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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 27 April 2026 has been entered.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sergyenko et al. (US 2022/0240723).
Regarding claim 16, Sergyenko discloses an immersion blender comprising: a housing (11) defining a handle portion, a battery connection portion, and an implement connection portion, the handle portion is located between the battery connection portion and the implement connection portion; an implement (12) including an implement connection port with a track defined between a hook-shaped interlock and a bottom cam surface, and the bottom cam surface is entirely arch-shaped (see Fig. 2); a battery pack containing on or more modules (72 or a portion thereof) selectively coupled to and removable from the housing (see [0044]: "removable"); the implement including a shaft cover extending from the housing along an axis; a shaft located and rotatable in the shaft cover (understood from the term "immersion blender" and reference character 12 in Fig. 1); a motor (70) located in the housing and operably connected to a first end of the shaft; an implement tool operably connected to a second end of the shaft (understood from the term "immersion blender" and reference character 12 in Fig. 1); and a user interface including a power button (24) and a lock button (26) configured to activate the motor only while the power button and the lock button are simultaneously held (see [0037]). The symmetry of the battery pack depicted in Fig. 10 would have suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date that the battery pack includes a center of mass aligned with an axis extending through the housing along which the shaft cover extends. Regarding claim 17, the implement connection portion defines a handle connection port that includes a protrusion that is guided by the bottom cam surface into engagement with the hook-shaped interlock (see Fig. 2). Regarding claim 18, Sergyenko does not disclose a biasing member exactly as claimed, however, biasing member (322) is disclosed and serves as evidence that utilizing a biasing member would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date.
Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Sergyenko et al. (US 2022/0240723) in view of DynamixNomad. The blender of Sergyenko was discussed above and while claims 16-18 are considered anticipated by Sergyenko alone, it is noted that DynamixNomad shows more explicitly the conventional manner in which a shaft of an immersion blender passes through a shaft cover and attaches to an implement tool (see especially page 25).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5, 7-15, 19 and 20 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
While most of the claims are allowed, claims 16-18 remain rejected.
The symmetry of the battery pack depicted in Fig. 10 would have suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date that the battery pack includes a center of mass aligned with an axis extending through the housing along which the shaft cover extends.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID L SORKIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1148. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-3:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Claire X Wang can be reached at (571) 270-1051. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DAVID L. SORKIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1774
/DAVID L SORKIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1774
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