that he produced remarkable results from plastic, glass or ceramic micro-spheres coated with various layers of hydrogen-saturated metal, including both nickel and palladium. That was with his first batch of spheres. But when he subsequently prepared further batches he did not get the results he got before. Patterson obtained patents anyway, several in the US including No US 5,607,563 entitled “System for Electrolysis” issued on March 4, 1997, now expired. Other Patterson patents can be located through the hyperlinks in this reference. But these were never tested in Court. Shaky results have arisen in laboratory results around the world over the last 23 years. They are still happening today. This is part of the part of the mystery of this science. How does this affect patenting?

It is pretty clear that the USPTO should not be issuing patents for things that do not work. A little thought is required as to whether they should issue patents for things that work only some of the time. There are many technologies that might fall into this latter category. When you strike a flint on a bar of iron to create a spark and start a fire, it does not work with every blow. But the invention is profoundly useful. Similarly, in the field of pharmaceuticals medicines may exist that only work some of the time, but are well worth administering when there are no other alternatives and there is a real prospect that they may work in an individual case. Vaccines fall into this category.

On the other hand, I would not consider a heart valve to be useful if it has any substantial incidence of failure once installed in a patient. I am referring to failure due to a design fault such as accumulating scar tissue. Still, patents have issued for mechanical hearts that have kept Patients alive for only a limited period of time. In truth, the utility of an invention covered by a patent is highly dependent upon the representations made in the patent disclosure document as to what the invention will achieve.

This is leads to a big message. The utility requirement under patent law does not require that an invention be better or superior. It does not require that it deliver high-value. Anything that is “useful” to some degree will pass the utility requirement. But if an inventor extols the benefits of their invention, they are creating potentially serious problems for the validity of their patent. If you represent that your invention delivers a certain result claiming exclusive rights in such an outcome, and it does not indeed deliver that result, then such claims might possibly be invalidated for failing to meet the utility standard. At a minimum such defaults will be emphasized before a jury. You set the standard yourself in claiming rights over something that you say you can deliver. The conclusion is: Do not try to claim rights in more than your invention will deliver! In fact, as a general policy it is preferable to avoid making any more representations than the minimum needed to obtain a patent grant.

The utility requirement for an invention is met if you simply state an instance where it can be used to produce a useful result of even modest value. Do that, but go no further.

Example of Success

It is time for an example. Assume you have an experimental setup that produces unexplained excess heat. Rather than representing the technology as a solution to mankind’s energy requirements, it is sufficient to describe your invention as an assembly of hardware which demonstrates how excess heat can be produced from an artful combination of Palladium and deuterium. Just because you have described your invention as a demonstration apparatus does not mean that your patent claims cannot cover the use of the same apparatus to supply heat for your house indefinitely in the winter or heat for your air-conditioning system indefinitely in the summer, so long as the same principles are being used in the scaled-up system. But do not promise house heating and air-conditioning unless you also disclose how to build what is needed to do the job.

Here is an example of a successful patent granted on an invention for which Melvin Miles was a co-inventor:

United States Patent 7,381,368 issued June 3, 2008

Title: Palladium-boron alloys and methods for making and using such alloys

Inventors: Miles; Melvin H. (Ridgecrest, CA), Imam; M. Ashraf (Great Falls, VA)

Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy (Washington, DC)

And here are the key claims:

Claims:

1. An alloy comprising palladium and boron;

wherein at room temperature the alloy has a two-phase structure, comprising crystallites of a first phase and crystallites of a second phase;

wherein both the first phase and the second phase are solid solutions of palladium and boron;

wherein the crystallites of the first phase and the crystallites of the second phase are free of hydrogen;

wherein the first phase and the second phase have the same crystal structure;

wherein the first phase and the second phase have different lattice parameters;

wherein the alloy is free of palladium-boron intermetallic compounds; and

wherein the alloy is free of hydride compounds.

11. The alloy of claim 1, wherein said alloy is in the form of a membrane.

12. A method of hydrogen purification comprising the steps of: providing the membrane of claim 11, providing a gaseous sample comprising hydrogen on one side of the membrane, providing a vacuum on the other side of the membrane, and allowing the hydrogen to pass through the membrane.

