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 6, 8 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6, line 3 recites “cycleis” which should be amended to “cycle is”.
Claim 8, line 5 recites “cycleis” which should be amended to “cycle is”.
Claim 12, line 2 recites “Wherein” which should be changed it “wherein”; line 24 recites “interfaceat” which should be changed to “interface at”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-19 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 1, line 2 recites “the steps”; claim 6, line 3 recites “the range”; claim 7, line 3 recites “the range”; claim 11, line 4 recites “the difference”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16, line 7 recites “the following order”; line 13 recites “the earlier”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-5, 8-10, 11-15 and 17-19 are objected to as being dependent upon claims 1 and 16.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Ueda (US 2011/0259208) in view of Fraccon (US 2007/0104844).
With respect to the limitations of claim 1, Ueda teaches a method for steam cooking food in a cooking appliance (title, abstract), the method comprising the following steps: c) steam cooking food that has been received in the cooking chamber (Figs 6, 7, 0061, when cooking using steam is performed, the water supply tank 20 storing water is mounted. Then, the object W to be cooked is placed on the rack 17a, and upon selection of a cooking menu, the cooking is started) subsequent to step a) by repeatedly executing a first cooking cycle and a second cooking cycle in an alternating manner, during the first cooking cycle, the cooking chamber is heated without injecting steam into the cooking chamber, and during the second cooking cycle, steam is injected into the cooking chamber (Fig 6, shows repeating alternating cycles of a first cooking cycle where a convection heater is on and the water supply pump and steam generating heater is off, and second cooking cycle where the water supply pump and steam generating heater is on and the convention heater is off, 0055), d) finishing the food by heating the cooking chamber without injecting steam into the cooking chamber (Fig 7, 0063, At step #21, the steam generating heaters 4 and the water supply pump 21 are deactivated. At step #22, the convection heater 15 and the circulation fan 16 are driven; 0064). Ueda discloses the claimed invention except for a) preconditioning a cooking chamber of the cooking appliance by heating the cooking chamber to a pre-set temperature.
However, Fraccon discloses a) preconditioning a cooking chamber of the cooking appliance by heating the cooking chamber to a pre-set temperature (Figs 4, 5, stage 1, dry preheat stage, 0028) 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 method of steam cooking food in a cooking appliance of Ueda silent to a preconditioning stage with the preconditioning a cooking chamber of the cooking appliance by heating the cooking chamber to a pre-set temperature of Fraccon for the purpose of performing a known preheating step that allows a cooking chamber to be uniformly heated to a desired temperature that results in a higher quality and more consistent food item (0028).
With respect to the limitations of claims 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10, Ueda teaches during the first cooking cycle, at least one heating element of the cooking appliance is activated in order to heat the cooking chamber (Fig 6, period when convention heater is on), and during the second cooking cycle, either no heating element of the cooking appliance is activated or at least one other heating element of the cooking appliance is activated together with a steam generator of the cooking appliance to supply additional heat to the cooking chamber (Fig 6, period when water supply pump and steam generating heater is on), the at least one other heating element activated during the second cooking cycle is different from the at least one heating element activated during the first cooking cycle (Fig 6, alternating periods of activation for convection heater and steam generating heater);
a ratio between a duration of the first cooking cycle and a duration of the second cooking cycle is in the range between 2.5 to 3.0 (Fig 6, shows duration of first cooking cycle is about 2.5 time duration of second cooking cycle);
at least one heating element activated during the first cooking cycle is a convection heating element (Fig 6, convection heater); and/or at least one other heating element activated during the second cooking cycle is a bottom heating element configured to supply heat to the cooking chamber from a bottom side of the cavity, and/or at least one heating element used in step d) is a top heating element configured to supply heat to the cooking chamber from a top side of the cavity;
a fan of the cooking appliance is activated for circulating air inside the cooking chamber (Figs 5, 6, circulation fan 16, convection heater 15, 0013, 0023, 0035) during step a) and/or c) and/or d);
heating the cooking chamber and/or steam injection into the cooking chamber is/are controlled dependent on a measured temperature in the cooking chamber according to a predefined temperature value (0010-0012, 0028; Fig 5, temperature sensor 5) and/or profile associated with the cooking method.
