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 Amendment
The Amendment filed on April 7th, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-6, 8-13, and 15-22 remain pending in the application. Claims 7, and 14 have been withdrawn from consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-3, 8 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) in view of Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413).
Regrading Claim 1, Mizerski teaches a domestic appliance, comprising (Figure 1, Oven 1): a main body (Figure 1, Body 2); a chamber in the main body (Figure 1, Showcases Oven Chamber); a door to the chamber, the door being movable between an open position and a closed position (Figure 1 and Page 1, Door 3 has an open and closed positions); an electrical device on the door (Figure 1, Electronic Module MU located on Door 3); the electrical contact making an electrical connection with the conductor pad when the door is in an installed position on the hinge arm (Page 5 and Figure , Conducting elements in Hinge Housing 6 are connected to Conductive Side Strips of the door when the door is connected to the hinge in housing 6), an electrical conductor pad (Page 5, Conducting element in Hinge Housing 6), an electrical contact that is electrically connected to the electrical device (Page 5, Conducting elements in Hinge Housing 6 are connected to Conductive Side Strips of the door and are connected to module MU).
Mizerski fails to teach a hinge connected to the main body and having a hinge arm; an electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm; a hinge arm receiver mounted to the door and configured to removably receive the hinge arm; and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device.
Elkasevic teaches a hinge assembly (Abstract, Hinge Assembly for domestic appliance) where a hinge is connected to the main body and having a hinge arm (Figure 1-3 and Paragraph 26, Foot 120 acting as hinge body is pivotally attached to rod 400 that acts as hinge arm and attached to main body of the appliance), a hinge arm receiver mounted to the door and configured to removably receive the hinge arm (Figure 1-3 and Paragraph 26, Hinge Body 110 acting as an arm receiver is mounted on Door 30 and receives rod 400), where the hinge comprises a pivot pin around which the hinge arm pivots relative to the main body (Figure 7-8 and Paragraph 27-30, Curved Slots 710 and 810 of Hinge Assembly 100 engage with Pin 114 to move rod 400 and door between an open and closed positon relative to foot 120 acting as hinge body).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Fowle to incorporate a pivot pin as stated Elkasevic. The Curved Slots 710/810 have a bump 720/820 to separate closed-position resting spot 730/830 from the rest of the slot so door stays closed and doesn't fall open when the pivot pin rests there (Paragraph 31, Curved Slots).
Mizerski in view of Elkasevic fails to teach an electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm; and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device.
Fowle teaches a hinge assembly (Abstract, A Hinge Assembly) with an electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm (Figure 2 and 5-6, electrical connector 222 are on Hinge Pin 106 which reads as a hinge arm); and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device (Figure 2 and 5-6, electrical connector 344 are on connector 140 which reads as a hinge arm receivers as it receives the Hinge Pin 106).
While the combination does not teach that the conductor pad is located remotely from the pivot pin. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate the arrangement of the electrical conductor pad, electrical contact, the hinge arm, pivot pin, and the hinge arm receiver. The courts have held that rearrangement of parts requires only ordinary skill in the art and hence is considered a routine expedient. In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553,555,188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA 1975).
Furthermore, since applicants have not disclosed that these modifications solve any stated problem or are for any particular purpose and it appears that the device would perform equally well with either designs, these modifications are a matter of design choice. Absent a teaching as to criticality of this particular arrangement, since the instant specification and evidence of record fail to attribute any significance (novel or unexpected results) to a particular arrangement. (MPEP § 2144.04-VI-C.).
Regarding Claim 2, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle teaches that the chamber is a cooking chamber (Mizerski: Figure 1 and Abstract, Appliance is an Oven therefore the chamber is used for cooking).
Regarding Claim 3, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle teaches that the conductor pad on the hinge arm comprises a plurality of electrical conductor pads, each of the conductor pads is configured to make the electrical connection with the electrical contact (Mizerski: Page 5, Conducting elements in Hinge Housing 6 are electrically connected to Conductive Side Strips of the door and are connected to module MU.).
Regarding Claim 8, Mizerski in view of Fowle fails to teach that the hinge arm further comprises a curved slot, and the pivot pin travels in the curved slot when the door moves between the open position and the closed position.
