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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 1-3, 6-7, and 16 in the reply filed on March 16th, 2026 is acknowledged. Amended claim 17 is restricted as it still pertains to a set containing multiple different cooking appliances and cookware items that are connectable to the electronic module.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 6-7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US Patent No. 20170280510) in view of Smrke (US Patent No. 5951900).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim teaches an electronic module for at least one kitchen appliance (Figure 2, Cooking information providing device 100 on Container 50), the electronic module at least comprising:- one module housing (Figure 2, Showcases the Housing of the cooking information providing device 100),- at least one electronic component that is arranged in the module housing (Figure 4, Showcases Electronic components inside the housing),- at least one electrical energy storage that is arranged in the module housing (Figure 4, A battery 135 inside the housing) and connected to the electronic component (Paragraph 73, Battery 135 powers the device therefore its connected to the other components),- a control element for controlling the electronic module by a user (Figure 2 and Paragraph 90, Display 150 touchscreen with inputs and outputs), wherein the electronic module is configured to detect information from the kitchen appliance (Paragraph 78 and Figure 5, Sensors that detect temperature and water level), wherein the electronic module is intended and set up for the purpose of being placed with magnetic force (Figure 4 and Paragraph 72 Contact portion 120 may include more than one magnet) in at least one predefined arrangement relative to the kitchen appliance being detachably held at the kitchen appliance (Figure 2, Cooking information providing device 100 is held in arrangement relative to the Container 50 with Contact portion 120 and is detachable from the Container 50).
Kim fails to teach that the electronic module has a sensor to collect at least a movement or a positioning of the electronic module or of the kitchen appliance, which is a gyro sensor and/or an acceleration sensor.
Smrke teaches a control device located on kitchen appliances (Abstract, Control Device) where the electronic module has a sensor to collect at least a movement or a positioning of the electronic module or of the kitchen appliance, which is a gyro sensor and/or an acceleration sensor (Col 4 Line 14-33, The sensor section 32 in the universal electronic control unit 28 may be provided with a built-in motion sensor).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kim to incorporate a motion sensor as one of the sensors in the kitchen appliance as stated in Smrke. The morion sensor is coupled to the control unit and alarms the user of any movement that occurs (Col 4 Line 14-33, Motion Sensor).
Regarding Claim 3, Kim in view of Smrke teaches that the electronic module comprises a display device (Kim: Figure 2, Display 150), wherein the display device comprises at least an arrangement of a number of LEDs or at least a display (Figure 2 and Paragraph 90, Display 150 touchscreen with inputs and outputs).
Regarding Claim 6, Kim in view of Smrke teaches that the electronic module comprises a communication device for a wireless communication (Kim: Figure 4, Wireless communication module 132).
Regarding Claim 7, Kim in view of Smrke teaches that the electronic module comprises a detection device that is connected to the electronic component (Kim: Figure 5, The sensor 143 is connected to Processor 131).
Regarding Claim 16, Kim in view of Smrke teaches an electronic module where the control element comprises the sensor (Kim: Figure 5 and Paragraph 77, Processor 131 is connected to sensor unit 140 which contains sensors 141, 142, and 143).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US Patent No. 20170280510) in view of Smrke (US Patent No. 5951900) and further in view of Sharpe (US Patent No. 20040016348).
Regarding Claim 2, Kim in view of Smrke fails to teach that the electronic module comprises at least one electronic connection element, which is at least connected to the electronic component or the energy storage, wherein the electronic module is electrically connectable with the connecting element to the kitchen appliance.
Sharpe teaches a digital cooking pan with an electronic module (Abstract, and Paragraph 35-36, A digital cooking pan) where the electronic module comprises at least one electronic connection element, which is at least connected to the electronic component or the energy storage (Figure 1-2 and Paragraph 35-36, electronics module 16 is connected to the Sensors in the pan through electronic path 24, reads as there being a connection element between them), wherein the electronic module is electrically connectable with the connecting element to the kitchen appliance (Figure 1-2 and Paragraph 35-36, electronics module 16 is connected to the pan through electronic path 24).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kim in view of Smrke to incorporate an electronic module that is electrically connected to a kitchen appliance as stated in Sharpe. The removable electronic module being electrically connectable to the pan allows the electronic module to utilize the sensors located on different regions of the pan for a more accurate data reading (Figure 1 and Paragraph 36, Removable Electronic Module and Sensors 11 and 11a).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAMZEH HICHAM AMIN whose telephone number is (571)272-4235. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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/HAMZEH HICHAM AMIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/JUSTIN C DODSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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