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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 12, lines 4 recites “the presence; the absence”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 13-15 are also rejected to as being dependent upon claim 12.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lomp (US 2016/0150600).
With respect to the limitations of claim 12, Lomp teaches a control method of an induction heating apparatus (title, abstract) comprising a plurality of working coils (Figs 1, 2, induction heating coils 15a~15h, 0032) and a cookware (Fig 2, pans 29a-c, 0039) sensor (Figs 1, 2, sensor coils 25, 0033) arranged between the plurality of working coils, the control method comprising: detecting the presence or the absence of the cookware (pans 29a-c) on a plate (0006, the induction hob has a hob plate and a plurality of induction heating coils which are arranged under the hob plate) based on a resonance signal (0023, claim 19, resonant frequency) 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 (0039-0043).
Claims 13-15 are also rejected because they are dependent upon claim 12.
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 Fournier (EP1575336). An English machine translation of Fournier (EP1575336) 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.
However, Fournier discloses a plurality of coil bases (Figs 11, 13, support plates 12, 0016, 0017) on which the plurality of working coils (induction coils 2, 0016) is disposed, the plurality of coil bases coupled (U-shaped piece 16, 0017) to each other 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 coil base made of a plurality of coil bases coupled together with the plurality of coil bases on which the plurality of working coils is disposed, the plurality of coil bases coupled to each other of Fournier for the purpose of providing a known coil base configuration that allows for varied cooking zones (0018), 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 and 13-15 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
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 1/12/2026