DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 January 20, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments to the claims and accompanying arguments, filed January 20, 2026 with respect to the claims have been considered, but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the mapping of the rejected claims being used in the current Office action.
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.
Claims 1-8, 13 & 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Eom et al., [US 9,903,639]. Eom teaches of a refrigerator (1) comprising: a cabinet (10) having a storage space (20); a door (31) configured to open and to close the storage space; a hinge device (such as shown in fig. 2) configured to couple to the cabinet and to the door, and enable rotation of the door; a damping device (40) configured to contact the hinge device, and control a closing speed of the door (mitigating an impact caused by a collision between the door and cabinet body); a bracket module (70) provided on the cabinet, wherein the bracket module includes: a hinge bracket (80) for mounting of the hinge device, and a damping bracket (90) for mounting of the damping device (note fig. 6 for instance), wherein the hinge bracket is mounted on the cabinet (fig. 9) and the damping bracket is installed onto the hinge bracket (fig. 2) from a front of the door (i.e., the position is taken that the damping bracket can be mounted onto the hinge bracket while a user is positioned along the front or the cabinet / door – as readily apparent); and a cover bracket (viewed as the downward protruding front flange of (100) as shown in fig. 2 for instance) located at a front of the cabinet and configured to selectively cover and provide access to the damping bracket (such as when the whole of (100) is installed and then uninstalled). As to Claim 2, the hinge bracket includes: a first portion (viewed as the bent portion along a central area of the bracket connecting the two planar surfaces along different planes – fig. 7); a second portion (right side portion of (83) and including (85) – fig. 7) extending from a first end (right side end – fig. 7) of the first portion in a first direction (right side direction), wherein the second portion is configured to couple to the hinge device (86); and a third portion (left side portion of (83) – fig. 7) extending from a second end (left side end) of the first portion in a second direction (left side direction) opposite from the first direction, and wherein the third portion is configured to couple to the damping bracket (note fig. 6). As to Claim 3, the third portion of the hinge bracket includes: a plurality of holes (84) configured such that a fastening member (S) passes through the holes to couple to the damping bracket (fig. 7), and wherein a total number of the holes at an upper end (can be viewed as the left side end – 2 holes) of the third portion is different than a total number of the holes at a lower end (can be viewed as the right side end – 3 holes) of the third portion. As to Claim 4, the hinge bracket includes: a fourth portion (81) configured to couple to the cabinet (fig. 9). As to Claim 5, the damping bracket includes: a first part (viewed as the total wall formation of (96) from (91)) having an opening (elongated opening (97)) configured to allow insertion of the damping device (fig. 6), a second part (viewed as the total wall formation of (94) from (91)) at a position facing the first part and configured to attach the damping device to the damping bracket (fig. 6), and a third part (91) configured to couple to the hinge bracket. As to Claim 6, the second part of the damping bracket includes a fastening portion (portion of the connecting wall segments) to couple to an insertion component (62, 64) of the damping device, and wherein the fastening portion includes a first fastening portion (portion that accepts (64) for instance) and a second fastening portion (portion of the main vertical wall of (94)) having a different shape than the first fastening portion. As to Claim 7, the insertion component of the damping device includes: a first insertion component (64) having a shape corresponding to the first fastening portion, and a second insertion component (62) having a shape corresponding to the second fastening portion (fig. 6). As to Claim 8, the third part of the damping device has a plurality of holes (92) configured such that a fastening member (S) passes through the holes and to couple to the hinge bracket (figs. 6-7), and wherein a total number of the holes at an upper end (left side end) of the third part is different from a total number of the holes at a lower end (right side end) of the third part (corresponding to the holes of the hinge bracket third portion – fig. 7). As to Claim 13, the cabinet includes a hinge cover (100) configured to mount the hinge device (in as much as applicant’s cover performs the intended function), and wherein the cover bracket is disposed in front of the first part of the damping bracket (fig. 1) and configured to couple to the hinge cover (as mapped and shown, the cover bracket is a forward vertical wall of the overall hinge cover structure). Regarding Claim 18, again Eom teaches of a refrigerator (1) comprising: a cabinet (10) having a storage space (20); a door (31) configured to open and to close the storage space; a hinge device (such as shown in fig. 2) configured to couple to the cabinet and to the door, and enable movement of the door; a damping device (40) configured to control a movement speed of the door (mitigating an impact caused by a collision between the door and cabinet body); a hinge bracket (80) configured to couple to the hinge device; a damping bracket (90) for mounting of the damping device, wherein the hinge bracket is mounted on the cabinet (fig. 9) and the damping bracket is installed onto the hinge bracket (fig. 2) from a front of the door (i.e., the position is taken that the damping bracket can be mounted onto the hinge bracket while a user is positioned along the front or the cabinet / door – as readily apparent); and a cover bracket (viewed as the downward protruding front flange of (100) as shown in fig. 2 for instance) located at a front of the cabinet and configured to selectively cover and provide access to the damping bracket (such as when the whole of (100) is installed and then uninstalled). As to Claim 19, the hinge bracket includes: a first surface (viewed as the bent surface along a central area of the bracket connecting the two planar surfaces along different planes – fig. 7); a second surface (right side surface of (83) and including (85) – fig. 7) extending from a first end of the first surface, and the second surface is configured to couple to the hinge device; and a third surface extending from a second end of the first surface, and wherein the third surface (left side surface of (83) – fig. 7) has a plurality of holes for coupling the third surface to the damping bracket. As to Claim 20, the damping bracket includes: a first part (viewed as the total wall formation of (96) from (91)) having an opening (elongated opening (97)) configured to allow insertion of the damping device (fig. 6), a second part (viewed as the total wall formation of (94) from (91)) configured to attach the damping device to the damping bracket, and wherein the second part includes a fastening portion (portion of the connecting wall segments) configured to couple to an insertion component (62, 64) of the damping device, and a third part (91) configured to couple to the hinge bracket.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-12 & 14-17 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure – see the attached Form PTO-892 showing a hinge support on a refrigerator.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES O HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6866. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8 am - 4:30 pm.
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JOH
February 26, 2026
/James O Hansen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637