13. The alloy of claim 1, wherein said alloy is in the form of an electrode.

14. A method of generating energy comprising the steps of: providing the electrode of claim 13, connecting the electrode to a cathode, immersing the electrode and the cathode in water containing deuterium, and applying a current to the electrode and the cathode.

Based on the above claims, anybody who has possession of the alloy described by claim 1 and uses it for any industrial purpose will violate the claim. There are multiple uses for this alloy. Claim 12 addresses using the alloy as a hydrogen-pass filter to permit hydrogen to enter a vacuum. Claim 14 addresses a clear example of generating energy by carrying out a Fleischmann & Pons type of procedure.

Note that there is no theory of operation included in the claims. If fact there is no theory of operation included in the patent. Why would you want to include theory that might not be right? And including the theory in the claims creates a terrible problem: to enforce the claim you would have to prove that the process being carried-out by an infringer complies with the theory. These are good crisp claims, directed to what they should be: a description of assembled hardware or processes for manipulating tangible substances. If you have described something that works, you do not have to explain why.

How did this application get through?

In the course of the prosecution of this application the Examiner never challenged the application on the basis that it is addresses a Cold Fusion invention. This may be for several reasons. One reason may be that the Examiner was working in an art where he was not accustomed to receiving Cold Fusion inventions. A further possibility is that the application focused on other uses for the alloy, mentioning the generation of energy as a collateral utility. In the case of a new compound, if it has an acceptable utility, the fact that the inventor believes it might also be the useful for other purposes, e.g. cold fusion, is not a bar to patentability. Once you patent an article or compound for one purpose, an article or compound that is new, then you are entitled to control its circulation in commerce no matter how it is used. A further possible reason for the easy treatment of this application is that it was filed on behalf of the Department of the Navy. And the last possible reason is that the application was generally well drafted, without making any extravagant claims or assertions of extraordinary benefits. This last possibility is to be contrasted with how many other applications directed to Cold Fusion innovations are drafted by attorneys, with the cooperation of or under pressure from the inventors.

This ends Part 1 of a paper prepared in support of a Poster Presentation at ICCF-18, the 18th International Conference on Cold Fusion held in Columbia, Missouri over July 21 – 27, 2013. Part 2 follow as a subsequent posting on ColdFusionNow.org here.

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Problems with Patents


This cartoon from Droidmatters is targeted toward Information Technology, but informs in an easy way some issues with the US Patent and Trademark Office:

Problems with Patents Cartoon

From The Spoilsman: How Congress Corrupted Patent Reform by Zach Carter published on Huffington Post back in October.

“Many people are still looking for work or looking for a job that pays more,” Obama said to a scrum of reporters. “There are more steps that we can take right now that would help businesses create jobs here in America.”

The first item on Obama’s list of immediate, job-creating congressional actions was the passage of patent reform legislation.

“Right now, Congress can send me a bill that would make it easier for entrepreneurs to patent a new product or idea, because we can’t give innovators in other countries a big leg up when it comes to opening new businesses and creating new jobs,” he said.

Besides the fact that the US Patent and Trademark Office re-routes cold fusion/LENR related applications, what else is the problem?

Trolls file hundreds of lawsuits a year over “low quality” patents — lobbyist legal jargon for the questionable or downright bizarre patents routinely granted by the understaffed Patent and Trademark Office. In recent years, patents have been approved for products including a wheeled flower pot (patent No. 7,908,942), the crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich (patent No. 6,004,596), a decorative box that can be placed in a casket (No. 7,908,942) and an accounting scheme that helps people dodge taxes by moving stock options around (No. 6,567,790). Once approved by the patent office, it’s difficult and costly to overturn the patent in courts, which grant significant deference to the office’s decisions.

What does the newly enacted patent reform mean for innovators?

Here’s one view from Paul Morgan from Patently O 2011 Recap: The Practically Important Elements of the America Invents Act of 2011.

Another view comes from Eric Savitz at Forbes US Inventors: Take Heed of the Revised US Patent Law.

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