With respect to the limitations of claims 3, 4, 5, 6 and 12, Ueda in view of Fraccon discloses step a) comprises heating up a steam generator of the cooking appliance towards a desired operational condition (Fraccon, Fig 4, prehumidfy stage where the steam system 44 activates to heat the water, such as by the boiler 46, to prehumidify the cavity 14 (step 56), 0010, 0029);
step a) comprises executing, in an alternating manner, at least a first preconditioning cycle and a second preconditioning cycle, in the first preconditioning cycle, at least one heating element of the cooking appliance is used to heat the cooking chamber (Fraccon, Fig 4, stage 1, preheating cooking cavity to firs temperature), and in the second preconditioning cycle, at least one steam generator of the cooking appliance is activated (Fraccon, Fig 4, prehumidfy stage where the steam system 44 activates to heat the water, such as by the boiler 46, to prehumidify the cavity 14 (step 56), 0010, 0029);
in the second preconditioning cycle, the at least one steam generator and at least one other heating element of the cooking appliance are used to simultaneously heat the cooking chamber and inject steam into the cooking chamber (Fraccon, Fig 4, Stage 2, heating system 35 maintains the cavity 14 at the first temperature (step 58); prehumidfy stage where the steam system 44 activates to heat the water, such as by the boiler 46, to prehumidify the cavity 14 (step 56), 0010, 0029)), the at least one other heating element activated in the second preconditioning cycle is different from the at least one heating element activated in the first preconditioning cycle (Fraccon, Fig 4, stage 1, preheating cooking cavity to firs temperature);
a ratio between a duration of the first preconditioning cycle and a duration of the second preconditioning cycle is in the range between 2.0 to 2.5 (Fraccon, Fig 5, shows stage 1 duration is about 2.5 the duration of stage 2).
With respect to the limitations of claim 11, Ueda teaches the method furthermore comprising the following step: receiving a user input for a cooking time (0022, oven 10 further comprises a control panel 28 accessible to the user for inputting desired cooking parameters, such as temperature and time). Ueda in view of Fraccon discloses determining a duration of step c) as the difference between the received cooking time and a preset duration of step d), wherein the preset duration of step d) is between 10 and 20 minutes. However, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to determining a duration of step c) as the difference between the received cooking time and a preset duration of step d), wherein the preset duration of step d) is between 10 and 20 minutes, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable cooking step duration ranges involves only routine skill in the art (see MPEP 2144.04);
a selection of the cooking method to be carried out is received from a user interface of the cooking appliance, the method further comprising at least one of the following steps: receiving, via the user interface, at least one temperature setting and/or at least one time duration to be applied (Ueda, 0022, oven 10 further comprises a control panel 28 accessible to the user for inputting desired cooking parameters, such as temperature and time) in at least one of the steps a), c), and d); receiving a start signal for starting the cooking method; issuing, on the user interface, a notification for informing the user about the cooking method selected by the user; issuing, on the user interface a notification informing the user to remove components from the cooking chamber before starting step a); issuing, on the user interface, a notification informing the user to wait to insert food items to be cooked until the step a) has finished (Fraccon, step 66, 0031); issuing, on the user interface, a notification informing the user that the step a) has finished, and prompting the user to insert the food into the cooking chamber (0031, displaying “LOAD” on the control panel 28); issuing on the user interfacea notification informing the user about an upcoming, an ongoing, and/or a finished operation according to any of steps a), c), and d); receiving from the user interfacea user confirmation to confirm at least one of the operations according to step a) or c) or d), and to start a corresponding operation in response to receiving the user confirmation; and/or displaying, on the user interface at least one of a cooking time and a remaining cooking time for at least one of the steps a), c), and) (Fraccon, 0022, sends output to the control panel 28 for displaying a status of the oven 10 or otherwise communicating with the baker.
With respect to the limitations of claim 13, Ueda in view of Fraccon discloses a control unit configured (Ueda, Fig 5, control portion 50, 0041), when installed in a cooking appliance, to control the cooking appliance to perform the cooking method according to claim 1 (as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above).
With respect to the limitations of claim 14, Ueda in view of Fraccon discloses a cooking appliance for cooking food, the cooking appliance comprising: a cooking cavity with a cooking chamber configured to receive food (Ueda, Figs 1, 2, 5, heating chamber 11, object W, 0038, 0039); one or more heating elements (Ueda, convection heater 15, 0039) configured for heating the cooking chamber; one or more steam generators operatively coupled to the cavity for supplying steam (Ueda, steam generating device 1, 0044, 0045) to the cooking chamber; and the control unit (Ueda, Fig 5, control portion 50, 0041) according to claim 13.
With respect to the limitations of claim 15, Ueda in view of Fraccon discloses a computer program product, comprising instructions (Ueda, 0054, databases on operation programs) that, when read and executed by a processor (Ueda, control portion 50) operatively coupled to a cooking appliance comprising a cooking cavity (Ueda, Figs 1, 2, 5, heating chamber 11, object W, 0038, 0039), at least one heating element (Ueda, convection heater 15, 0039) and at least one steam generator (Ueda, steam generating device 1, 0044, 0045), to perform the cooking method of claim 1 (as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 16 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
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 2/2/2026