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
Applicant's election with traverse of species A in the reply filed on February 26, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the examination of the alleged inventions together would not place a serious search and/or examination burden. This is not found persuasive because the instant application was filed under 35 USC 371 and not 35 USC 111. As pointed out in MPEP 1850, the decision in Caterpillar Tractor CO. v. Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks resulted in a determination that “when the Office considered international applications… during the national stage as a Designated or Elected Office under 35 USC 371, PCT rule 13.1 and 13.2 will be followed when considering unity of invention of claims of different categories without regard to the practice in national application filed under 35 USC 111.” The argument cited by Applicant regarding establishing burden concerns national US restriction practice applied to applications filed under 35 USC 111; since this application is a national stage application filed under 35 USC 371, arguments regarding burden are not applicable.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Accordingly, claims 6, 7, 15 and 18 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed towards a non-elected embodiment.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 8, 10-14, 16, 17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2021/0131717 to Ko et al., hereinafter referred to as Ko.
In reference to claim 1, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
A storehouse (1, see figure 1) comprising:
a first space (2) configured to provide a space for goods stored, and having a first storage compartment (2b) and a second storage compartment (2c);
a second space (111/112, see figure 2), configured to accommodate a first heat exchanger (120), and to be fluidly connected to the first space (2);
a third space (113) configured to accommodate a second heat exchanger (150);
a first wall (13) to define at least a portion of the first space (2);
a second wall (see below for the examiner’s definition of the second wall) defining to define at least a portion of the second space (111/112);
a third wall (115) to define at least a portion of the third space (113); and
a fluid generator (130) provided inside or adjacent to the second space (111/112) and configured to fluidly connect the second space and the first (2b) and second (2c) storage compartments.
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In reference to claim 2, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
the fluid generator (130) includes:
a first fluid generator (131) configured to supply fluid to the first storage compartment (2b); and
a second fluid generator (132) configured to supply fluid to the second storage compartment (2c).
In reference to claim 8, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
the first heat exchanger (120) includes:
a heat exchanger (121) fluidly connected to the first storage compartment (2b); and
a heat exchanger (122) fluidly connected to the second storage compartment (2c).
In reference to claim 10, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
a heat exchanger case (110) configured to provide an accommodating space (111/112) for the first heat exchanger (120) and the fluid generator (130) and to define part of the second wall (as defined supra with respect to claim 1).
In reference to claim 11, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
the heat exchanger case (110) includes:
a first heat exchanger case (as defined below) configured to accommodate a heat exchanger (121) for the first storage compartment (2b) which is fluidly connected to a first fluid generator (131);
and a second heat exchanger case (as defined below) configured to accommodate a heat exchanger (122) for the second storage compartment (2c) which is fluidly connected to a second fluid generator (132).
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In reference to claim 12, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
a partition (170) configured to separate the first space (2) and the second space (111/112),
wherein the partition (170) includes an inlet (171) configured to allow fluid of the first space (2b) to be introduced into the second space (111/112) and an outlet (173) configured to allow fluid of the second space (111/112) to be provided to the first space (2b).
In reference to claim 13, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
a duct (61/51) configured to fluidly connect the first storage compartment (2b) and a first fluid generator (131),
wherein the duct (61/51) is connected to the outlet (173) of the partition (170).
In reference to claim 14, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
the duct (61/51) includes:
a first duct (61) configured to supply fluid from the second space (111/112) to the first storage compartment (2b) and to be fluidly connected to the outlet (174) of the partition (170); and
a second duct (51) configured to return fluid from the first storage compartment (2b) to the second space (111/112) and to be fluidly connected to the inlet (171) of the partition (170).
In reference to claim 16, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
the first storage compartment (2b) and the second storage compartment (2c) disposed above the first storage compartment are separated by a partition (14a), and
wherein the second space (111/112) and the third space (113) are arranged horizontally below the first storage compartment (2b), see figure 3.
In reference to claim 17, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
the first storage compartment (2b) and the second storage compartment (2c) disposed above the first storage compartment are separated by a partition (14a), and
wherein the second space (111/112) and the third space (113) are arranged below the first storage compartment (2b) in a vertical direction, see figure 3.
In reference to claim 19, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
A storehouse (1) comprising:
a first space (2) configured to provide a space for goods, and having a first storage compartment (2b) and a second storage compartment (2c) separated by a partition (14a);
a second space (111) configured to accommodate a first heat exchanger (121), the second space (111) to be connected to the first storage compartment (2b) by a first duct (61);
a third space (112) configured to accommodate a second heat exchanger (122), and the second and third spaces to be separated from the first storage compartment by a partition (second wall as defined above in the annotated reference with respect to claim 1);
and a first fan (131) provided at the second space (111), and configured to control flow of fluid or air into the first duct (61) and to the first storage compartment (2b).
In reference to claim 20, Ko discloses the claimed invention including:
a second fan (132) provided at the third space (112), and configured to control flow of fluid or air into another duct (65) and to the second storage compartment (2c).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ko as applied to claim 8 supra and in further view of US 2019/0093938 to Miller et al., hereinafter referred to as Miller.
In reference to claim 9, Ko and Miller disclose the claimed invention.
Ko fails to disclose an ice-making space is provided in the first storage compartment or a door and is fluidly connected to the heat exchanger for the first storage compartment.
Miller teaches that in the art of refrigerators that it is a known method to provide an ice-making space (152) in a door (128) that is fluidly connected to a heat exchanger (188A) for a first storage compartment (124). This is strong evidence that modifying Ko as claimed would produce predictable results (i.e., provide cooling for an ice maker). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed, to modify Ko by Miller such that an ice-making space was provided in a door and was fluidly connected to the heat exchanger (121) for the first storage compartment, since all claimed elements were known in the art, and one having ordinary skill in the art could have modified the prior art as claimed by known methods with no changes in their respective functions and the combination would have yielded a predictable result of providing cooling for an ice maker.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CASSEY D BAUER whose telephone number is (571)270-7113. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs: 10AM-8PM (ET).
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/CASSEY D BAUER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/FRANTZ F JULES/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763