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 of Invention III in the reply filed on 04/10/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
During a telephone conversation with Scott A. Stinebruner (Reg. No. 38,323) on 05/07/2026, a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute Species 6 and 7 (Applicant’s Representative indicated that Species 6 and 7 are usable together and requested rejoinder), claims 15-22. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claims 23-31 withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
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 15-22 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 15 recites the limitation "the reduced crock" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 16-22 are rejected by their dependencies.
Claim 20 recites the limitation "the at least one side wall" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The Examiner respectfully notes that while “the housing” has at least one side wall and “the reduced volume crock” has at least one side wall, it cannot be said that “the heating element support” has a side wall, it is unknown to which “the at least one side wall” the claim is referring, and renders the claim indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter the inventor regards as the invention.
The term “substantially” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite; it is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. “substantially” is defined as “consisting of or relating to substance” (see Merriam Webster online dictionary). This language is indefinite as the specification does not describe how much the term “substantially” modifies a target, and implicitly requires boundaries at some maximum value above the target and at some minimum value below the target beyond which one is not “substantially” the target any more.
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.
Claims 15-19 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stewart et al. (US PGPUB 2020/0187697 A1) in view of McClean et al. (WO 2017/210736 A1).
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Regarding claim 15, Stewart et al. discloses a pressure cooker (20), comprising:
a housing (22) including an inner wall (23) defining an outer chamber (30), the inner wall including at least one side wall (see annotated Fig. 3A above) and a bottom wall (see annotated Fig. 3A above);
a reduced volume crock (24, the container) supported within the outer chamber of the housing (Fig. 3A), the reduced crock including at least one side wall (see annotated Fig. 3A above) and a bottom wall (see annotated Fig. 3A above) defining a cooking camber (33), and the bottom wall of the reduced volume crock physically separated from the bottom wall of the inner wall of the housing (Fig. 3A);
a lid (37, [0087]) removably secured to the housing and configured to seal the cooking chamber (“However, embodiments where the secondary lid 37 is configured to couple to at least one of the housing 22 and container 24 in another suitable manner, such as via a pressure tight mechanism for example, are also contemplated herein.” [0087]);
a heating element (82) coupled to the housing proximate the bottom wall of the inner wall of the housing (Fig. 3A).
However, Stewart et al. does not disclose, “a heating element support configured to selectively elevate the heating element within the outer chamber to supply heat to heat to the reduced volume crock during a pressure cooking operation”
Stewart et al. does disclose, “to supply heat to the reduced volume crock during a pressure cooking operation” see [0092] “As best shown in FIG. 7, the cooking system 20 includes at least one first heating element 82 and at least one second heating element 84 configured to impart heat to the hollow interior and/or container 24 during various modes of operation of the cooking system 20.”
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McClean et al. teaches, in the field of cooking appliances with removable cooking vessels (102), a heating element (103) support (Fig. 4) configured to selectively elevate the heating element within the outer chamber (the Examiner notes the difference between Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the pressure cooker of Stewart et al. to have an adjustable heating element support as taught by McClean et al., and one of ordinary skill would appreciate that, “According to an aspect of the technology, there is provided a slow cooking appliance device including: a body that receives within it a removable cooking vessel; the base supporting a vertically movable heating element; the movable heating element having an upper position in which it is in conductive thermal contact with an underside of the vessel and a lowered position in which a gap is formed between the movable heating element and the underside; and a mechanism within the base for raising and lowering the movable heating element.
Accordingly, there is provided an electrical slow cooker with searing functionality having a removable cooking vessel under which is located a heating plate that is removable between two cooking position limits. (Pg. 4:22-5:6)”
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Stewart et al. and McClean et al. teach all of claim 15 as above, wherein the heating element support is manually operable to selectively elevate the heating element within the outer chamber (McClean et al.; Fig. 15-18, “The searing and slow cooking functionality that has been previously discussed is also achievable in an embodiment where the heating element and its heating plate are adjustable manually rather than electrically. As suggested previously, the same mechanism that can raise and lower the heating plate maybe also used to raise and lower a cooking vessel relative to the stationary heating plate. A manually adjustable heating plate and a searing slow cooker is disclosed, by way of example, in FIG. 15 through FIG. 18. In the example of FIG. 15, the outer surface 1500 of the base has a slot such a horizontal slot 1501 through which protrudes a mechanical handle or slider at 1502. FIG. 15 also suggests that the interface can be reduced in complexity with a provision of a selector knob having discreet rotational positions for different regulated cooking temperature such as low, medium and high 1504. In this example an indicator light is provided for indicating when the "keep warm" is enabled 1505. In this example, the slot and slider 1501, 1502 are located symmetrically below the selection knob 1503.” (Pg. 19:3-17))
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Stewart et al. and McClean et al. teach all of claim 16 as above, wherein the heating element support includes a user control accessible externally from the housing (McClean et al.; Fig. 15, 1502) to selectively elevate the heating element (McClean et al., Fig. 15).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Stewart et al. and McClean et al. teach all of claim 17 as above, wherein the user control is a lever or an arm (McClean et al.; Fig. 16, 1502) that moves along a slot (McClean et al., 1501) in the housing.
