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 .
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.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2021-0050979, filed on 2021-04-20.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because S1 as described in paragraph 75 of the applicant’s specification on page 9 is not shown. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 15-17, 29-30 and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Garuccio et al [20200166276].
With respect to claim 15, Garuccio discloses: A cooking appliance, comprising: a cavity (defined in part by perimeter wall 26 and casing 14, including opening 30) including: an opened front surface [see FIG 2]; and a cooking compartment (16); a camera (38) disposed at an upper side of the cavity [see FIG 3], the camera being configured to capture an image of inside of the cooking compartment [paragraph 0043]; a first transparent plate (236 or 244a) disposed between the cavity and the camera; and a second transparent plate (244 or 244b) disposed between the first transparent plate and the cavity [see FIGs 7 and 8], wherein a first heat insulation air layer (234), in which external air flows, is formed between the first transparent plate and the second transparent plate [paragraph 0036, 0039-0040].
Garuccio further discloses:
{cl. 16} The cooking appliance of claim 15, further comprising: an air blowing fan (182) configured to suction the external air [paragraph 0036, 0039-0040]; and an air blowing duct (28) configured to guide air suctioned through the air blowing fan to the first heat insulation air layer [paragraph 0023].
{cl. 17} The cooking appliance of claim 16, wherein the air blowing duct includes: an inlet into which the external air is drawn; and an outlet through which the external air drawn is discharged, and wherein the air blowing fan (42) is disposed near the inlet, in the air blowing duct (28) [see FIG 3. Paragraph 0023].
With respect to claim 29, Garuccio discloses: A cooking appliance, comprising: a cavity (defined in part by perimeter wall 26 and casing 14, including opening 30)including a cooking compartment (16), the cooking compartment including a heater (108) [see FIG 2, paragraph 0029]; an upper plate (72 or 194) disposed above the cavity [see FIG 3, paragraph 0025]; a camera (38) disposed on the upper plate (at least through conductive wires 116) [paragraph 0026], the camera being configured to capture an image of an inside of the cooking compartment and to transmit the image to a smart device (270) of a user [paragraph 0043, 0058]; a sub air blowing module (42) disposed on the upper plate, the sub air blowing module including a sub air blowing fan (182) for flowing external air to the camera [paragraph 0036, 0039-0040]; and a first transparent plate (236 or 244a) disposed between the cavity and the upper plate [see FIGs 7 and 8].
Garuccio further discloses:
{cl. 30} The cooking appliance of claim 29, further comprising a second transparent plate (244 or 244b) disposed between the first transparent plate and the cavity, wherein a first heat insulation air layer (234), in which external air flows, is formed between the first transparent plate and the second transparent plate [paragraph 0036, 0039-0040].
{cl. 32} The cooking appliance of claim 30, wherein the sub air blowing module (42) further includes an air blowing duct (28) configured to guide air suctioned through the sub air blowing fan to the first heat insulation air layer [see FIG 3, paragraph 0023].
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.
Claim(s) 26-27 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garuccio et al [20200166276], further in view of Jang et al [20180058702].
With respect to claim 26 and 31, Garuccio discloses the invention as substantially claimed, however does not show the use of a third transparent plate.
Jang makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 26} The cooking appliance of claim 15, further comprising a third transparent plate (180) disposed on an inner surface of an upper portion of the cavity, the third transparent plate being disposed at a lower surface of the second transparent plate, and wherein a second heat insulation air layer is formed between the second transparent plate and the third transparent plate [see FIG 13, paragraph 0125-0130].
{cl. 27} The cooking appliance of claim 26, wherein the first transparent plate is made of a material having lower heat resistance than the third transparent plate [paragraph 0130].
{cl. 31} The cooking appliance of claim 30, further comprising a third transparent plate (180) disposed on an inner surface of an upper portion of the cavity, the third transparent plate being disposed at a lower surface of the second transparent plate, and wherein a second heat insulation air layer is formed between the second transparent plate and the third transparent plate [see FIG 13, paragraph 0125-0130].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the apparatus of Garuccio with the teachings of Jang to include a third transparent plate in order to block transmission of heat from the cooking compartment to the camera.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-25, 28 and 33-34 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. The claims are not seen in the prior art, and modifying would require impermissible hindsight reasoning to arrive at the claimed invention. For example, the airflow of Garuccio and Jang is not split as claimed. With the compact arrangement of parts, and specific orientation with regard to airflow, and the inlet/outlet, there is no motivation to arrange parts similarly in the applied art. Claims are also allowed based on dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Armstrong [20190260915] is considered relevant art for similar teachings of an oven with a camera [see FIG 2, abstract, paragraph 0028-0031].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AVINASH A SAVANI whose telephone number is (571)270-3762. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 8am-4pm.
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, Michael Hoang can be reached at 571-272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AVINASH A SAVANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
12/17/2025