DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This application is a 371 of App. No. PCT/KR2022/015957, filed on 10/19/2022, which is entitled to and claims the benefit of priority of KR Patent App. No. 10-2022-0091058, filed 07/22/2022. The preliminary amendment filed on 11/17/2023 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner.
3. Claims 1-5 are pending. Claims 1-5 are under examination on the merits.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement submitted on 11/17/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statement.
Drawings
5. The drawings are received on 11/17/2023. These drawings are acceptable.
Priority
6. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted on 11/17/2023 under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Jae Bong Son (KR 10-2085595 B1, machine translation, hereinafter “’595”) in view of Yoon et al. (KR 10-1920562 B1, machine translation, hereinafter “’595”).
Regarding claim 1: ‘595 teaches cooking equipment (Page 5, [0008]) comprising a thermochromic composite coating layer (Page 5, [0012]) including bismuth vanadate, the cooking equipment comprising: a metal substrate (10) (Page 6, [0033]), a primer layer (20) (Page 6, [0035]) which is formed on the surface where the metal substrate (10) (Page 6, [0035]) and a substance being cooked come into contact and is formed from a primer agent comprising 100 parts by weight of a fluorine based base resin, 5-50 parts by weight of a second pigment, 1-15 parts by weight of a phosphoric acid ester-based compound, and 0.5-5 parts by weight of germanium oxide (Page 6, [0037]; Page 7, [0039]). ‘595 teaches a thermochromic layer (40) formed by pad printing a thermochromic coating agent including a thermochromic compound and a discoloration pigment on at least a part of the surface of the primer layer (20) (Page 8, [0066]), and a top coating layer (50) formed by coating a top coating agent including a fluorine-based resin on the surface of the primer layer where the thermochromic layer ( 40) is
Formed (Page 9, [0081]; Page 15, [0153], Figs.1-4). ‘595 teaches a thermochromic composite coating layer, wherein the thermochromic compound (Page 5, [0012]) comprises at least one of a mercury iodide complex salt and a vanadium oxide, and the second pigment of the primer layer (20) and a first pigment of the top coating agent may comprise bismuth vanadate and the like (Page 7, [0039]; Page 9, ]; Page 9, [0071]-[0072]; Page 10, [0089]; Page 15, Fig. 2). ‘595 does not expressly teach the cooking equipment having a thermochromic layer including a thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor, wherein thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor is using bismuth vanadate.
However, ‘562 teaches a non-toxic reversible thermochromic pigment such as bismuth vanadate which can be utilized for the kitchen tableware including skillet and pots (Page 5, [0013]).
In an analogous art of the cooking appliances comprising thermochromic layer having thermochromic pigment, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the thermochromic layer by ‘595, so as to include the cooking equipment having a thermochromic layer comprises a thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor, wherein thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor is using bismuth vanadate as taught by ‘562, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing a non-toxic reversible thermochromic pigment such as bismuth vanadate which can be utilized for the kitchen tableware including skillet and pots (Page 5, [0013]).
Regarding claim 2: The disclosure of ‘595 in view of ‘562 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘562 teaches the cooking utensil having a thermochromic layer including a thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor, wherein the thermochromic layer of the cooking utensil reversibly undergoes a color change within a temperature range from room temperature to 200 °C, and a difference between a CIELAB coordinate value exhibited at 25 °C and a CIELAB coordinate value exhibited at 200 °C is 20 to 25 (Page 5, [0020]).
"Where ... the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical ... the PTO can require an applicant to prove that the prior art products do not necessarily or inherently possess the characteristics of his claimed product such as a difference between a CIELAB coordinate value exhibited at 25 °C and a CIELAB coordinate value exhibited at 200 °C is 20 to 25." In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255 (CCPA 1977) (citations and footnote omitted). The mere recitation of a property or characteristic not disclosed by the prior art does not necessarily confer patentability to a composition or a method of using that composition. See In re Skoner, 51 7 F .2d 94 7, 950 ( CCP A 197 5).
Regarding claim 3: The disclosure of ‘595 in view of ‘562is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘595 teaches the cooking utensil having a thermochromic layer including a thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor, wherein the thermochromic pigment of the thermochromic layer has an average particle size of 0.1 to 25 µm (Page 9, [0070].
Thus, the subject as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have selected the overlapping portion of the range disclosed by the reference because overlapping ranges have been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness, see In re Malagari, 182 U.S.P.Q 549. It
Regarding claim 4: ‘595 teaches a method for manufacturing cooking equipment (Page 5, [0008]) comprising a thermochromic composite coating layer (Page 5, [0012]) including bismuth vanadate, the cooking equipment comprising: a metal substrate (10) (Page 6, [0033]), a primer layer (20) (Page 6, [0035]) which is formed on the surface where the metal substrate (10) (Page 6, [0035]) and a substance being cooked come into contact and is formed from a primer agent comprising 100 parts by weight of a fluorine based base resin, 5-50 parts by weight of a second pigment, 1-15 parts by weight of a phosphoric acid ester-based compound, and 0.5-5 parts by weight of germanium oxide (Page 6, [0037]; Page 7, [0039]). ‘595 teaches a thermochromic layer (40) formed by pad printing a thermochromic coating agent including a thermochromic compound and a discoloration pigment on at least a part of the surface of the primer layer (20) (Page 8, [0066]), and a top coating layer (50) formed by coating a top coating agent including a fluorine-based resin on the surface of the primer layer where the thermochromic layer ( 40) is Formed (Page 9, [0081]; Page 15, [0153], Figs.1-4). 595 teaches a thermochromic composite coating layer, wherein the thermochromic compound (Page 5, [0012]) comprises at least one of a mercury iodide complex salt and a vanadium oxide, and the second pigment of the primer layer (20) and a first pigment of the top coating agent may comprise bismuth vanadate and the like (Page 7, [0039]; Page 9, [0071]-[0072]; Page 10, [0089]; Page 15, Fig. 2). ‘595 does not expressly teach the cooking equipment having a thermochromic layer including a thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor, wherein thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor is using bismuth vanadate.
However, ‘562 teaches a non-toxic reversible thermochromic pigment such as bismuth vanadate which can be utilized for the kitchen tableware including skillet and pots (Page 5, [0013]).
In an analogous art of the cooking appliances comprising thermochromic layer having thermochromic pigment, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the thermochromic layer by ‘595, so as to include the cooking equipment having a thermochromic layer comprises a thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor, wherein thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor is using bismuth vanadate as taught by ‘562, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing a non-toxic reversible thermochromic pigment such as bismuth vanadate which can be utilized for the kitchen tableware including skillet and pots (Page 5, [0013]).
Regarding claim 5: The disclosure of ‘595 in view of ‘562is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘595 teaches the method for manufacturing a cooking utensil having a thermochromic layer including a thermochromic pigment for a temperature sensor, wherein the thermochromic layer includes 5 to 100 parts by weight of a thermochromic pigment based on 100 parts by weight of a fluorine-based resin, and the thermochromic pigment includes bismuth vanadate (Page 9, [0071]). ‘562 teaches a non-toxic reversible thermochromic pigment such as bismuth vanadate which can be utilized for the kitchen tableware including skillet and pots (Page 5, [0013]).
Examiner Information
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bijan Ahvazi, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571) 270-3449. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9.00 A.M. -7 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on 571-272-1130. 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.
/Bijan Ahvazi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
01/05/2026
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov