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 . Claims 16-35 are pending in the current application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION. - The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Specifically, Claim 23 is rejected since there is no antecedent basis for the language “the rear surface.”
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 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shin et al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2024/0301608 A1, hereinafter “Shin”).
Specifically, regarding Claim 16, Shin discloses a laundry treating apparatus for performing a processing operation for laundry (e.g., FIGS. 1, 5, and 6), the laundry treating apparatus comprising a main body (1) configured to accommodate the laundry, a cover (138; FIG. 5) defining an exterior of the main body (1), the cover (138) including a first through hole (135) at a front upper end portion of the cover (138), and a control panel (P; ¶¶ [0070], [0071], FIG. 1) located at an inner surface of the cover (138; ¶ [0103]), the control panel (P) being partially exposed to an exterior of the cover (138) through the first through hole (135) to allow a user to input a control signal for the processing operation (¶ [0118]), the control panel (P) including a wireless communicator (97) configured to transmit and receive wireless signals to and from an outside of the laundry treating apparatus (¶ [0138]), the wireless communicator (97) being located at the inner surface of the cover (138), the wireless communicator (97) being coupled to a bottom of the control panel (P; as can be seen in FIG. 6 the receiver 97 is received on an end region of the bracket 94. Since no orientation is defined said end can be interpreted as the bottom of the control panel (P).
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.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin in view of Koo et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 9,284,675 B2, hereinafter “Koo”).
Shin discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention but does not disclose the claimed speaker. However, Koo discloses a sound emitter located inside the cover (col 10, ll. 55-58; as the display unit is located within the cover, a speaker would be installed inside the cover and not located external to the washing machine), the sound emitter being configured to output a sound signal related to the processing operation (col 10, ll. 55-58).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Koo with those of Shin and place the sound emitter on an inner surface of the cover and coupled to a side surface of the control panel to provide audible feedback from within the machine (e.g., for safety reasons) to a device user.
Claims 18-22 and 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Shin and Koo in view of Wang et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,933,123 B2, hereinafter “Wang”).
The combination of Shin and Koo discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention but does not disclose the claimed panel. However, Wang discloses that the control panel (10; FIG. 10) further includes: a window (62; FIG. 10) having a front surface (FIG. 10), a portion of the front surface being bonded to the inner surface of the cover (14; FIG. 10) adjacent the first through hole (an area between adjacent portions of 14; FIG. 10), a touch screen (64, 66) located at a rear surface of the window (FIG. 3), and a coating guide (136; col. ll. 54-57, FIG. 10) configured to support a rear surface of the touch screen (via 168; FIG. 10), the coating guide (136) located at the inner surface of the cover (14), as recited in Claim 18, (ii) that the control panel (10) further includes a first sealing member (146; FIG. 10) interposed between the window (62) and the coating guide (136; FIG. 10), as recited in Claim 19, (iii) that the control panel (10) further includes a board cover (12; FIG. 6) located at a rear surface of the coating guide (36; FIG. 10), the board cover (12) including a printed circuit board (72; FIG. 6) connected to the touch screen (64, in an assembled state; FIG. 10), as recited in Claim 21, (iv) that the control panel (10) further includes a second sealing member (148; FIG. 10) interposed between the coating guide (136) and the board cover (12; e.g., FIG. 10 when rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees, as recited in Claim 22.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Shin and Koo with those of Wang to provide a secure window, touch panel, and housing connection and prevent unintentional disassembly.
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Shin, Koo, and Wang, discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention but does not disclose the claimed locations. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to place the communicator and emitter at such locations to provide secure internal placement since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 U.S.P.Q. 70.
Regarding Claim 26, Shin discloses a controller configured to input/output signals related to controlling the processing operation (Abstract; ¶ [0117]).
Regarding Claim 27, Shin discloses that the controller is configured to receive signals for controlling the processing operation from the touch screen through the printed circuit board (Abstract; ¶ [0117]).
Regarding Claim 28, Shin discloses that the wireless communicator (97) is configured to transmit and receive the wireless signals for controlling the processing operation from/to the controller (¶ [0139]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 29-35 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 ANTHONY R. JIMENEZ whose telephone number is 313-446-6518. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 1030am - 9pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Renee Luebke, can be reached at (571) 272-2009. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANTHONY R JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
Prosecution Insights