DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-12 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 5-7, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Lipor (US 3385950).
Regarding claim 1, Lipor teaches a bottle warmer (Fig. 1, col. 2, lines 25-49, heating device 11), comprising:
a vessel (heating chamber or receptacle 15) for receiving a bottle to be warmed and for receiving water to surround and heat the bottle (Col. 1, lines 30-41);
a heater (Col. 2, lines 40-49: electrode heating device 27) for heating the water and thereby the bottle (Col. 1, lines 35-37: “electrical current produces an increase of temperature within the water … results in heat transfer to any object placed within the vessel”);
a thermostat (Figs. 2-4, bi-metallic leaf 45) for switching at a set temperature thereby for controlling the heater in dependence on the thermostat (Col. 3, lines 20-29: “heat is transmitted through the bolt electrode 31 to the bi-metallic leaf 45 to effect bending thereof in the direction away from the resilient leaf 47 so as to eventually electrically disconnect the contact portions 46 and 59 thereby interrupting current flow in the bolt electrode 31 through the leaves 45 and 47”);
an adjustment element (Figs. 1-4, dial 73) for displacement from a start position to a desired heating setting input, based at least on volume information in respect of the bottle contents (Col. 3, lines 56-62: “the dial 73 can also be calibrated in terms of liquid quantities if desired”),
wherein the adjustment element is coupled to the thermostat for setting the thermostat at a set temperature (Col. 3, lines 30-55: “dial 73 which facilitates rotation of the screw 71 … serves to vary the amount of bias of the resilient leaf 47 toward the bi-metallic leaf 45”);
a mechanical timer having a timing value automatically set by a position of the adjustment element (Col. 1, lines 67-70: “means for indicating timing interval termination”, col. 3, lines 45-55 “the dial 73 can be calibrated in time intervals”); and
an alarm for providing an alarm output when the timing value has elapsed (Col. 1, lines 22-23: “[a]udible alarm means is provided to signal termination of the heating period”).
Regarding claim 2, Lipor further teaches the heater is configured to turn off when the alarm output is provided (Col. 4, lines 2-7: “upon separation of the contact portions 46 and 59, current flow in the coil increases to set the armature 83 in motion and cause the creation of the buzzing sound”).
Regarding claim 5, Lipor further teaches the thermostat comprises a bimetal switch (Col. 3, lines 24-29: “bi-metallic leaf 45”).
Regarding claim 6, Lipor further teaches the alarm comprises: an audible output device (Col. 1, lines 22-23: “audible alarm means”); and/or
a visual output device.
Regarding claim 7, Lipor further teaches further comprising a set of visual heating setting indicators along the adjustment element (Fig. 1, dial 73), wherein each heating setting indicator comprises an indication of a volume amount (Col.3, lines 61-62: “dial 73 can also be calibrated in terms of liquid quantities if desired”).
Regarding claim 12, Lipor further teaches the adjustment element comprises a rotary adjustment element for rotation from the start position to the desired heating setting input (Fig. 1 shows dial 73 as a rotational knob).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 and 8-11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the cited prior art anticipates or makes obvious a bottle warmer with an adjustment element having all the limitations as claimed in claim 1 also comprising a return mechanism for returning the adjustment element to the start position, or visual heating setting indicators with initial milk temperatures in respect of contents in the bottle.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US Patent 1,979,222 by A.J. Goodwin discloses a bottle warming device (Fig. 1) with a “thermostatic device may be adjusted to vary the temperature so that it will correspond to the amount of material … that is to be heated” (Pg. 2, lines 68-75) and a knob for adjusting the thermostatic device (Pg. 2, lines 78-87).
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL W HATTEN whose telephone number is (703)756-1362. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6 (EST).
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/DANIEL WARD HATTEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/TOPAZ L. ELLIOTT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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