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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/30/2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “substrate” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US 2022/0397718 A1).
Re: Claim 1, Lee discloses the claimed invention including a domestic appliance comprising:
a housing (1) defining a chamber (Para. 75, housing with chamber);
a door (10) mounted to the housing for selectively accessing the chamber; and
a dispensing assembly (20) comprising:
a dispenser disposed at an exterior of the door, the dispenser comprising a dispenser outlet (210) for accessing ice pieces or liquid water (Depicted in Fig. 2, Para. 88, ice and water dispensing outlets);
an ice chute (24) positioned within the dispenser outlet for dispensing ice pieces;
a water assembly (25, 50) comprising a water chute (55) disposed adjacent to the ice chute and a water tube positioned within the water chute for dispensing liquid water (Depicted in Fig. 2 & 23); and
a nozzle gasket assembly (40) removably mounted to a bottom portion of the ice chute and a bottom portion of the water chute, the nozzle gasket assembly comprising an ice gasket (432) positioned around the ice chute and a water gasket (435) positioned around the water chute (Depicted in Fig. 14).
Re: Claim 2, Lee discloses the claimed invention including the ice gasket comprises an inner ring (432), wherein the inner ring comprises an inner surface and an outer surface positioned radially around the inner surface, and wherein the inner surface defines an ice opening (433) in flow communication with the ice chute (Depicted in Fig. 16).
Re: Claim 3, Lee discloses the claimed invention including the ice gasket further comprises an outer ring (431) and a plurality of shelves, wherein the outer ring is positioned radially around the inner ring (Depicted Fig. 16), wherein the outer ring comprises an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the outer surface of the outer ring is positioned radially around the inner surface of the outer ring, and wherein the plurality of shelves are each extended between the outer surface of the inner ring and the inner surface of the outer ring (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 16).
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Re: Claim 4, Lee discloses the claimed invention including the bottom portion of the ice chute is disposed between the outer surface of the inner ring and the inner surface of the outer ring, and wherein the bottom portion of the ice chute is interfaced with the plurality of shelves (via 70) (Depicted in Fig. 14).
Re: Claim 5, Lee discloses the claimed invention including the water gasket comprises an outer circumferential wall extended from the outer ring of the ice gasket, wherein the outer circumferential wall and the outer ring of the ice gasket define a water opening for receiving the water tube (Depicted in Figs. 13-14, waster gasket extends from the outer ring with the water opening defined there between).
Re: Claim 6, Lee discloses the claimed invention including the water gasket further comprises a water guard positioned within the outer circumferential wall of the water gasket, wherein the water guard defines a water tube housing, and wherein the water tube is positioned, at least in part, within the water tube housing (Depicted in Fig. 13, thicker portion near the outlet of the water gasket constitutes the water guard to hold the water tube in place).
Re: Claim 7, Lee discloses the claimed invention including the dispensing assembly further comprising a bracket display (31), wherein the bracket display is disposed at the dispenser outlet (Depicted in Fig. 4-5), wherein the bracket display defines a chute slot (313) for receiving the ice chute and the water chute (Depicted in Fig. 6, 23), and wherein the nozzle gasket assembly is removable mounted below the bracket display (Fig. 4 depicts parts disassembled from each other).
Re: Claim 8, Lee discloses the claimed invention including comprising: an icebox compartment (12) positioned within the door for holding ice pieces(Para. 78, ice compartment in door), wherein the ice chute is in flow communication with the icebox compartment (Para. 108, ice compartment in door in comm with ice chute).
Re: Claim 9, Lee discloses the claimed invention including a water supply line (501) for delivering liquid water, wherein the water tube is in flow communication with the water supply line to dispense liquid water (Depicted in Fig. 4, Para. 177, supply line in comm with water tube).
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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2022/0397718 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wilson (US 2018/0077925 A1).
Re: Claim 10, Lee discloses the claimed invention except for an antimicrobial substrate. However, Wilson discloses the claimed invention include embedding a substrate around refrigerator gaskets (Para. 39, antimicrobial substrates around refrigerator gaskets), and the substrate comprising one or more of Dioctyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, Didecyl ammonium chloride, or Quaternium, n-Alkyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride (Para. 42, quaternium).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to include the antimicrobial substrate as taught by Wilson, since Wilson states in paragraph 48 that such a modification imparts antimicrobial effect to any surface the substrate is applied to thus mitigating exposure to people, animals and the environment.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. References cited on the PTO-892 provide additional examples of domestic appliances with dispensers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES P. CHEYNEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9971. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Durand can be reached at 571-272-4459. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES P. CHEYNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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