Elkasevic teaches a hinge assembly (Abstract, Hinge Assembly for domestic appliance) where the hinge arm further comprises a curved slot (Figure 8, Curved Slots 710 and 810 of Hinge Assembly 100), and the pivot pin travels in the curved slot when the door moves between the open position and the closed position (Figure 7-8 and Paragraph 27-30, Curved Slots 710 and 810 of Hinge Assembly 100 engage with Pin 114 to move rod 400 and door between an open and closed positon relative to foot 120 acting as hinge body).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Fowle to incorporate a pivot pin as stated Elkasevic. The Curved Slots 710/810 have a bump 720/820 to separate closed-position resting spot 730/830 from the rest of the slot so door stays closed and doesn't fall open when the pivot pin rests there (Paragraph 31, Curved Slots).
Regarding Claim 22, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic fails to teach that the conductor pad is in a fixed location relative to the hinge arm when the door is in the installed position on the hinge arm, and the electrical contact is in a fixed location relative to the hinge arm when the door is in the installed position on the hinge arm.
Fowle teaches a hinge assembly (Abstract, A Hinge Assembly) where the conductor pad is in a fixed location relative to the hinge arm when the door is in the installed position on the hinge arm, (Figure 2 and 5-8 and 10, electrical connector 222 are on Hinge Pin 106, which reads as a hinge arm, and is fixed relative to the hinge arm); and the electrical contact is in a fixed location relative to the hinge arm when the door is in the installed position on the hinge arm (Figure 2 and 5-8 and 10, electrical connector 344 are on connector 140 which reads as a hinge arm receivers as it receives the Hinge Pin 106 and it fixed relative to the hinge pin 106 which reads as hinge arm).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic to incorporate the arrangement of the electrical conductor pad, electrical contact, and the hinge arm as stated in Fowle. The courts have held that rearrangement of parts requires only ordinary skill in the art and hence is considered a routine expedient. In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553,555,188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA 1975).
Furthermore, since applicants have not disclosed that these modifications solve any stated problem or are for any particular purpose and it appears that the device would perform equally well with either designs, these modifications are a matter of design choice. Absent a teaching as to criticality of this particular arrangement, since the instant specification and evidence of record fail to attribute any significance (novel or unexpected results) to a particular arrangement. (MPEP § 2144.04-VI-C.).
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) in view of Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413) and Peterson (US Patent No. 3838234).
Regarding Claim 4, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle fails to teach that the hinge arm receiver has an inside surface, the electrical contact is mounted to the inside surface of the hinge arm receiver, and the electrical contact comprises a spring that urges the electrical contact away from the inside surface.
Peterson teaches a hinge with an electrical circuit (Abstract, Hinge with an electrical circuit) where the hinge arm receiver has an inside surface (Figure 7, Bore 52 has an inside surface), the electrical contact is mounted to the inside surface of the hinge arm receiver (Figure 7, Blade 68 are mounted inside Bore 52), and the electrical contact comprises a spring that urges the electrical contact away from the inside surface (Figure 7 and Col 4 Line 26-40, Blade 68 is spring loaded to push against one of the slip rings 40 when the hinge H is assembled and away from inside surface).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate springs as stated by Peterson. The spring help push and align the blades with the slip rings to create the electrical connection (Col 4 Line 35-45, Spring).
Regarding Claim 5, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle fails to teach that the spring urges the electrical contact toward the conductor pad when the door is in the installed position on the hinge such that the electrical contact touches the conductor pad and makes the electrical connection.
Peterson teaches a hinge with an electrical circuit (Abstract, Hinge with an electrical circuit) where the spring urges the electrical contact toward the conductor pad when the door is in the installed position on the hinge such that the electrical contact touches the conductor pad and makes the electrical connection (Figure 7 and Col 4 Line 26-40, Blade 68 is spring loaded to push against one of the slip rings 40 when the hinge H is assembled by inserting contact spindle in to Bore 52).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate springs as stated by Peterson. The spring help push and align the blades with the slip rings to create the electrical connection (Col 4 Line 35-45, Spring).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) in view of Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413), Lee (US Patent No. 20190316778), and Jell (US Patent No. 20220195772).
Regarding Claim 6, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle fails to teach an opening sensor that senses that the door is in a position other than the closed position, wherein the opening sensor sends a signal to a controller and interrupt a power supply to the door as a result of the door being in the position other than the closed position.
