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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/22/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 and 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0284493) in view of Zhu (AU 2021/260530 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a refrigerator (1) comprising:
a first upper partitioned storage (30);
a first lower partitioned storage (40);
a second partitioned storage (20);
a cold air supply duct (400, figs. 6a and 9) configured to divide cold air blown from the second partitioned storage (20) for supply to the first upper partitioned storage (30) and the first lower partitioned storage (40), the cold air supply duct including a guide part (refer to the portion of the back wall of case 11 as can be seen from fig. 6a below) dividing the cold air supply duct into a first cold air supply flow path (414) and a second cold air supply flow path (422), the guide part defining a wall (refer to the portion of the back wall of case 11 as can be seen from fig. 6a below) of an inlet (416) of the first cold air supply flow path and an inlet (426) of the second cold air supply flow path;
an evaporator (130) located in the second partitioned storage (20);
an air blowing fan (250) located in the second partitioned storage (20); and
a first damper (600, fig. 7a) configured to selectively block cold air.
While Lee discloses the first damper (refer to fig. 9, wherein Lee discloses the first damper 600 located in the second partitioned storage which is a freezing compartment), Lee fails to explicitly disclose wherein the first damper is located in the first upper partitioned storage.
However, Zhu teaches a refrigerator compartment (refer to figs. 1-3), comprising a cold air supply duct (5) configured to supply cold air from a second partitioned storage (refer to freezing compartment 1) to a first partitioned storage (2); an evaporator (12) located in the second partitioned storage (1); an air blowing fan (13) located in the second partitioned storage; and a first damper (6) configured to selectively block cold air, the first damper (6) being located in the first partitioned storage (2), in order to avoid that the damper comes into contact with direct cold air in an evaporation chamber (11) that houses the evaporator to produce condensation which might freeze the damper (refer to par. 29).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Lee such that the first damper is located in the first upper partitioned storage in view of the teachings by Zhu, in order to prevent the damper from comping into contact with direct cold air from the evaporator and therefore preventing freezing of the damper.
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Regarding claim 3, Lee as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, Lee as modified discloses wherein the first upper partitioned storage (30) includes an upper duct assembly (410b) having an upper cold air outlet (419) to discharge cold air to the first upper partitioned storage, the upper duct assembly being in fluid communication with the cold air supply duct.
Regarding claim 4, Lee as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, Lee as modified discloses wherein the cold air supply duct includes a lower cold air outlet (429) at the first lower partitioned storage (40) to discharge cold air to the first lower partitioned storage, and wherein a portion of the cold air supply duct (refer to coupler 432, fig. 5) overlaps a rear surface of the first lower partitioned storage outside the rear surface of the first lower partitioned storage
(refer to the rear-view portion of the refrigerator as in fig. 5).
Regarding claim 5, Lee as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed
above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, Lee as modified discloses wherein the first
lower partitioned storage (40) includes: a lower duct assembly (420) having a lower cold
air outlet (429) to discharge cold air to the first lower partitioned storage, the lower duct
assembly being in fluid communication with the cold air supply duct; and a second
damper (700) configured to selectively block cold air to the lower duct assembly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-23 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 11/14/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues in pages 9-11 of the remarks that the guide part as set forth in claim 1 is not disclosed or made obvious by the prior art of record. This argument has been considered but is not persuasive.
Lee discloses as can be seen from fig.6a below, a back wall of the case which is being considered as a guide part, which divides the cold air supply duct into a first cold air supply flow path (414) and a second cold air supply flow path (422). The guide part defines a wall of an inlet (416) of the first cold air supply flow path and an inlet (426) of the second cold air supply flow path.
For at least the reasons disclosed above, claims 1 and 3-5 remain rejected.
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANA M VAZQUEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-0611. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7-4.
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/ANA M VAZQUEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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