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 .
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) 12-13 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Minezawa et. al (US 2016/0223997 A1).
With respect to claim 12 Minezawa discloses a method for starting up a household appliance, the method comprising: checking by the household appliance whether a start-up operating sequence predetermined for a start-up of the household appliance has been carried out [reference character S102]; keeping operation of the household appliance disabled in a predetermined operating setting [note that the operating setting in step 103 cannot be carried out without completing the start-up sequence and is therefore disabled], when the start-up operating sequence predetermined for a start-up of the household appliance has not been carried out [see “no” pathway from S102 in Fig. 5]; and enabling operation of the household appliance in the predetermined operating setting [see e.g. “cooling operation” in paragraph 0054], when the start-up operating sequence predetermined for a start-up of the household appliance has been carried out [see “yes” pathway from S102 in Fig. 5].
With respect to claim 13 Minezawa discloses that the predetermined operating setting comprises a setting of an operating mode, a setting of an operating parameter, and/or a setting of an operating program [see e.g. “cooling operation” in paragraph 0054].
With respect to claim 17 Minezawa discloses the operation of the household appliance in the predetermined operating setting remains disabled until such time as the start- up operating sequence has been run through once in its entirety [see Fig. 5 of Minezawa].
Claim(s) 18-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Minezawa et. al (US 2016/0223997 A1).
With respect to claim 18 Minezawa discloses an electrically operated household appliance, comprising a control facility [reference character 11] designed to check whether a start-up operating sequence predetermined for a start- up of the household appliance has been carried out [see reference character S102], to keep operation of the household appliance disabled in a predetermined operating setting [note that the operating setting in step 103 cannot be carried out without completing the start-up sequence and is therefore disabled], when the start-up operating sequence predetermined for the start- up of the household appliance has not been carried out [see “no” pathway from S102 in Fig. 5], and to enable operation of the household appliance in the predetermined operating setting [see e.g. “cooling operation” in paragraph 0054], when the start-up operating sequence predetermined for a start-up of the household appliance has been carried out [see “yes” pathway from S102 in Fig. 5].
With respect to claim 19 Minezawa discloses a non-volatile data memory [reference character 12], said control facility designed to write a corresponding information into the non-volatile data memory when the start-up operating sequence has been carried out.
With respect to claim 20 Minezawa discloses that the household appliance is a household cooking appliance [paragraph 0026].
With respect to claim 21 Minezawa discloses that the household appliance is a baking oven and the predetermined operating setting is a setting of a heating operating mode [see paragraphs 0026 and 0028].
With respect to claim 22 Minezawa discloses that the household appliance is a small household appliance [see paragraph 0026].
Claim(s) 12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oh et. al (US 11,732,899 B2).
With respect to claim 12 Oh discloses a method for starting up a household appliance, the method comprising: checking by the household appliance whether a start-up operating sequence predetermined for a start-up of the household appliance has been carried out [see reference character S410 and S420]; keeping operation of the household appliance disabled in a predetermined operating setting [note that the operating setting in step S450 cannot be carried out without completing the start-up sequence and is therefore disabled], when the start-up operating sequence predetermined for a start-up of the household appliance has not been carried out [see “no” pathway from S410 and S420 in Fig. 4]; and enabling operation of the household appliance in the predetermined operating setting [reference character S450], when the start-up operating sequence predetermined for a start-up of the household appliance has been carried out [see “yes” pathway from S420].
With respect to claim 14 Oh discloses that when no start-up operating sequence has yet been carried out, querying by the household appliance whether the start-up operating sequence is to be carried out [reference character S480]; and if affirmative, outputting by the household appliance an advice to a user regarding preparation and/or execution of the start-up operating sequence; and subsequently carrying out the start-up operating sequence [column 11 lines 20-30].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-16 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 VIVEK K SHIRSAT whose telephone number is (571)272-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:20AM.
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/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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