Lee teaches an appliance with a hinge (Abstract, Appliance with a hinge) where an opening sensor that senses that the door is in a position other than the closed position, wherein the opening sensor sends a signal to a controller (Figure 3-4 and 6a-b and Paragraph 42 and 54, Sensor module 40 has Sensor 410 for detecting whether the door 20 is opened or closed, therefore detects whether hinge body 310 is retracted or not since it moves with the door and sends signals to the controller).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate a sensor as stated by Lee. The sensor helps detect whether the door is open or closed (Paragraph 29, Sensor).
Mizerski in view of Elkasevic, Fowle and Lee fails to teach interrupting a power supply to the door as a result of the door being in the position other than the closed position.
Jell teaches an appliance with a hinge (Abstract, Appliance with Hinge) where it interrupts a power supply to the door as a result of the door being in the position other than the closed position (Paragraph 50-51, The energy transmission device 5 is able to operate as a door switch and sense when the door is open or closed, power is interrupted when the door is in the open position).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic, Fowle and Lee to incorporate an energy transmission device as stated by Jell. The energy transmission device helps detect whether the door is open or closed and controls the power supplied to the door (Paragraph 50-51, The energy transmission device).
Claims 9-10, 15, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) in view of Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413).
Regarding Claim 9, A door hinge assembly for a domestic appliance (Figure 1 and Paragraph 1-2, Domestic appliance with a Door 30 and a Hinge assembly 100), the assembly comprising: a hinge body configured to connect to a main body of the appliance (Figure 1 and Paragraph 1-2, Domestic appliance with a Door 30 and a Hinge assembly 100 that has a foot 120 that is attached to the main body of the appliance); a hinge arm pivotably connected to the hinge body (Figure 1-3 and Paragraph 26, Foot 120 acting as hinge body is pivotally attached to rod 400 that acts as hinge arm); a hinge arm receiver configured to be mounted to the door and configured to removably receive the hinge arm (Figure 1-3 and Paragraph 26, Hinge Body 110 acting as an arm receiver is mounted on Door 30 and receives rod 400); where the hinge comprises a pivot pin around which the hinge arm pivots relative to the main body (Figure 7-8 and Paragraph 27-30, Curved Slots 710 and 810 of Hinge Assembly 100 engage with Pin 114 to move rod 400 and door between an open and closed positon relative to foot 120 acting as hinge body).
Elkasevic fails to teach an electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm; and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device.
Mizerski teaches a domestic appliance (Figure 1, Oven 1): a main body (Figure 1, Body 2); with an electrical conductor pad (Page 5, Conducting element in Hinge Housing 6), an electrical contact that is electrically connected to the electrical device (Page 5, Conducting elements in Hinge Housing 6 are connected to Conductive Side Strips of the door and are connected to module MU).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Elkasevic to incorporate an electrical contact and an electrical conductor pad as stated Mizerski. The electrical contact and electrical conductor pad create a communication path between the Modules (Figure 1, Communication Path)
Elkasevic in view of Mizerski fails to teach the arrangement of having the electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm; and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device.
Fowle teaches a hinge assembly (Abstract, A Hinge Assembly) with an electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm (Figure 2 and 5-6, electrical connector 222 are on Hinge Pin 106 which reads as a hinge arm); and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device (Figure 2 and 5-6, electrical connector 344 are on connector 140 which reads as a hinge arm receivers as it receives the Hinge Pin 106).
While the combination does not teach that the conductor pad is located remotely from the pivot pin. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Elkasevic in view of Mizerski and Fowle to incorporate the arrangement of the electrical conductor pad, electrical contact, the hinge arm, pivot pin, and the hinge arm receiver. The courts have held that rearrangement of parts requires only ordinary skill in the art and hence is considered a routine expedient. In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553,555,188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA 1975).
Furthermore, since applicants have not disclosed that these modifications solve any stated problem or are for any particular purpose and it appears that the device would perform equally well with either designs, these modifications are a matter of design choice. Absent a teaching as to criticality of this particular arrangement, since the instant specification and evidence of record fail to attribute any significance (novel or unexpected results) to a particular arrangement. (MPEP § 2144.04-VI-C.).
