Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/282,843

AUTOMATIC COOKING MACHINE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR

Non-Final OA §102§103§112
Filed
Dec 20, 2023
Examiner
OJOFEITIMI, AYODEJI T
Art Unit
3651
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Foodleader Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 12m
To Grant
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allow Rate
397 granted / 528 resolved
+23.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+13.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 12m
Avg Prosecution
38 currently pending
Career history
566
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
48.7%
+8.7% vs TC avg
§102
25.0%
-15.0% vs TC avg
§112
14.7%
-25.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 528 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103 §112
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 . Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-15 in the reply filed on 2/14/26 is acknowledged. 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. Claim 15 is 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 access control system”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by SUN (CN 107049057). Claim 1, SUN discloses an automatic cooking machine, comprising: a cabinet assembly (4); and a control module (central control circuit 424 inherently controls 206 and all the intelligent circuitry of the device), an information acquisition module (426 the communication circuit inherently controls 105; meal information & cooking information; see abstract) and a plurality of heating bins (402,plurality of 2, 408,409) which are arranged on the cabinet assembly (4), wherein the information acquisition module (426) is configured to acquire cooking information of a meal box (1; element 1 is placed on 2 which is inside 402) and transmit the cooking information to the control module (424; main control circuit of the intelligent electric appliance inherently performs this function); and the control module (206) is configured to receive the cooking information and control the heating bins (402,plurality of 2, 408,409) to make food in the meal box (1) cooked. Claim 2, SUN discloses wherein the cabinet assembly (4) comprises a control cabinet (fig.4; middle cabinet) and at least one group of heat generation cabinets (fig.4; left and right cabinets on sides of middle cabinet), the control module (206,424) and the information acquisition module (426; meal information & cooking information; see abstract) are arranged in the control cabinet (fig.4; middle cabinet), and the heating bin (402, plurality of 2) is arranged in the heat generation cabinet (fig.4; left and right cabinets on sides of middle cabinet). 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 15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SUN (CN 107049057) in view of Smith et al. (US 5,818,014). Claim 15, SUN discloses a heat dissipation device (201,211,410,411; figs.1-5), wherein the heat dissipation device comprises a first heat dissipation assembly (201,211,410) and a second heat dissipation assembly (201,211,411); the first heat dissipation assembly (201,211,410) comprises at least one first heat dissipation fan arranged in (radiator fan 201,211) and near (radiating fan 410) the heat generation cabinet (fig.4; left and right cabinets on sides of middle cabinet); and the second heat dissipation assembly (201,211,411) comprises a second heat dissipation fan (radiator fan 201,211,411) and a heat dissipation air duct (213, 407,421), wherein the second heat dissipation fan (radiator fan 201,211) is arranged inside the heat generation cabinet (fig.4; left and right cabinets on sides of middle cabinet); and the heat dissipation air duct (421) is arranged between the second heat dissipation fan (radiator fan 201,211,411) and the access control system (the device of SUN inherently has an access control system in the middle cabinet wherein all the main controls for the device are; fig.4). Although SUN does not disclose the first heat dissipation assembly (201,211,410) comprises at least one first heat dissipation fan (201,211, radiating fan 410) arranged on the heat generation cabinet (fig.4; left and right cabinets on sides of middle cabinet, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to rearrange the working parts of the SUN’s device since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. See also, In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553, 188 USPQ 7 (CCPA 1975). SUN does not explicitly disclose the heat dissipation air duct (421) is configured to transport air driven by the second heat dissipation fan (radiator fan 201,211,411) to a periphery of the access control system (the device of SUN inherently has an access control system in the middle cabinet wherein all the main controls for the device are; fig.4) to cool the access control system. Smith discloses a microwave oven for cooking food that dissipate heat to air in streams (128a,128b) to provide cooling to portions of items inside the device (C14:L15-20). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the device of SUN with the heat dissipation air duct is configured to transport air driven by the second heat dissipation fan to a periphery of the access control system to cool the access control system because it’s a widely known use of air streams from dissipated heat being employed to cool surrounding components or items and such configuration does not impart any novelty on the claim limitation. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-14 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AYODEJI T OJOFEITIMI whose telephone number is (571)272-6557. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. 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, GENE CRAWFORD can be reached at (571) 272-6911. 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. /AYODEJI T OJOFEITIMI/Examiner, Art Unit 3651
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 20, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 19, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
75%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+13.5%)
1y 12m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 528 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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