Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/241,711

SHOE CARE APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 01, 2023
Examiner
OSTERHOUT, BENJAMIN LEE
Art Unit
1711
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 0m
To Grant
58%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allow Rate
824 granted / 1011 resolved
+16.5% vs TC avg
Minimal -23% lift
Without
With
+-23.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
20 currently pending
Career history
1031
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
39.5%
-0.5% vs TC avg
§102
24.9%
-15.1% vs TC avg
§112
26.3%
-13.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1011 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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. 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. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claim s 1- 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 101824738 to Moon et al. (Moon) in view of U.S. Patent No. 5,777,897 to Giorgio . Regarding claim s 1 , 10 , and 1 6 , Moon discloses a shoe care apparatus along with method of use thereof (machine translation, paragraph 34; Fig. 1, part 100) and a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer code executed by at least one processor (machine translation, paragraph 68) , comprising: a chamber ( Fig. 1 part 12) comprising an air inlet ( Fig. 2, part 33) and an air outlet (Fig. 2, part 21) ; a first duct (Fig. 2, part 29) connected to the air outlet; an evaporator (Fig. 2, part 24) inside the first duct; a condenser (Fig. 2, part 28) inside the first duct; a second duct connecting the first duct to the air inlet ( see Fig. 2, components between parts 29 and 33) ; a holder in the chamber and connected to the air inlet (Fig. 1, part 16) ; a first fan (Fig. 2, part 32) configured to circulate air through the first duct, the second duct, the holder, and the chamber (paragraph 45) ; a compressor (Fig. 2, part 26) inside a machine room of the shoe care apparatus, the compressor separated from the chamber and the first duct and configured to discharge a refrigerant to the condenser (paragraph 43) ; a second fan (Fig. 2, part 34) inside the machine room, and configured to allow air in the machine room to flow (paragraph 50) . Moon does not disclose a temperature sensor configured to measure an outside air temperature; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to control an operation of the second fan based on the outside air temperature and an operation state of the compressor. Giorgio discloses a method and apparatus for optimizing the rotational speeds of cooling fans (col. 1, ll. 26-31; col. 2, ll. 59-67) wherein a temperature sensor is configured to measure an outside air temperature; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to control an operation of a fan based on the outside air temperature (col. 3, ll. 11-20) in order to optimize cooling and minimize noise (col. 3, ll. 1-5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the time of filing to have modified the apparatus, method, and non-transitory computer readable medium of Moon with the temperature sensor and processor configuration of Giorgio all in order to control an operation of the second fan and compressor thereby optimizing cooling and minimizing noise thereof . Regarding claims 2-6, 12-15 , and 18-20 , Moon in view of Giorgio is relied upon as above in claim 1. Giorgio discloses wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether to operate the second fan based on whether the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined first operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42); wherein the processor is further configured to: start the operation of the second fan, based on the outside air temperature being equal to or higher than the predetermined first operation temperature; and set a rotation speed of the second fan based on whether the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined second operation temperature, wherein the predetermined second operation temperature is higher than the predetermined first operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the processor is further configured to: set the rotation speed of the second fan at a predetermined first rotation speed, based on the outside air temperature exceeding the predetermined first operation temperature and being less than the predetermined second operation temperature; and set the rotation speed of the second fan at a second rotation speed greater than the predetermined first rotation speed, based on the outside air temperature being equal to or higher than the predetermined second operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the processor is further configured to stop the operation of the second fan or operate the second fan at a predetermined minimum rotation speed, based on the outside air temperature being less than the predetermined first operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the processor is further configured to increase a rotation speed of the second fan in response to an operation stoppage of the compressor, and decrease the rotation speed of the second fan in response to an operation resumption of the compressor (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the controlling the operation of the second fan comprises determining whether to operate the second fan based on whether the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined first operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the controlling the operation of the second fan comprises: starting the operation of the second fan, based on the outside air temperature being equal to or higher than the predetermined first operation temperature; and setting a rotation speed of the second fan based on whether the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined second operation temperature, wherein the predetermined second operation temperature is higher than the predetermined first operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the setting the rotation speed of the second fan comprises: setting the rotation speed of the second fan to a predetermined first rotation speed, based on the outside air temperature exceeding the predetermined first operation temperature and being less than the predetermined second operation temperature, or setting the rotation speed of the second fan to a second rotation speed greater than the predetermined first rotation speed, based on the outside air temperature being equal to or higher than the predetermined second operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the controlling the operation of the second fan further comprises stopping the operation of the second fan or operating the second fan at a predetermined minimum rotation speed, based on the outside air temperature being less than the predetermined first operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the computer code is configured to cause the at least one processor to control the operation of the second fan by causing the at least one processor to determine whether to operate the second fan based on whether the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined first operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the computer code is configured to cause the at least one processor to control the operation of the second fan by causing the at least one processor to: start the operation of the second fan, based on the outside air temperature being equal to or higher than the predetermined first operation temperature; and set a rotation speed of the second fan based on whether the outside air temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined second operation temperature, wherein the predetermined second operation temperature is higher than the predetermined first operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) ; wherein the computer code is configured to cause the at least one processor to: set the rotation speed of the second fan to a predetermined first rotation speed, based on the outside air temperature exceeding the predetermined first operation temperature and being less than the predetermined second operation temperature, and set the rotation speed of the second fan to a second rotation speed greater than the predetermined first rotation speed, based on the outside air temperature being equal to or higher than the predetermined second operation temperature (see table 102 and col. 6, ll. 24-36 along with col. 7, ll. 34-42) . Regarding claims 7 -9, 11, and 17, Moon in view of Giorgio is relied upon as above in claim 1. Moon discloses wherein the second fan is located outside the first duct and configured to blow the air toward the compressor and the first duct (Fig. 2, parts 34, 29, and 26); at least one ventilation hole in an outer case of the shoe care apparatus, the at least one ventilation hole configured to allow ventilation between an inside the machine room and an outside of the shoe care apparatus, wherein the second fan is configured to move the air inside the machine room to the outside through the at least one ventilation hole (Fig. 2, generally; machine translation, paragraph 50); wherein the temperature sensor is in the first duct, adjacent to the air outlet, and the processor is further configured to determine a temperature measured by the temperature sensor as the outside air temperature, in response to a start of an operation of the shoe care apparatus (Fig. 2, part 52; machine translation, paragraphs 51 and 53); wherein the temperature sensor is in the first duct, adjacent to the air outlet, and the determining the outside air temperature comprises determining a temperature measured by the temperature sensor as the outside air temperature, in response to a start of an operation of the shoe care apparatus (Fig. 2, part 52; machine translation, paragraphs 51 and 53) ; and wherein the temperature sensor is in the first duct, adjacent to the air outlet, and the computer code is configured to cause the at least one processor to determine the outside air temperature by causing the at least one processor to determine a temperature measured by the temperature sensor as the outside air temperature, in response to a start of an operation of the shoe care apparatus (Fig. 2, part 52; machine translation, paragraphs 51 and 53) . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT BENJAMIN LEE OSTERHOUT whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-7379 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 9:00am-5:00pm . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Michael Barr can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-1414 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. FILLIN "Examiner Stamp" \* MERGEFORMAT BENJAMIN LEE OSTERHOUT Primary Examiner Art Unit 1711 /BENJAMIN L OSTERHOUT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 01, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
58%
With Interview (-23.3%)
3y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1011 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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