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 .
Priority
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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities: line 10 recites “coils.”, which should be amended to “coils[[.]];”. Claim 13, line 4 recite “cookware sensor; and” which should be amended to “cookware sensor[[;]]. . Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-11, 13 and 15 are also objected to because they are dependent upon claims 1 and 13.
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.
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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Lomp (US 2016/0150600) in view of Daehee (KR20190109106). An English machine translation of Daehee (KR20190109106) is include with the Notice of Reference Cited (PTO-892).
With respect to the limitations of claim 1, Lomp teaches an induction heating apparatus (title, abstract) comprising: a plate (0006, the induction hob has a hob plate and a plurality of induction heating coils which are arranged under the hob plate) on which a cookware (Fig 2, pan 29a, 0039) is placed; a plurality of working coils (induction heating coils 15a~15h, 0032) disposed below the plate; a coil base (carrier plate 13, 0030) on which the plurality of working coils (15a~15h) is disposed; a cookware sensor disposed between (Figs 1, 2, sensor coils 25, 0033) the plurality of working coils; and a controller (all the sensor coils 25 are connected to a controller of the induction hob 11, 0036) configured to detect a presence or an absence of the cookware (pans 29a-c, 0039) on the plate based on a resonance signal generated by at least one of the plurality of working coils or the cookware sensor (0023, claim 19, resonant frequency), and configured to select a heating coil to be used for heating the cookware among the plurality of working coils (0039-0043).
Lomp discloses the claimed invention except for a plurality of coil bases on which the plurality of working coils is disposed, the plurality of coil bases coupled to each other; each of the plurality of coil bases comprises a base plate; and at least one coupler protruding from the base plate and configured to vertically couple a first coil base among the plurality of coil bases to a second coil base among the plurality of coil bases.
However, Daehee discloses a plurality of coil bases (Figs 1-4, plate modules 100, 0024) on which the plurality of working coils (heating portion 120, 0024) is disposed, the plurality of coil bases coupled to each other (Fig 4); each of the plurality of coil bases comprises a base plate (plate modules 100); and at least one coupler protruding from (second uneven joint portion 132, 0029) the base plate and configured to vertically couple a first coil base among the plurality of coil bases to a second coil base (first uneven joint portion 131, 0029, 0030, when the second uneven joint part (132) of the footrest part (110) is joined to the first uneven joint part (131) of the adjacent footrest part (110A), the protrusion (132a) is inserted into the recessed groove (131a), so that the footrest module (100) and the adjacent footrest module (100A) can be connected to each other) among the plurality of coil bases is known in the art. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to adapt the induction heating apparatus of Lomp having a coil base silent to the recited coupler with a plurality of coil bases on which the plurality of working coils is disposed, the plurality of coil bases coupled to each other; each of the plurality of coil bases comprises a base plate; and at least one coupler protruding from the base plate and configured to vertically couple a first coil base among the plurality of coil bases to a second coil base among the plurality of coil bases of Daehee for the purpose of providing a known coil base configuration that allows for the plurality of coil bases to be operationally connected to each other (0030), thereby improving the overall versatility of the device.
With respect to the limitations of claims 10 and 11, Lomp teaches the controller is configured to select two working coils, which are adjacent to the cookware sensor among the plurality of working coils, as the heating coil in response to the detection of the cookware by the cookware sensor (Figs 1, 2, pan 29a, sensor coils 25ab, 25ab′, 25ef, 25ae and 25bf as well as 25a and 25b, 0039, pan 29a is therefore heated only by means of the two upper induction heating coils 15a and 15b);
the controller is configured to detect the presence or the absence of the cookware on the plate by using the plurality of working coils, based on the detection failure of the cookware by the cookware sensor (0039, since none of the sensor coils 25e or 25ef′ which is otherwise also associated with the induction heating coil 15e detects the presence of a pan above it), the controller is configured to select a working coil, which detects the cookware among the plurality of working coils, as the heating coil (0039-0041).
Claims 2-9 are also rejected because they are dependent upon claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9 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.
Claim 12 is allowed.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance: allowance of the claims is indicated because none of the prior art of record, alone or in combination, appears to teach, or fairly suggest or render obvious the invention of the claims or recited allowable subject matter in claim 12.
Claim 12 recites a control method of an induction heating apparatus comprising a plurality of working coils and a cookware sensor arranged between the plurality of working coils, the control method comprising:
detecting the a presence or an absence of the cookware on a plate based on a resonance signal generated by at least one of the plurality of working coils or the cookware sensor; and
selecting a heating coil to be used for heating the cookware among the plurality of working coils, in response to the detection of the cookware,
wherein the plurality of working coils detects the presence or absence of the cookware on the plate based on the detection failure of the cookware by the cookware sensor which the closest cited prior art of Lomp (US 2016/0150600), Fournier (EP1575336) or Daehee (KR20190109106) fails to disclose or render obvious.
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 THIEN S TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7745. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday [8:00-4:00].
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/THIEN S TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 5/27/2026
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