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 § 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, 7, 10-13, 15-16, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda et al [4336569], further in view of Brefka [4092698].
With respect to claim 1, Tsuda discloses: A cooking apparatus comprising: a main body (1); and a control unit (3) provided in front of the main body; wherein the control unit comprises: a case (16, 18) mounted on a front side of the main body and having an open rear side (communicating with 16a and openings 22) to communicate with an inside of the main body [see FIG 4]; a bracket panel (20) accommodated in a rear side of an inside of the case; a protrusion (see reproduced figure 4 below) extending from an inner surface of the case toward the bracket panel [see FIGs 1 and 3, col 3, line 26-col 4, line 6].
Tsuda further shows:
{cl. 7} The cooking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bracket panel comprises: a board accommodating frame in which a circuit board is accommodated; and a coupling flange extending upward from the board accommodating frame to couple with the case [see reproduced FIG 4 below].
{cl. 10} The cooking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main body comprises a front plate comprising an opening communicating with a cooking chamber and a communication portion communicating with an electrical equipment room [see FIGs 1 and 2].
{cl. 11} The cooking apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the case and the bracket panel are coupled to the front of the communication portion of the front plate to cover the communication portion [see FIG 2].
{cl. 12} The cooking apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the electrical equipment room in which a cooling fan (9) provided to form a cooling flow path is disposed is provided at a rear side of the communication portion [col 3, line 62-col 4, line 11].
{cl. 13} The cooking apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the bracket panel is provided to cover the front of the communication portion and is disposed between the electrical equipment room and the case to partition the case and the electrical equipment room [see FIG 2].
{cl. 15} The cooking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the case is configured to prevent a movement of the bracket panel by inserting the protrusion into an outer side of the fixing rib of the bracket panel [see FIG 3].
Tsuda however does not show the fixing rib as claimed.
Brefka makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 1, cont’d} a fixing rib (46) formed on a surface of the bracket panel (18) to allow the protrusion of the case to be inserted and extending inward from an inner surface of the bracket panel to cover a rear side of the protrusion [see FIGs 2 and 7, col 2, line 56-col 3, line 22].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Tsuda to incorporate the front faces 46 similarly as claimed as taught by Brefka because Brefka provides an arrangement that allows the components of an electrical housing to be securely fastened and accessible.
With respect to claim 16, Tsuda discloses: A cooking apparatus including: a main body (1), and a control unit (3) provided in front of the main body, wherein the control unit includes: a case (16, 18) mounted on a front side of the main body and having an open rear side (communicating with 16a and openings 22) to communicate with an inside of the main body, a circuit board (7), a bracket panel (20) mounted to a rear side of an inside of the case to accommodate the circuit board [see FIGs 1 and 3, col 3, line 26-col 4, line 6];
Tsuda however does not show the fixing rib as claimed.
Brefka makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 16} a fixing rib (46) extending rearward from an inner surface of the bracket panel toward the case to protrude outward of the bracket panel, and a cutout hole formed between the fixing rib and an outer surface of the bracket panel [see FIGs 2 and 7, col 2, line 56-col 3, line 22].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Tsuda to incorporate the front faces 46 similarly as claimed as taught by Brefka because Brefka provides an arrangement that allows the components of an electrical housing to be securely fastened and accessible.
With respect to claim 19, Tsuda discloses: A cooking apparatus including: a main body (1) including an electrical equipment room [see FIG 2, col 3, line 22-25] and a control unit (3) mounted on a front side of the main body to communicate with the electrical equipment room (communicating with 16a and openings 22) from a rear side thereof, wherein the control unit includes: a case (16, 18) forming an exterior and having a protrusion (see reproduced figure 4 below) on an inner surface thereof, a bracket panel (20) accommodated in the case and including a cutout hole into which the protrusion is inserted [see FIGs 1 and 3, col 3, line 26-col 4, line 6]; however does not show the fixing rib as claimed.
Tsuda however does not show the fixing rib as claimed.
Fox makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 19} a fixing rib (46) formed by being pressed inward from a side of the bracket panel and including a blocking portion provided to incline towards the front side of the main body from an inner surface of the bracket panel to form a space into which the protrusion is inserted [see FIGs 2 and 7, col 2, line 56-col 3, line 22].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Tsuda to incorporate the front faces 46 similarly as claimed as taught by Brefka because Brefka provides an arrangement that allows the components of an electrical housing to be securely fastened and accessible.
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Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda et al [4336569], in view of Brefka [4092698], further in view of Myron [3145289].
With respect to claim 14, Tsuda discloses the invention as substantially claimed, however does not show the material for the case or housing as claimed. Myron makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 14} The cooking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the case comprises a resin material, and the bracket panel comprises a steel material [col 4, line 44-63].
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 Tsuda to use the material as taught by Myron because Myron provides a known cost-effective material that will provide a long-lasting appliance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6, 8-9, 17-18 and 20 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 further modification to the fixing rib, however, since the fixing rib is taught by a secondary reference, any modification to incorporate the further details would require impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
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
2/12/2026