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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 8/28/2025, with respect to 35 U.S.C 112(f) for claims 5 regarding a “support portion that supports” has been fully considered and are moot in light of the recent amendments to the claims. The 112(f) of 5/30/2025 has been withdrawn because the claims were amended.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 8/28/2025, with respect to 35 U.S.C 112(b) for claims 5 have been fully considered and are moot in light of the recent amendments to the claims. The rejection of 5/30/2025 has been withdrawn because the claims were amended.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 8/28/2025, with respect to 35 U.S.C 102 and 103 have been fully considered and are moot in light of the recent amendments to the claims. The rejections of 5/30/2025 have been withdrawn because the claims were amended. Due to the amendments of 8/28/2025 and the change in scope of the invention of the instant application, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US5796082A Kim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US5796082A Kim.
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches
A heating cooker (figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6), comprising: a drawer body (partition 20);
a turntable (tray 30) arranged in the drawer body (figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6), the turntable having a bottom surface, a top surface, and a side surface (figs. 2, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b);
a heater (claims 1-7 teach the invention of Kim to be a microwave oven per figs. 2, 4a, 4b, 5a, and 5b which his inherent to contain a microwave heating element such as a magnetron) that heats a to-be-heated object placed on the turntable (claims 1 to 7 teach cooking, it is inherent that the foodstuff taught in Kim is to be heated);
and a rotor (driving members 40a and 40b figs. 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 5a, and 5b) that rotates the turntable (column 3 lines 34 through 38), wherein the rotor is in direct contact with the side surface of the turntable such that the rotation of the rotor rotates the turntable (figs. 4a, 4b, 5a, and 5b).
Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches
The heating cooker according to claim 1 (as discussed above), further comprising a heat cooking compartment (cooking chamber 10) into which the drawer body is inserted or from which the drawer body is pulled out, wherein the heat cooking compartment comprises a bottom surface and a plurality of side surfaces (column 3 lines 3 to 22), and the rotor is disposed extending along one of the plurality of side surfaces of the heat cooking compartment (figs. 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 5a, and 5b).
Regarding claim 5, Kim teaches
The heating cooker according to claim 1 (as discussed above), further comprising a roller stay (ball bearing 32a and 32b) that supports the turntable (figs. 4a and 4b), wherein the roller stay includes an engagement portion engageable with the drawer body (figs. 4a and 4b and column 3 lines 34 to 45), and the engagement portion is placed at a position that is aligned with a central portion of the turntable and extends (figs. 4a and 4b and column 3 lines 34 to 45), from the roller stay, in a direction intersecting with a direction in which the drawer body is pulled out (figs. 4a and 4b).
Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches
The heating cooker according to claim 1 (as discussed above), wherein the side surface of the turntable includes recesses and protrusions, and the rotor includes recesses and protrusions (fig. 5a teaches an embodiment where there is a spur gear 40a that engages into tray 30 via teeth 30a which is also taught in column 3 lines 50 to 67 and column 4 lines 1 to 2).
Regarding claim 7, Kim teaches
The heating cooker according to claim 1 (as discussed above), wherein the side surface of the turntable is a smooth surface (fig. 5b, rubber band 30b), and a side surface of the rotor is a smooth surface (fig. 5b, rubber roller 40b).
Regarding claim 8, Kim teaches
The heating cooker according to claim 1, further comprising:
a heat cooking compartment (cooking chamber 10) into which the drawer body is inserted or from which the drawer body is pulled out (column 3 lines 3 to 22);
and a storage chamber (see annotated fig. 3 below), wherein the rotor is provided with a roller (spur gear 40a), a shaft (driving shaft 42), and a motor (motor 41), the heat cooking compartment (cooking chamber 10) has a first opening communicating with the storage chamber (see fig. 2, 40a extends from the storage chamber to the cooking chamber 10 where the pass through between the rear wall W is a first openinig), the roller is housed in the storage chamber, provided such that a portion of the roller is positioned inside the heat cooking compartment through the first opening, and brought directly in contact with the side surface of the turntable, and the turntable rotates by a rotation of the roller (see figs. 2 and 3).
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US5796082A Kim in view of US8253084B2 Toyoda.
Regarding claim 4,
Kim teaches, The heating cooker according to claim 1 as discussed above.
The difference between the prior art and the claimed invention is that Kim does not teach: The heating cooker according to claim 1, further comprising a stirrer that stirs microwaves to be supplied into the drawer body by the heater.
Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention.
Further, there were design incentives for implementing the claimed variation. Specifically, Toyoda teaches A heating cooker (drawer type cooking device), comprising: a drawer body (cooking device body 2); a turntable (turntable comprises 20, 21, and 24) arranged in the drawer body (see fig. 5) and further teaches further comprising a stirrer that stirs microwaves to be supplied into the drawer body by the heater (column 19 lines 36 through 46 teach the waveguides 8 and stirrer 16 includes a radiation chamber 16A, a waveguide 161, a rotation antenna 162, and an antenna motor 163).
Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would have been motivated to modify Kim with the stirrer 16 of Toyoda for the purpose to allow the waves to be propagated into the heating chamber (Kim column 19 lines 36 through 46).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 ADAM M ECKARDT whose telephone number is (313)446-6609. The examiner can normally be reached 6 a.m to 2:00 p.m EST Monday to Friday.
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ADAM MICHAEL. ECKARDT
Assistant Examiner
Art Unit 3761
/ADAM M ECKARDT/ Examiner, Art Unit 3761 /EDWARD F LANDRUM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761