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
1. 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.
2. Claims 1-4, 7-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2019/007832 (WO ‘832) in further view of US 2009/0320509 A1 (Gorz).
With respect to claim 1, WO ‘832 discloses a cooling and/or freezing device (1, Fig.2) having a body (2), a cooled inner space (3) located therein, and two doors (5, 5, Fig.2) which open and close in opposite directions, wherein the doors each comprise a front-end side (at 13, Fig.3) which, in the closed state of the doors (Fig.1, Fig.3), are facing one another and are arranged adjacent to one another (Fig.1, Fig.3), a sealing element (8,7, 9, Fig.4) is arranged on at least one of the front-end sides, and comprises a movable door seal (9), and movable force-deflecting element (7 and 8) connected to the door seal, the force-deflecting element has a contact area (10) on which the body exerts a force when the door is being closed, and the force-deflecting element is arranged in such a way that, when this force is exerted on the contact area (10), it moves the door seal (9) towards the front-end side of the other door and/or towards the body (Fig.3, Fig.4, Fig.5, Fig.6).
With respect to claim 1, WO ‘832 doesn’t disclose a heating means arranged in the sealing element. Gorz shows heating means (heating means 17, Fig.1, section 0026) is arranged in the sealing element (9). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a heating means to the sealing element of WO ‘832, such as taught by Gorz, in order to further enhance the prevention of formation of frost/condensation on the sealing element.
With respect to claim 2, the combination (WO ‘832) teaches wherein the contact area (10) is formed as a projection, in particular as a pin (see claim 5 of reference).
With respect to claim 3, the combination (WO ‘832) shows both doors (5, Fig.3) comprise a sealing element (7, 8, 9, Fig.3).
With respect to claim 4, the combination (WO ‘832) shows wherein the force-deflecting element is arranged in such a way that it moves the door seal in two spatial directions (Fig.3, Fig.4, Fig.5, Fig.6).
With respect to claim 7, the combination (Gorz) shows a first electrical contact (16, Fig.1/26, Fig.2) is arranged on the door, a second electrical contact (15, Fig.1/25, Fig.2) is arranged on the body, and the two contacts are arranged in such a way they are in electrically conductive connection with one another when the door is closed (sections 0027, 0029). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include first and second electrical contacts that are electrically conductive connection to modified WO ‘832, such as taught by Gorz, in order to easily supply heating current to the heating means of the sealing element when the door is closed. With respect to claim 7, the combination shows the first electrical contact is on the door not the sealing element. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to place the first electrical contact on the sealing element, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involved only routine skill in the art.
With respect to claim 8, the combination (WO ‘832) shows at least two force- deflecting elements (7 and 8) are present which are arranged to be spaced apart from one another (Fig.3-Fig.6; on each door 5).
With respect to claim 9, the combination (WO ‘832) shows wherein the door has an upper side and a lower side, one force-deflecting element (Fig.9, at upper 13) is arranged in the region of the upper side, and one force- deflecting element (Fig.9, at lower 13) is arranged in the region of the lower side (Fig.9).
With respect to claim 10, the combination (WO ‘832) shows wherein the force-deflecting element (7 and 8) is arranged in the sealing element in a manner to be rotatable and/or displaceable (Fig.5, Fig.6).
With respect to claims 11-14, the combination (WO ‘832) discloses all the limitations as discussed above in claims 3 and 4.
5. Claims 5, 15-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2019/007832 (WO ‘832) in view of US 2009/0320509 A1 (Gorz) in further view of WO 2017/076589 (WO ‘589).
With respect to claim 5, modified WO ‘832 shows the sealing element comprises a front-end-side door seal (9, Fig.5) and the door has a housing-side door seal (6), and the housing-side door seal (6) is located between door (5) and body (Fig.4) when the doors are closed (Fig.5). WO ‘832 shows the housing side door seal is on the door not the sealing element. WO ‘589 shows the sealing element has a front end side door seal (front side portion of seal 30a, Fig.3) and a housing side door seal (side seal portion of seal unit 30a contacting 28a). It would have been obvious to include a housing-side door seal to the sealing element of modified WO ‘832, such as taught by WO ‘589 in order to efficiently seal the gaps between the sealing element and the door and body of the refrigerator.
With respect to claims 15-20, the combination teaches the claimed invention as discussed in claim 5.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/18/2025 regarding Gorz have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued that Gorz fails to disclose a heating means arranged in a sealing element since the bar 9 in Gorz is not a sealing element. The examiner respectfully disagrees. In the inventor’s application, the sealing element 30, Fig.5 is a bar that rotates to seal the gap between two doors. Similarly bar 9 of Gorz rotates to seal the gap between the two doors of the refrigerator and is thus considered a sealing element. Furthermore applicant argued that WO ‘832 uses thermal insulation for the problem of dew formation and that a person of ordinary skill in the art would insulate the sealing element and not deviate from the teaching of WO ‘832 without motivation. The examiner takes the position that the examiner is not replacing the thermal insulation in the pillar 8 with a heating means of Gorz, the examiner is merely adding a heating means to the pillar of WO ‘832, such as taught by Gorz, for further enhancing the prevention the formation of condensation on the pillar. There are many prior art references that teach that insulation as well as a heating member being using to prevent the formation of condensation on the pillar. For example, US 2013/0241385 teaches thermal insulation 120, Fig.5 as well as heating members 140 used for prevention formation of condensation in the bar 110. Thus providing heating means in the bar/pillar of WO ‘832, such as taught by Gorz, would enhance the prevention of formation of condensation around the pillar/bar.
Applicant further argued that a person skilled in the art would not integrate heating means to the gasket of WO ‘832 because the gasket is not suited for integration of heating means. The examiner is not integrating the heating means inside of the gasket of WO ‘832, the examiner is adding the heating means to the pillar/bar 8 of WO ‘832 in the similar manner that Gorz has the heating means 17 in the bar 9. The examiner notes the sealing element in WO ‘832 is defined in the rejection as elements 8, 7 and 9 not just the gasket 9. Thus since the pillar 8 of WO ‘832 forms part of the sealing element then it can be used to add the heating means therein. Furthermore a heating means can be added to the pillar 8 of WO ‘832 without affecting the function of the gasket 9. For example, US 2013/0241385 has a gasket 42, Fig.5 in contact with the pillar 110 and the heating means 140 in the pillar, and thus adding heating means in the pillar 8 of WO ‘832 would not affect the function of the gasket 9.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/HIWOT E TEFERA/Examiner, Art Unit 3637