Regarding Claim 10, Elkasevic in view of Fowle fails to teach that the conductor pad on the hinge arm comprises a plurality of electrical conductor pads, each of the conductor pads is configured to make the electrical connection with the electrical contact.
Mizerski teaches a domestic appliance (Figure 1, Oven 1) that the conductor pad on the hinge arm comprises a plurality of electrical conductor pads, each of the conductor pads is configured to make the electrical connection with the electrical contact (Mizerski: Page 5, Conducting elements in Hinge Housing 6 are electrically connected to Conductive Side Strips of the door and are connected to module MU.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Elkasevic in view of Fowle to incorporate an electrical contact and an electrical conductor pad as stated Mizerski. The electrical contact and electrical conductor pad create a communication path between the Modules (Figure 1, Communication Path).
Regrading Claim 15, Elkasevic in view of Mizerski and Fowle teaches that the hinge arm further comprises a curved slot, and the pivot pin travels in the curved slot when the hinge arm moves between a fully retracted position and a position other than the fully retracted position (Elkasevic: Figure 7-8 and Paragraph 27-30, Curved Slots 710 and 810 of Hinge Assembly 100 engage with Pin 114 to move rod 400 and door between an open and closed positon).
Regarding Claim 21, Elkasevic in view of Mizerski fails to teach that the conductor pad is in a fixed location relative to the hinge arm when the door is in the installed position on the hinge arm, and the electrical contact is in a fixed location relative to the hinge arm when the door is in the installed position on the hinge arm.
Fowle teaches a hinge assembly (Abstract, A Hinge Assembly) where the conductor pad is in a fixed location relative to the hinge arm when the door is in the installed position on the hinge arm, (Figure 2 and 5-8 and 10, electrical connector 222 are on Hinge Pin 106, which reads as a hinge arm, and is fixed relative to the hinge arm); and the electrical contact is in a fixed location relative to the hinge arm when the door is in the installed position on the hinge arm (Figure 2 and 5-8 and 10, electrical connector 344 are on connector 140 which reads as a hinge arm receivers as it receives the Hinge Pin 106 and it fixed relative to the hinge pin 106 which reads as hinge arm).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Elkasevic in view of Mizerski to incorporate the arrangement of the electrical conductor pad, electrical contact, and the hinge arm as stated in Fowle. The courts have held that rearrangement of parts requires only ordinary skill in the art and hence is considered a routine expedient. In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553,555,188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA 1975).
Furthermore, since applicants have not disclosed that these modifications solve any stated problem or are for any particular purpose and it appears that the device would perform equally well with either designs, these modifications are a matter of design choice. Absent a teaching as to criticality of this particular arrangement, since the instant specification and evidence of record fail to attribute any significance (novel or unexpected results) to a particular arrangement. (MPEP § 2144.04-VI-C.).
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) in view of Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413) and Peterson (US Patent No. 3838234).
Regarding Claim 11, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle fails to teach that the hinge arm receiver has an inside surface, the electrical contact is mounted to the inside surface of the hinge arm receiver, and the electrical contact comprises a spring that urges the electrical contact away from the inside surface.
Peterson teaches a hinge with an electrical circuit (Abstract, Hinge with an electrical circuit) where the hinge arm receiver has an inside surface (Figure 7, Bore 52 has an inside surface), the electrical contact is mounted to the inside surface of the hinge arm receiver (Figure 7, Blade 68 are mounted inside Bore 52), and the electrical contact comprises a spring that urges the electrical contact away from the inside surface (Figure 7 and Col 4 Line 26-40, Blade 68 is spring loaded to push against one of the slip rings 40 when the hinge H is assembled and away from inside surface).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate springs as stated by Peterson. The spring help push and align the blades with the slip rings to create the electrical connection (Col 4 Line 35-45, Spring).
Regarding Claim 12, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle fails to teach that the spring urges the electrical contact toward the conductor pad when the door is in the installed position on the hinge such that the electrical contact touches the conductor pad and makes the electrical connection.
