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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Korean patent KR 20060041507A to Kim (hereinafter “KR ‘507”).
KR ‘507 discloses a vacuum storage device comprising a suction base (refrigerator 1) with a first suction port (11), a storage box (21) configured to be detachably fixed to the suction base, defining a storage space (23) within, where the storage box has a suction port (insertion groove 24) and a vacuum pump (6) to extract air through the first suction port and the suction port. In regard to claim 8, vacuum pump 6 is within a space inside the refrigerator. In regard to claims 9 and 10, the abstract states, “since the vacuum-related device is safely provided in the door of the refrigerator, a user who wants to use the vacuum device can conveniently and safely store food.”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art fails to teach a vacuum storage box with an inner and outer box with a suction port on the outer box for connection to a vacuum pump to evacuate the air in a gap between the boxes and the storage space within the inner box. Thermal storage containers with vacuums between inner and outer containers are known (such as Albritton et al -US 2006/0000733), but these do not evacuate air in the storage space. Avrech (WO 2017/042801) shows a vacuum storage container with an outer box and an inner bag, but does not form a vacuum in the space between the outer box and the bag.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yang et al (WO 2021/223284) shows a refrigerator with removable vacuum storage containers with suction ports that connect to a vacuum pump within the refrigerator. Bourrec (WO 2018/189351) shows a vacuum storage system with a base with a vacuum pump and removable containers. Small et al (US 2004/0177771) shows vacuum storage with a removable vacuum pump base.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM C DOERRLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4807. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7-5.
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/WILLIAM C DOERRLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3993