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) 1-5 and 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et. al (US 2021/0215345 A1).
With respect to claim 1 Lee discloses a cooking appliance comprising: a main body [reference character 10] having a cooking chamber [reference character 20] defined therein; a door [reference character 50] disposed in front of the main body so as to open and close the cooking chamber; a control panel [reference character 41] disposed on top of the main body and the door; and an air guide [reference character 100] disposed between the door and the control panel, wherein the air guide includes: a first guide portion [see annotated Fig. below] dividing a space between the door and the control panel into upper and lower portions; and a second guide [see annotated Fig. below] portion extending from the first guide portion in a direction between a direction from the first guide portion toward the main body and a direction from the first guide portion toward the door.
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With respect to claim 2 Lee discloses the air guide is disposed in a front space surrounded with the door, the main body, and the control panel [see Figs. 3-4].
With respect to claim 3 Lee discloses an electric component chamber [reference character 40] is disposed on top of the main body, wherein an exhaust port [see annotated Fig. below] communicating an inner space of the electric component chamber with the front space is formed in the main body1, wherein a door exhaust port [reference character 91] communicating an inner space of the door with the front space is formed in an upper end of the door facing the control panel.
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With respect to claim 4 Lee discloses that the second guide portion is positioned such that at least a portion of the second guide portion prevents the exhaust port and the door exhaust port from communicating with each other [see annotated Fig. above].
With respect to claim 5 Lee discloses that a vertical level of the door exhaust port is lower than a vertical level of the exhaust port [see annotated Fig. above], wherein the second guide portion extends from the first guide portion in a downwardly inclined manner in a rearward direction [see annotated Fig. above].
With respect to calm 7 Lee discloses that the air guide divides a space between the control panel and the door into a first space [see annotated Fig. below] between the control panel and the air guide and a second space [see annotated Fig. below] between the air guide and the door, wherein a connection space [see annotated Fig. below] connecting the first space and the second space to each other is defined between the second guide portion and the main body.
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With respect to claim 8 Lee discloses that the air guide prevents an exhaust port [see annotated Fig. above associated with claim 3] defined in the main body and a door exhaust port [reference character 91] defined in the door from communicating with each other.
With respect to claim 9 Lee discloses that the second guide portion is in close contact with a front surface [reference character 13] of the main body in an area between the exhaust port and the door exhaust port, and prevents the exhaust port and the door exhaust port from communicating with each other.
With respect to claim 10 Lee discloses that the air guide further includes a coupling portion [reference characters 120 and 130] disposed between the front surface of the main body and the second guide portion so as to couple the second guide portion to the front surface of the main body.
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(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et. al (US 2021/0215345 A1).
With respect to claim 6 Lee discloses that the door is divided into a front half portion and a rear half portion arranged in a front-rear direction [see annotated Fig. below], wherein the door exhaust port is defined in the rear half portion disposed in rear of the front half portion [see annotated Fig. below], wherein the rear half portion constitutes an inclined surface [the surface with reference character 91]
Lee does not disclose that the inclined surface is parallel to the second guide portion, adjusting the include of the inclined surface so that it is parallel with the second guide portion involves a mere change in the shape of a component, which is an obvious matter of design choice absent a specific recitation that the claimed shape is significant. Therefore, it would have, been an obvious matter of design choice to change the shape of the inclined surface so that it is parallel to the second guide portion since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the shape of a component A change in shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966).
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
1 “Outside air may be sucked into the electric component room 40 through the inlet 15a formed on the rear panel 15, and the air sucked into the electric component room 40 may flow through the inside of the electric component room 40 to cool the electrical components, and then may be discharged to the front of the oven 1 through a discharge port 80 along the discharge passage 72” [paragraph 0084], the only structure disclosed by Lee capable of discharging heated air from the electric component chamber to discharge port 80 is the structure identified in the annotated drawing.
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