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Stewart et al. and McClean et al. teach all of claim 15 as above, wherein the heating element support includes an electromechanical lift mechanism (McClean et al.; Fig. 4, 204 “electric motor”).
Regarding claim 21, the combination of Stewart et al. and McClean et al. teach all of claim 15 as above, wherein the heating element support includes a bias mechanism (McClean et al.; Fig. 4, 404) that biases the heating element to an elevated position (McClean et al.; Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Stewart et al. and McClean et al. teach all of claim 15 as above, wherein the heating element support is configured to selectively elevate the heating element within the outer chamber to position the heating element opposite the bottom wall of the reduced volume crock (McClean et al., Fig.1-Fig.2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Stewart et al. and McClean et al. teach all of claim of claim 15 as above.
However, the combination of Stewart et al. and McClean et al., nor any of the prior art of record teach or suggest, “wherein the heating element support includes:
a plurality of columns projecting inwardly of the at least one side wall and defining a plurality of vertical slots, the plurality of columns further including top surfaces; and
a plurality of pins operably coupled to the heating element;
wherein when the heating element is in an unelevated position proximate the bottom wall of the inner wall of the housing, the plurality of pins project within an are aligned with the plurality of slots; and
wherein the heating element is rotatable about a substantially vertical axis such that when the heating element opposite the bottom wall of the reduced volume crock, the heating element opposite the bottom wall of the reduced volume crock, the heating element may be rotated to unalign the plurality of pins from the plurality of slots and allow the pins to be supported on the top surfaces of the plurality of columns.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KR 20220026409 A discloses an indirect heating cooking apparatus by fumigation of far-infrared radiation material.
US PGPUB 2022/0039585 A1 discloses a pressure cooker having a temperature probe.
CN 113679234 A discloses an electric cooking apparatus.
KR 20200118559 A discloses a rice cooker for reduced carbohydrate.
KR 20200118557 A discloses a rice cooker for reduced carbohydrate.
KR 20200118770 A discloses a rice cooker for reduced carbohydrate.
US PGPUB 2019/0167028 A1 discloses a safety lid for a pressure cooker.
US PGPUB 2019/0045973 A1 discloses a cooking device and components thereof.
WO 2019/026018 A1 discloses a smart pressure cooker.
CN 108926235 A discloses a cooking apparatus and control method thereof.
CN 108720568 A discloses a convenient for adjusting height of food high-pressure steamer.
CN 108720548 A discloses a cooking appliance.
KR 101905774 B1 discloses an electric rice cooker having apparatus for removing vapor inside rice.
CN 108113452 A discloses a cooking apparatus and cooking method and cooking device.
WO 2018/004226 A1 discloses an electric cooking appliance having temperature sensor and automatic opening/closing device.
CN 107028485 A discloses a domestic sealing structure of double-layer steamer.
US PGPUB 2014/0348987 A1 discloses a low-pressure cooking method and cookware vessel adapted for the same.
DE 20 2014 003 486 U1 discloses a frying pan and/or grill with movable heat storage.
KR 200462799 Y1 discloses a pressure cooker.
KR 20110114810 A discloses a multi-purpose pressure cooker.
US Patent 4,238,996 A discloses a two-staged pressure cooker.
US Patent 3,978,238 A discloses a method of warming food between movable spring biased heater means.
GB 421,697 discloses improvements in and relating to an electric heating apparatus with a vertically adjustable heater.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN C CLARK whose telephone number is (571)272-2871. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 0730-1730, Alternate Fridays 0730-1630.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Courtney D Heinle can be reached at (571)-270-3508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN C CLARK/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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