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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 29 July 2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities: examiner recommend changing “a rear” to “the rear” in last line of claim 1 and claim 19 line 11.
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 7-8 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 7 recites “the flow path forming panel comprising a first flow path forming panel and a second flow path forming panel”. It’s not clear how one panel can comprise two panels.
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.
Claims 1, 9-13 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by White (US 4327274).
Regarding claim 1, White teaches a cooking apparatus comprising:
an outer case (11, fig 1) with a lower surface (32, fig 1) including a first inlet hole (one of two inlet holes 30, fig 1) and a second inlet hole (another one of two inlet holes 30, fig 1);
an inner case (housing of oven 9, fig 1) accommodated within the outer case and in which a cooking chamber (oven cavity 10, fig 1) is formed;
a fan (42, fig 1) disposed adjacent to the first inlet hole and configured to suction air introduced into the first inlet hole and the second inlet hole such that the air is suctioned through the first inlet hole and the second inlet hole (see air flow 48 in fig 3);
a rear flow path (46, fig 3) formed at a rear (behind housing of oven 9) of the inner case in communication with the fan such that the air suctioned through the second inlet hole is guided to the fan; and
a flow path forming panel (44a, fig 1) disposed at the rear (see fig 3) of the inner case to form the rear flow path.
Regarding claim 9, White teaches the fan includes a plurality of inlets (scroll fan shown in fig 3 inherently has plural inlets), and one of the plurality of inlets is in communication with the rear flow path (see fig 3).
Regarding claim 10, White teaches a first filter mounted on a bottom surface of the outer case to cover the first inlet hole and arranged adjacent to the fan so that a portion of the air passing through the first filter is directly suctioned into the fan; and a second filter mounted on a bottom surface of the outer case to cover the second inlet hole and arranged spaced apart from the fan so that a portion of the air passing through the second filter is diverted into the rear flow path and suctioned into the fan (31, fig 5. Col 4 lines 50-52, “vent openings 30 having air intake filters 31 positioned therein.”).
Regarding claim 11, White teaches the fan is disposed between the outer case and the inner case such that air introduced into the outer case is discharged to outside of the cooking apparatus (See fig 3).
Regarding claim 12, White teaches a discharge panel (See annotated figure 1) disposed on an upper side of the fan, and provided with a hole (at the outlet of fan 43) having a shape corresponding to an outlet of the fan (See fig 1); a discharge flow path (46, fig 3) formed between the inner case and the outer case for air discharged from the discharge panel to flow; a guide panel (See annotated figure 2) formed with an upward slope (see annotated figure 2 and White fig 5) at a corner of the outer case to guide air in the discharge flow path; and an outlet (52, fig 5) provided on an upper surface (upper surface) of the outer case for the guided air to flow out of the cooking apparatus.
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Regarding claim 13, White teaches a cooking apparatus comprising:
an inner case (housing of oven 9, fig 1) forming a cooking chamber (oven cavity 10, fig 1);
an outer case (11, fig 1) accommodating the inner case and having a lower surface (32, fig 1) including a first inlet hole (one of two inlet holes 30, fig 1) and a second inlet hole (another one of two inlet holes 30, fig 1);
a rear flow path (46, fig 3) formed at a rear (behind housing of oven 9) of the inner case and configured to guide air suctioned into the second inlet hole (See air flow 48 in fig 3);
at least one flow path forming panel (44a+44b, fig 1 or 3) disposed between the inner case and the outer case at the rear to form the rear flow path; and
a fan (42, fig 1) disposed on an upper side (upper surface) of the first inlet hole between the inner case and the outer case, configured to suction air (see fig 3), which has passed through the first inlet hole, and disposed in communication with the rear flow path to suction air, which has passed through the second inlet hole, through the rear flow path (see fig 3).
Regarding claim 19, White teaches a cooking apparatus comprising:
an outer case (11, fig 1) with a lower surface (32, fig 1) including a first inlet hole (one of two inlet holes 30, fig 1) and a second inlet hole (another one of two inlet holes 30, fig 1);
an inner case (housing of oven 9, fig 1) accommodated within the outer case and in which a cooking chamber (oven cavity 10, fig 1) is formed;
a first filter and a second filter (31, fig 5. Col 4 lines 50-52, “vent openings 30 having air intake filters 31 positioned therein.”) mounted on the outer case to cover the first inlet hole and the second inlet hole, respectively;
a fan (42, fig 1) disposed on an outer side (see fig 1 and 3, fan 42 is outside of casing of oven 9) of the inner case such that air passed through at least one of the first inlet hole or the second inlet hole is suctioned;
a rear flow path (46, fig 3) formed at a rear (behind housing of oven 9) of the inner case for air from at least one of the first inlet hole or the second inlet hole to be guided to the fan (see fig 3); and a flow path forming panel (44a, fig 1 or 3) disposed at a rear of the inner case to form the rear flow path, wherein the first inlet hole is arranged adjacent to the fan such that air passing through the first inlet hole is directly suctioned into the fan, and the second inlet hole is arranged at a side of the first inlet hole such that air passing through the second inlet hole is directed to the rear flow path and suctioned into the fan(see fig 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6, 14-18 and 20 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.
Claims 7-8 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KO-WEI LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7675. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-2:30 Eastern Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571)272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KO-WEI LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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