Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/271,409

COOKING DEVICE AND COOKING DEVICE CONTROL METHOD

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jul 07, 2023
Examiner
SAAD, ERIN BARRY
Art Unit
1735
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
LG Electronics Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
84%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allow Rate
903 granted / 1252 resolved
+7.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
39 currently pending
Career history
1291
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
44.4%
+4.4% vs TC avg
§102
23.1%
-16.9% vs TC avg
§112
28.1%
-11.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1252 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. Claim (s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. (2019/0139446A1 from IDS ) in view of Yamamoto (JP2019-132484A from IDS ) . Regarding claim 1, Cheng discloses a cooking device comprising: a cooking chamber 102 having a plurality of stages 110 formed to store a cooking container; a heater 218 configured to apply heat to the inside of the cooking chamber ; a magnetron 114 configured to supply microwaves to an inside of the cooking chamber; a communication device configured to receive, from a server, recipe information that matches product identification information input through a user terminal (paragraph 0072, figure 6) ; an input device configured to receive an input selecting any one of pieces of pre-stored recipe information of one or more products from a user (figure 6, paragraph 0072) ; a controller 206 configured to control operations of the magnetron and the heater based on the recipe information received through the communication device or the recipe information selected through the input device (paragraphs 0024-0045, 0072-0076, 0082, figures 1, 3, 6). Cheng does not and a display configured to display a type of the cooking container and a position of the cooking container based on the recipe information received through the communication device or the recipe information selected through the input device. However, Yamamoto discloses a display configured to display a type of the cooking container and a position of the cooking container based on the recipe information received through the communication device or the recipe information selected through the input device (paragraphs 0046, 0086-0088, 0097, 0187, figures 1, 6) . To one skilled in the art at the time of the invention it would have been obvious to use a display as taught by Yamamoto because type of container and position will affect the cooking process and knowing the information would ensure that the food is prepared and cooked properly within the oven. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-11 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. Prior art was not found that taught or suggested the limitations of the dependent claims regarding the controller and the display as claimed. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT ERIN B SAAD whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-3634 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Thursday 7:30a-6p . 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 Keith Walker can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-3458 . 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. /ERIN B SAAD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 07, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 03, 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
72%
Grant Probability
84%
With Interview (+11.4%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1252 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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