Peterson teaches a hinge with an electrical circuit (Abstract, Hinge with an electrical circuit) where the spring urges the electrical contact toward the conductor pad when the hinge arm receiver is in an installed position on the hinge arm such that the electrical contact touches the conductor pad. (Figure 7 and Col 4 Line 26-40, Blade 68 is spring loaded to push against one of the slip rings 40 when the hinge H is assembled by inserting contact spindle in to Bore 52).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate springs as stated by Peterson. The spring help push and align the blades with the slip rings to create the electrical connection (Col 4 Line 35-45, Spring).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) in view of Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413) and Lee (US Patent No. 20190316778).
Regarding Claim 13, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle fails to teach an opening sensor that senses that the hinge arm is in a position relative to the hinge body other than a fully retracted position.
Lee teaches an appliance with a hinge (Abstract, Appliance with a hinge) where an opening sensor that senses that the hinge arm is in a position relative to the hinge body other than a fully retracted position (Figure 3-4 and 6a-b and Paragraph 42, Sensor module 40 has Sensor 410 for detecting whether the door 20 is opened or closed, therefore detects whether hinge body 310 is retracted or not since it moves with the dour).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate a sensor as stated by Lee. The sensor helps detect whether the door is open or closed (Paragraph 29, Sensor).
Claims 16-17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) in view of Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413).
Regarding Claim 16, A door hinge assembly for a domestic appliance (Figure 1 and Paragraph 1-2, Domestic appliance with a Door 30 and a Hinge assembly 100), the assembly comprising: a door, a hinge body configured to connect to a main body of the appliance (Figure 1 and Paragraph 1-2, Domestic appliance with a Door 30 and a Hinge assembly 100 that has a foot 120 that is attached to the main body of the appliance); a hinge arm pivotably connected to the hinge body (Figure 1-3 and Paragraph 26, Foot 120 acting as hinge body is pivotally attached to rod 400 that acts as hinge arm); a hinge arm receiver configured to be mounted to the door and configured to removably receive the hinge arm (Figure 1-3 and Paragraph 26, Hinge Body 110 acting as an arm receiver is mounted on Door 30 and receives rod 400); where the hinge comprises a pivot pin around which the hinge arm pivots relative to the main body (Figure 7-8 and Paragraph 27-30, Curved Slots 710 and 810 of Hinge Assembly 100 engage with Pin 114 to move rod 400 and door between an open and closed positon relative to foot 120 acting as hinge body).
Elkasevic fails to teach an electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm; and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device.
Mizerski teaches a domestic appliance (Figure 1, Oven 1): a main body (Figure 1, Body 2); with an electrical conductor pad (Page 5, Conducting element in Hinge Housing 6), an electrical contact that is electrically connected to the electrical device (Page 5, Conducting elements in Hinge Housing 6 are connected to Conductive Side Strips of the door and are connected to module MU).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Elkasevic to incorporate an electrical contact and an electrical conductor pad as stated Mizerski. The electrical contact and electrical conductor pad create a communication path between the Modules (Figure 1, Communication Path)
Elkasevic in view of Mizerski fails to teach the arrangement of having the electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm; and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device.
Fowle teaches a hinge assembly (Abstract, A Hinge Assembly) with an electrical conductor pad on the hinge arm (Figure 2 and 5-6, electrical connector 222 are on Hinge Pin 106 which reads as a hinge arm); and an electrical contact on the hinge arm receiver that is electrically connected to the electrical device (Figure 2 and 5-6, electrical connector 344 are on connector 140 which reads as a hinge arm receivers as it receives the Hinge Pin 106), the electrical contact making an electrical connection with the conductor pad when the hinge arm receiver is in an installed position on the hinge arm (Figure 2 and 5-6, electrical connector 222 and electrical connector 344 are on connected when Hinge Pin 106 which reads as a hinge arm is connected to Connector 140 which reads as a hinge arm receiver.).
While the combination does not teach that the conductor pad is located remotely from the pivot pin. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Elkasevic in view of Mizerski and Fowle to incorporate the arrangement of the electrical conductor pad, electrical contact, the hinge arm, pivot pin, and the hinge arm receiver. The courts have held that rearrangement of parts requires only ordinary skill in the art and hence is considered a routine expedient. In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553,555,188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA 1975).
Furthermore, since applicants have not disclosed that these modifications solve any stated problem or are for any particular purpose and it appears that the device would perform equally well with either designs, these modifications are a matter of design choice. Absent a teaching as to criticality of this particular arrangement, since the instant specification and evidence of record fail to attribute any significance (novel or unexpected results) to a particular arrangement. (MPEP § 2144.04-VI-C.).
