DETAILED ACTION
The communication dated 7/12/2024 has been entered and fully considered.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
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 .
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.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Delle et al. U.S. Publication 2011/0120512 (henceforth referred to as Delle).
Delle teaches a dish washer (Fig. 1: part 100) comprising: a tub (Fig. 1: part 101) having a washing space defined therein and constructed to accommodate therein a dish; and a moisture-absorption and drying device (Fig. 1: part 1) configured to absorb moisture from air discharged from the tub and supply the air to the tub, wherein the moisture-absorption and drying device includes: a blow fan (Fig. 1: part 104) configured to generate air flow of the air, a moisture absorbent (Fig. 2: part 4) disposed downstream of the blow fan in a flow direction of the air flow, a heater (Fig. 2: part 5) disposed between the blow fan and the moisture absorbent in the flow direction of the air flow, wherein the heater is configured to heat the air flow to be supplied to the moisture absorbent (paragraph [0077]), a housing (Fig. 2: part 3) including: a heater receiving portion having a heater receiving space defined therein, wherein the air flow having passed through the blow fan flows in the heater receiving space, and a heater is received in the heater receiving space (the lower portion of housing 3), and a moisture absorbent receiving portion having a moisture absorbent receiving space defined therein, wherein the air flow having passed through the heater receiving space flows in the moisture absorbent receiving space, and the moisture absorbent is received in the moisture absorbent receiving space, and a moisture absorbent holder disposed in an inner space of the moisture absorbent receiving portion and constructed to store therein the moisture absorbent (the upper portion of housing 3), wherein the heater is constructed to extend through the heater receiving portion such that at least a portion of the heater is received in the inner space of the moisture absorbent receiving portion (Fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-20 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: Delle et al. U.S. Publication 2011/0120512, the closest prior art, differs from the instant claims in failing to teach that the moisture absorbent holder includes: a container-shaped main holder having a receiving space defined therein for receiving therein the moisture absorbent; and an air passage-defining portion protruding from a bottom surface of the main holder toward the receiving space, wherein the air passage-defining portion defines an air introduction space into which air flow having passed through the heater receiving portion is introduced, and wherein the at least a portion of the heater received in the inner space of the moisture absorbent receiving portion is received in the air introduction space. Furthermore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the dish washer taught by Delle as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEVON J SHAHINIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1384. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30am-6:00pm.
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/LEVON J SHAHINIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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