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.
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 1 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 1 recites the limitation, “an airflow director mounted between the exhaust fan assembly and the inlet opening”. From the applicant’s specification, the airflow director is element 300 [paragraph 0026], the exhaust fan assembly is element 200 [paragraph 0027], and the inlet opening is element 140 [paragraph 0028]. From the applicant’s drawings, specifically figure 3, it is seen that the fan is in between the inlet opening and the airflow deflector. The claim therefore is indefinite because the specification does not conclude that the airflow director is between the exhaust the fan assembly. The claim will be interpreted in the manner regarding how the drawing is represented and the context of the claim language.
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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeung [20040194778], further in view of Brown [5205279].
With respect to claim 1, Yeung discloses: A kitchen rangehood for a cook top comprising: a housing (2) having outside walls defining a cavity for venting air and cooking fumes from the cook top, the housing including a divider (6) to divide the cavity into a first chamber and a second chamber, the divider having an aperture formed therein to permit air communication between the first chamber and the second chamber, the first chamber having an inlet opening (22) for receiving the air and cooking fumes [see FIG 3, paragraph 0036-0037]; an exhaust fan assembly (16) mounted inside the housing, the exhaust fan assembly having an ingress opening communicating with the first chamber and an egress opening communicating with the second chamber [paragraph 0038]; and an airflow director (18) mounted between the exhaust fan assembly and the inlet opening, the airflow director having a central opening (34) [see reproduced FIG 2 below, paragraph 0039, 0046-0047],
Yeung further shows:
{cl. 2} The kitchen rangehood of claim 1, wherein the exhaust fan assembly comprises an axial fan, the axial fan having a ring wall housing (32) [paragraph 0041].
Yeung, however does not show the ring trough as further claimed.
Brown makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 1, cont’d} a ring trough (68, 73) formed around the central opening, the central opening permitting the air and cooking fumes to pass therethrough and drawn by the exhaust fan assembly into the first chamber, the ring trough having an inner wall, a radially outwardly spaced outer wall, and a bottom wall connecting the inner wall and the outer wall to form the ring trough, the inner wall being shaped for directing the airflow and fumes toward the central opening, and the ring trough forming a grease tray and positioned below the exhaust fan assembly for collecting grease condensed on and dripping down from the exhaust fan assembly and the housing [see reproduced FIG 7 below, col 7, line 8-col 8, line 43].
Brown further teaches:
{cl. 3} The kitchen rangehood of claim 2, wherein the inner wall forms trumpet-like air guide, the larger opening of the trumpet-like air guide facing away from the axial fan [see FIG 7].
{cl. 4} The kitchen rangehood of claim 3, wherein the trumpet-like air guide is concaved radially outwards toward the interior of the ring trough [see FIG 7].
{cl. 5} The kitchen rangehood of claim 3, wherein the ring wall of the axial fan (63) is concaved radially inwardly towards a central axis of the axial fan [see FIG 7].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Yeung in view of Brown because Brown provides a similar grease collecting means that functions similarly as the drain system of Yeung therein providing another option depending on design requirements.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 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 require features that are not obvious over the prior art because modification of a teaching reference is needed. Although the Yeung shows a grill, the arrangement with regard to the central portion and hub is not seen.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lin [5537988] shows a similar arrangement of a ring trough with respect to a fan assembly [see FIG 4, col 3, line 31-56].
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..
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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
3/1/2026