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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I (claims 1-10 and 13-18) in the reply filed on 01/20/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-10 and 13-18 are treated on the merit. Non-elected claims 11-12 and 19 are withdrawn from consideration. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
Claim(s) 1-10, 13-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN1451908A cited by applicant, in view of KR860003348Y1. Regarding claim 1, CN1451908A discloses a cooking appliance comprising a main body (1) having a cooking chamber (3) therein and open at a front side thereof; a door (30) provided to the front side of the main body to open or close the cooking chamber (3); a door knob (21) comprises press part (disclosing a door button) capable of being pressed by user manipulation to move to a pressed position to allow the door to be opened; and a locking means (50, disclosing a manipulation button) selectively restricting movement of the door button. CN1451908A does not disclose the manipulation button. KR860003348Y1 discloses a door button (15) capable of being pressed by user manipulation to move to a pressed position to allow the door to be opened; and a locking mechanism selectively restricting movement of the door button (15), wherein the locking mechanism comprises a locking rod (10) allowing change of a posture of the locking mechanism to a locking posture restricting movement of the door button (15) to the pressed position and an unlocking posture allowing movement of the door button (15) to the pressed position; and a manipulation button (7) capable of being pressed by the user manipulation to change the posture of the locking rod (10) from the locking posture (Figure 2) to the unlocking posture (Figure 1). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to utilize in CN1451908A the locking mechanism comprises a locking rod allowing change of a posture of the locking mechanism to a locking posture restricting movement of the door button to the pressed position and an unlocking posture allowing movement of the door button to the pressed position; and a manipulation button capable of being pressed by the user manipulation to change the posture of the locking rod from the locking posture to the unlocking posture as taught by KR860003348Y1 in order to provide the door with locking and unlocking for the heating chamber. Regarding claims 2-3 and 13, KR860003348Y1 discloses the locking mechanism further comprises a button housing (15) coupled to the main body, the manipulation button (7) to move in a direction in the button housing to change the posture of the locking rod (10) when pressed by the user manipulation; and the posture of the manipulation button is changed to one of a posture allowing movement of the manipulation button (7, Figure 1) in the direction and a posture restricting movement of the manipulation button (7, figure 2) in the direction upon rotation of the manipulation button. Regarding claims 4-7, KR860003348Y1 discloses the button housing (15) includes a latch groove at one end of the button housing in the movement direction of the manipulation button (7), and the manipulation button (7) further comprises a latch protrusion (21) protruding from the fitting shaft to be insertable into the latch groove (9), the latch protrusion (21) movable along with the fitting shaft in the direction to one of an insertion position in which the latch protrusion (21) is inserted into the latch groove (9) and a separation position in which the latch protrusion (21) is separated from the latch groove (9). Regarding claim 8, KR860003348Y1 discloses the locking rod (10) comprises: a rotational shaft (2) rotatable about an axis; a locking protrusion (8) to restrict movement of the door button from behind the door button (15) at a locking position and allowing movement of the door button by being moved to an unlocking position (Figure 2), the locking protrusion connected to the rotational shaft (2) to move between the locking position (Figure 2) and the unlocking position (Figure 1) in conjunction with a rotation of the rotational shaft (2); and a connection protrusion extending from the rotational shaft (2) to connect with the manipulation button (7) and moved to rotate the rotational shaft (2) in conjunction with a movement of the manipulation button (7). Regarding claim 9, KR860003348Y1 discloses the connection protrusion protrudes from the rotational shaft (2); the manipulation button (7) is disposed at one side of the connection protrusion, the manipulation button (7) movable in a lateral direction; and the connection protrusion is moved in a rotational direction of the rotational shaft (2) in conjunction with the lateral movement of the manipulation button (7). ). Regarding claim 10, KR860003348Y1 discloses when the locking rod (10) has the locking posture (Figure 2), at least a portion of the locking rod (10) is disposed on a movement path of the door button, and when the locking rod (10) has the unlocking posture (Figure 1), the locking rod deviates from the movement path of the door button (15). Regarding claim 14, CN1451908A discloses a control panel (7) disposed at a front side of the main body (1) and placed at one side of the door (30), wherein the control panel (7) includes a door button-insertion hole penetrating the control panel in a front-rear direction such that the door button (21, Figure 3) is inserted into the door button- insertion hole to be movable at the control panel (7) in the front-rear direction, the control panel (7) comprising a front surface forming a plane parallel to the door (30) and an inner surface extending backward from the front surface and surrounding the door button-insertion hole (Figure 3), and the edge protrusion extends backward from the pressing plane while forming a plane parallel to the inner surface (Figure 3). Regarding claim 15, KR860003348Y1 discloses the inner surface includes a through-hole disposed between the manipulation button (7) and the door button-insertion hole to pass through the inner surface in the lateral direction (Figures 1-2); and at least a portion of the locking rod (8) protrudes to a region (9) between the rear support plane and the edge protrusion through the through-hole at the locking position. Regarding claim 16, CN1451908A discloses a latch mechanism (51) provided at the door (30) to couple to the main body (1); and a power transmission panel (7) capable of moving to a coupling position and an uncoupling position (Figure 2), wherein when the latch mechanism (51) is coupled to the main body(1) to secure the door (30) a closing position, the power transmission panel (7) at the coupling position allows coupling between the latch mechanism (51) and the main body (1) and when the door button (21) is moved to the pressed position, the power transmission panel (7) is moved to the uncoupling position in which coupling between the latch mechanism (51) and the main body (1) is released. Regarding claim 17, CN1451908A discloses the locking rod comprises: a rotational shaft (11) rotatable about an axis; a latch protrusion (43) to restrict movement of the door button (21) from behind the door button (21) at a locking position and allowing movement of the door button (21) by being moved to an unlocking position (Figure 3), the latch protrusion (43) connected to the rotational shaft (11) to move between the locking position and the unlocking position in conjunction with a rotation of the rotational shaft (11, Figure 3); and a locking rod-securing member (15) extending from the rotational shaft (11), the locking rod- securing member (15) being moved in conjunction with a movement of the latch protrusion (43) and being coupled to the transmission panel to secure the locking rod (10) to the transmission panel (7) when the latch protrusion (43) is placed at the unlocking position.
Claim 18 is 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 prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: CA 3031662C discloses locking mechanism and door opening control method.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG T VAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4789. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-6:00.
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/QUANG T VAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 March 12, 2026