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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 15-X is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 105276886A to Kohno (Kohno).
Concerning claim 15, Kohno discloses a shave-ice making kit, comprising:
a primary unit (60) including: an ice block-receiving chamber (63) having an inner cavity (E1 in the figure reproduced below) and a lower side defining an output opening and a blade (65) in a fixed position along a portion of the opening and partially extending into the inner cavity; and
a plunger (62) mounted with respect to the ice block-receiving chamber so as to be moveable into the inner cavity toward the lower side along an axis and to be rotatable around the axis, the plunger (62) including an axle (E2 in the figure reproduced below) and a pusher (E3 in the figure reproduced below) extending radially outward from an operating end of the axle (E2); and
an ice mold (50) defining an inner mold cavity (53) sized to receive a volume of water for freezing into an ice block for receipt within the inner cavity of the ice-block receiving chamber.
Concerning claim 17, Kohno discloses wherein: the pusher (E3) defines at least one gripping feature (64 or 40) configured to engage a portion of an ice block positioned within the ice block-receiving chamber (63) such that the plunger (62) rotates the ice block over the blade (65); and the ice mold (50) includes at least one protrusion (52) extending into the inner mold cavity to impart a receiving feature (71) in the ice block (70) corresponding with the at least one gripping feature (64 or 40).
Concerning claim 18, Kohno discloses wherein: the at least one gripping feature (64 or 40) comprises a plurality of spikes arranged in first and second perpendicular lines extending across a portion of a diameter of the pusher; and the protrusion (52) defines first and second perpendicular ridges in locations correlating with locations of the first and second perpendicular lines.
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.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kohno.
Concerning claim 16, Kohno discloses a plurality of lids (10 as they are not desired to be reused) to enclose the inner mold cavities of the ice mold (50).
However Kohno does not disclose the ice mold (50) is one of a plurality of ice molds included within the kit.
It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to construct the kit of Kohno such that the ice mold (50) is one of a plurality of ice molds included within the kit as such determination would result during routine engineering practices and experimentation. Accordingly, mere duplication of parts, i.e. having a plurality of ice molds, has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). There is no new or unexpected result from being able to make multiple ice blocks.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are allowed.
Claims 10-11, 13-14 and 19-20 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
For claims 1, 13-14 and 20 the prior art does not disclose an attachment for a stand mixer comprising: an ice block receiving chamber having a blade in a fixed position, a plunger mounted with respect to the chamber and a drive shaft having an input end coupleable to a power output of the stand mixer and a drive end mechanically coupled with the plunger to drive rotation thereof about the axis. Instead the prior art, as discussed above, discloses a single device having a motor for driving the plunger within the device’s body. Thus there is no rationale to separate the motor and it’s drive shaft from the device to then allow the drive shaft to be driven by a power output of a stand mixer. The closest prior art is U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0242600 which discloses a stand mixer attachment for crushing ice but does not disclose any blades as claimed.
For claim 9, the prior art does not disclose a lever applying a force on a second end of the axle opposite the operating end. Best seen in U.S. Patent No. 8,807,469 which discloses an ice block-receiving chamber (4) having an inner cavity (41) and a lower side defining an output opening and a blade (42); an upper housing (2) releasably retaining the ice block-receiving chamber (4); a plunger (see figure 4) mounted with the upper housing, the plunger including an axle (at 21) and a pusher (22) extending radially outward from an operating end of the axle; and a biasing member (22) exerting an axial force on a second end of the axle, positioned opposite the operating end, in a first direction toward the lower side of the ice block-receiving chamber. However there is no lever as claimed.
For claim 19, the prior art does not disclose a sleeve receivable within the inner cavity of the ice block-receiving chamber and including at least one spiral rib extending inward from the sleeve with respect to the inner cavity.
Conclusion
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/Matthew Katcoff/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725
12/12/2025