USPTO Invalidates 28 of 29 Claims Contained in the ‘319’ Patent of Composite Technology Corporation for Composite ACCC Core

DANA POINT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mercury Cable and Energy (“Mercury Cable”) is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued an office action on Mercury Cable's Request for Ex Parte Reexamination of the Composite Technology Corporation (OTCBB:CPTC.OB) ACCC patent for bare overhead transmission wire (U.S. Patent No. 7,211,319 (Patent “319”). In the office action, the patent examiner rejected 28 of 29 claims contained in Patent "319" as unpatentable.

“The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action”

On July 18, 2009 A compliant Request for Ex Parte Reexamination was filed for claims 1-29 of U.S. Patent No. 7,211,319 (hereinafter referred to as the '319 Patent).

On August 17, 2009 An Order granting Ex Parte Reexamination for claims 1-29 was mailed.

On September 10, 2009, Patent Owner filed a written waiver to the filing of a Patent Owner's Statement under 37 C.F.R. 1.530.

In the Office Action dated November 4, 2009, the Patent Examiner stated: "The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action":

A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.

In its conclusion, the Patent Examiner stated: "Claims 1-16 and 18-29 [of U.S. Patent No. 7,211,319] are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over U.S. 6,015,953 (Tosaka) in view of U.S. 5,093,162 (Fenton)."

Mercury Cable & Energy is a privately‐held developer of High Voltage Composite Reinforced Conductors (HVCRC), Smart Conductors for the Smart Grid. The patented HVCRC Smart Conductor is superior to existing conductors in a number of key performance areas including:

• Up to double the current carrying capacity of ACSR
• Substantially reduces high‐temperature sag
• Requires fewer structures for new line construction
• Increases capacity of existing rights‐of‐way and structures through retrofitting
• Eliminates bi‐metallic corrosion
• Significantly reduces line losses compared to same‐diameter conventional and composite conductors at equal operating temperatures