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
The claim to priority to CN 202221780893.2 filed on July 8, 2020 is acknowledged in the instant application.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “burning pin”, “burning chamber” and “push block” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show “push block 15” as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being (anticipated) by Rahmani et al. (US Pub. 2020/0116349) (new cited).
Regarding claim 1, Rahmani et al. discloses a pellet smoker, comprising a housing with an opening (via fire box 102 and lid 104), a pellet bin (106) and a burning pin (firepot 204), the pellet bin (106) being communication with the burning bin (204), wherein the grill (100) further comprises an oil baffle (302) and open flame baffle (320), a bottom wall of the burning bin (204) is provided with a burning chamber, pellets in the pellet bin (106) are conveyed to the burning chamber to be burnt, the oil baffle (302) is positioned above the burning chamber, a top surface of the oil baffle (302) is slidably provided with the open flame baffle (320), the oil baffle (302) is provided with flame outlet grooves (316), and the opening flame baffle (320) can be moved so as to close and open flame outlet grooves (316) (Fig. 1-2; Par. 21-36).
Regarding claim 6, Rahmani et al. discloses the open flame baffle (320) comprises flame blocking portions (Fig. 2 below; the solid portion next to the opening 328) , the flame blocking portions (Fig. 2 below) are adaptive to the flame outlet grooves (316), and the flame blocking portions can completely cover the flame outlet grooves (316) (Par. 29).
Regarding claim 7, Rahmani et al. discloses the open flame baffle (320) is provided with open flame grooves (328), and the open flamed grooves (328) are positioned between the adjacent flame blocking portion (Fig. 2 below).
Regarding claim 8, Rahmani et al. discloses the burning chamber (via firepot 204, Fig. 1) is opposite the flame outlet grooves (328), and in the case that the open flame baffle (320) opens the flame outlet grooves (328), the flame outlet grooves (316) are opposite the open flame grooves (328) (Fig. 1-2; Par. 29)
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rahmani et al. (US Pub. 2020/0116349).
Regarding claim 2, Rahmani et al. disclose substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including the open flame baffle (320) except one end of the open flame baffle is provided with a stirring rod, the stirring rod is vertically arranged, the stirring rod is fixed to the open flame baffle, and the open flame baffle can be driven to move by moving the stirring rod. However, Rahmani et al. discloses the open flame baffle (320) rotated with respect to the oil baffle (302) (Fig. 2; Par. 23, 28 and 30-32). Rahmani et al. does not disclose how the open flame baffle (320) rotated with respect to the oil baffle (302) but in Fig. 2 below, the vertical rod could be used as a stirring rod is fixed to open flame baffle (320), and the open flame baffle (320) can be driven to move by moving the stirring rod. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Rahmani et al., one end of the open flame baffle is provided with a stirring rod, the stirring rod is vertically arranged, the stirring rod is fixed to the open flame baffle, and the open flame baffle can be driven to move by moving the stirring rod, for the purpose of rotating the open flame baffle with respect to the oil baffle.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rahmani et al. (US Pub. 2020/0116349) in view of Simon et al. (US Pub. 2022/0287506) or Battistini (US Pub. 2023/0346162) (new cited).
Regarding claim 10, Rahmani et al. disclose substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including the oil baffle (302) except one end of the oil baffle is provided with an oil dripping port, and a height of the end, provided with the oil gripping port, of the oil baffle is lower than a heigh of an end, away from the oil dripping port, of the oil baffle. Simon et al. discloses one end of the oil baffle (grease plate 282) is provided with an oil dripping port (284), and a height of the end, provided with the oil gripping port, of the oil baffle is lower than a heigh of an end, away from the oil dripping port, of the oil baffle (Fig. 5; Par.47). Battistini also discloses one end of the oil baffle (18) is provided with an oil dripping port (82), and a height of the end, provided with the oil gripping port, of the oil baffle is lower than a heigh of an end, away from the oil dripping port, of the oil baffle (Fig. 4-6; Par. 22, 24 and 30). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Rahmani et al., one end of the oil baffle is provided with an oil dripping port, and a height of the end, provided with the oil gripping port, of the oil baffle is lower than a heigh of an end, away from the oil dripping port, of the oil baffle, as taught by Simon et al. or Battistini, for the purpose of providing the draining port/hole for draining out grease/oil.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 9 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.
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUNG D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7828. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9AM - 9PM.
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/HUNG D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 8/26/2025
HUNG D. NGUYEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3761