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 § 103
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 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) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SON et al (US 2018/0177000). Regarding claims 1-2, Son discloses induction heat cooking apparatus and method for operating the same comprising an upper plate (11) having a heating region configured to heat a cooking container (1) placed thereon; a working coil (12) configured to generate a magnetic field to heat the cooking container (1, par. 0047-par. 0049, Figure 2); and an inverter (140) having a driveable switch (Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)) configured to control a current flowing through the working coil (150, par. 0066, Figure 3). Son does not clearly disclose an area of the working coil is smaller than an area of the heating region. However, Son could be simply changed in the design of the heating coil (150) which included in the electromagnetic induction heating cooker (par. 0044, Figure 3). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to have changed in the design of the heating coil which included in the electromagnetic induction heating cooker in order to increase the area of the heating region.
Claim(s) 12-13, 15-17, 22-24 and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son et al (US 2018/0177000) in view of JP2018097990A cited by applicant. Regarding claims 12-13, 15-16 and 22-23, Son discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except the working coil is arranged such that a distance between a first turn of the working coil and a second turn of the working coil adjacent to the first turn of the working coil is spaced apart from each other by a preset interval. JP2018097990A discloses an electromotive force caused by a coil is controlled by distance between a power supply coil and a power receiving coil or the areas of the power supply coil and the power receiving coil (claim 10). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in Son an electromotive force caused by a coil is controlled by distance between a power supply coil and a power receiving coil or the areas of the power supply coil and the power receiving coil in order to control the heating region. Regarding claims 17, 24 and 29, Son discloses the inverter operates in a frequency band of 50khz or higher (par. 0082).
Claim(s) 14, 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son et al (US 2018/0177000) in view of JP2018097990A cited by applicant and further in view of Otsu et al (US 2018/0358874). Regarding claims 14 and 28, Son/J P2018097990A discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except the switch is a silicon carbide element. Otsu discloses a switch id a silicon carbide element (par. 0039). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in Son/JP2018097990A the switch is a silicon carbide element as taught by Otsu in order to provide switch faster with higher efficiency and reduces heat generation.
Claim(s) 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son et al (US 2018/0177000) in view of JP2018097990A cited by applicant and further in view of Moon et al (11,133,710). Regarding claims 18, Son/JP2018097990A discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except at least one ferrite core located below the working coil. Moon discloses at least one ferrite core located below the working coil (col. 12, lines 40-41). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in Son/JP2018097990A as taught by Moon in order to increase magnetic flux and to make the coil more efficient. Regarding claims 19, Moon discloses the working coil has a rectangular perimeter (col. 38, lines 29-41), and wherein the at least one ferrite core (1620) includes a plurality of ferrite cores (Figure 15). 31
Claim(s) 25-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son et al (US 2018/0177000) in view of Moon et al (11,133,710). Regarding claims 25-26, Son discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except at least one ferrite core located below the working coil. Moon discloses at least one ferrite core located below the working coil (col. 12, lines 40-41). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in Son as taught by Moon in order to increase magnetic flux and to make the coil more efficient. Regarding claim 26, Moon discloses a limitation the working coil has a rectangular perimeter col. 38, lines 29-41).
Claims 20-21 and 27 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.
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/QUANG T VAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 July 23, 2026
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