Regarding Claim 17, Elkasevic in view of Fowle fails to teach that the conductor pad on the hinge arm comprises a plurality of electrical conductor pads, each of the conductor pads is configured to make the electrical connection with the electrical contact.
Mizerski teaches a domestic appliance (Figure 1, Oven 1) that the conductor pad on the hinge arm comprises a plurality of electrical conductor pads, each of the conductor pads is configured to make the electrical connection with the electrical contact (Mizerski: Page 5, Conducting elements in Hinge Housing 6 are electrically connected to Conductive Side Strips of the door and are connected to module MU.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Elkasevic in view of Fowle to incorporate an electrical contact and an electrical conductor pad as stated Mizerski. The electrical contact and electrical conductor pad create a communication path between the Modules (Figure 1, Communication Path).
Regarding Claim 20, Elkasevic in view of Mizerski and Fowle teaches that the hinge arm further comprises a curved slot (Elkasevic: Figure 8, Curved Slots 710 and 810 of Hinge Assembly 100), and the pivot pin travels in the curved slot when the hinge arm moves between a fully retracted position and a position other than the fully retracted position (Elkasevic: Figure 7-8 and Paragraph 27-30, Curved Slots 710 and 810 of Hinge Assembly 100 engage with Pin 114 to move rod 400 and door between an open and closed positon).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) in view of Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413) and Peterson (US Patent No. 3838234).
Regarding Claim 18, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle fails to teach that the hinge arm receiver has an inside surface, the electrical contact is mounted to the inside surface of the hinge arm receiver, and the electrical contact comprises a spring that urges the electrical contact away from the inside surface.
Peterson teaches a hinge with an electrical circuit (Abstract, Hinge with an electrical circuit) where the hinge arm receiver has an inside surface (Figure 7, Bore 52 has an inside surface), the electrical contact is mounted to the inside surface of the hinge arm receiver (Figure 7, Blade 68 are mounted inside Bore 52), and the electrical contact comprises a spring that urges the electrical contact away from the inside surface (Figure 7 and Col 4 Line 26-40, Blade 68 is spring loaded to push against one of the slip rings 40 when the hinge H is assembled and away from inside surface), where the spring urges the electrical contact toward the conductor pad when the hinge arm receiver is in an installed position on the hinge arm such that the electrical contact touches the conductor pad. (Figure 7 and Col 4 Line 26-40, Blade 68 is spring loaded to push against one of the slip rings 40 when the hinge H is assembled by inserting contact spindle in to Bore 52).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate springs as stated by Peterson. The spring help push and align the blades with the slip rings to create the electrical connection (Col 4 Line 35-45, Spring).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elkasevic (US Patent No. 20130312219) in view of Mizerski (WO Patent No. 2020046151) and further in view of Fowle (US Patent No. 9935413) and Lee (US Patent No. 20190316778).
Regarding Claim 19, Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle fails to teach an opening sensor that senses that the hinge arm is in a position relative to the hinge body other than a fully retracted position.
Lee teaches an appliance with a hinge (Abstract, Appliance with a hinge) where an opening sensor that senses that the hinge arm is in a position relative to the hinge body other than a fully retracted position (Figure 3-4 and 6a-b and Paragraph 42, Sensor module 40 has Sensor 410 for detecting whether the door 20 is opened or closed, therefore detects whether hinge body 310 is retracted or not since it moves with the dour).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate a sensor as stated by Lee. The sensor helps detect whether the door is open or closed (Paragraph 29, Sensor).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on April 7th, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The amended portions are geared toward arrangement of components. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Mizerski in view of Elkasevic and Fowle to incorporate the arrangement of the electrical conductor pad, electrical contact, the hinge arm, pivot pin, and the hinge arm receiver. Furthermore, the courts have held that rearrangement of parts requires only ordinary skill in the art and hence is considered a routine expedient. In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553,555,188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA 1975).
Conclusion
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 HAMZEH HICHAM AMIN whose telephone number is (571)272-4235. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, IBRAHIME ABRAHAM can be reached at (571) 270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HAMZEH HICHAM AMIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/JUSTIN C DODSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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