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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/29/2026 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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-5, 8-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103(a) as being unpatentable over Us Pub No.: 20210318061 (“Lee et al.”) in view of US Pub No.: CN 109297246 ("Chen et al.").
Regarding Claim 1, Lee et al. discloses a refrigerator, comprising:
a main body (10) including a storage room; and
a door (32) coupled to the main body (10) to open and close the storage room, and including a door body (40) coupled to the main body (10) and a panel (70) detachably coupled to a front surface of the door body (40) to cover the front surface of the door body (40),
wherein the panel (70) includes:
a display (71) including a screen configured to display an image;
a glass panel (90) provided in front of the display (71)
an upper trim (180) fixed to an upper portion and of a rear surface of the glass panel (90), and a lower trim (160) fixed to a lower portion of the rear surface of the glass panel (90, the upper trim (180) and the lower trim (160) configured to be detachably assembled with the front surface of the door body (40); and
a display cover (100) fixed to the rear surface of the glass panel and on which the display detachably mounted, the display cover 100 including:
a display mounting portion (101) configured to support side edges of the display (via 140).
Lee et al. discloses a plurality of hooks on the left and right side of the display mounting portion but does not expressly disclose that the assembly hooks that allow the display cover to be detachably assembled to the front surface of the door body.
Chen et al. discloses a refrigerator with a display assembly (best seen in Figs. 1-10 ); having a display cover (21) with display mounting portion (22, best seen in Figs. 2 and 7-8) that supports the side of edges of the display (23), and a plurality of assembly hooks (223) extending directly from a supporting portion of the mounting portion (22) that directly contacts and supports the side edges of the display (23, as seen in Fig. 2), and at least one assembly hook (223) of the plurality of assembly hooks is formed on each of left and right sides of the display mounting portion and so that the plurality of assembly hooks (223) are detachably assembled with the front surface of the door body.
It would have been obvious to one having skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention that the display cover could also be improved with a plurality of assembly hooks that directly contact and support side edges of the display on the mounting portion of the display cover and also secure within the door body, as demonstrated by Chen et al.
Regarding Claim 2, the combination discloses (LEE et al.) wherein the display cover (100) includes: an opening (102) having a size corresponding to the screen of the display (71).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination discloses (LEE et al.) the display mounting portion is provided to have a square frame shape and extend from the rear surface of the display (71) cover toward a rear side of the display (71) mounting portion.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination discloses (LEE et al.) wherein the display (71) mounting portion includes a fixing hook (140) to fix the display (71) mounted on the display mounting portion.
Regarding Claim 5, the combination discloses (LEE et al.) wherein a plurality of fixing hooks (140) are formed on left and right sides of the display mounting portion (101) and are formed toward the display (71) mounted on the display mounting portion (101) to fix the display (71).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination discloses (Chen et al.) wherein the door body includes an assembly groove (33) into which each assembly hook (223) of the plurality of assembly hooks (223) is assembled.
Regarding Claim 9, the combination discloses (LEE et al.) wherein the door body includes:
a door outer case (41, see Fig. 10); and
a door inner case (55) coupled to a rear surface of the door outer case (41),
wherein the door outer case (41) includes a heat dissipation plate (51, 52) configured to dissipate heat generated by the display (71)
Regarding Claim 10, the combination discloses (LEE et al.) wherein the heat dissipation plate (51, 52) includes: a first heat dissipation plate (52) including a display accommodating portion in which the display (71) is accommodated, and a central opening (53) formed in a center of the first heat dissipation plate (52); and a second heat dissipation plate (51) coupled to the central opening to cover the central opening on a rear surface of the first heat dissipation plate (52).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination discloses (Chen et al.) wherein the assembly hooks (223) are detachably assembled with the front surface of the door body (via 33) to prevent left and right sides of the panel from being lifted.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments with respect to claims 1-5, 8-10 and 12 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all 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 KIMBERLEY S WRIGHT whose telephone number is (571)270-3328. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 11:30-5:30.
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, Daniel Troy can be reached on 5712703742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KIMBERLEY S WRIGHT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
