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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et. al (CN 112484083 A).
With respect to claim 1 Li discloses a fume extracting device, applied to an induction cooker integrated stove, and comprising: a box body [see annotated Fig. below], wherein a mounting hole [see annotated Fig. below] is disposed on an upper end surface of the box body; a volute fan [see annotated Fig. below], located inside the box body, wherein an air inlet end in a middle part of the volute fan faces downward [see annotated Fig. below]; a fume extracting pipe [see annotated Fig. below], located inside the box body, wherein one end of the fume extracting pipe is inserted upward through the mounting hole and disposed on the box body, and the other end of the fume extracting pipe is in communication with the air inlet end of the volute fan [see annotated Fig. below]; the end of the fume extracting pipe inserted through the box body extends horizontally to form a support base [see annotated Fig. below], a lower side of the support base is abutted against and fixed on the upper end surface of the box body, and a filtering assembly [see Figs. 4-5, reference characters 21, 22, 23, 221, and 231] is disposed inside the support base to filter gases entering the fume extracting pipe from outside; and a fume exhaust pipe [see annotated Fig. below], wherein the fume exhaust pipe is in communication with an air outlet end of the volute fan.
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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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et. al (CN 112484083 A) in view of Bruckbauer (US 10,718,528 B2).
With respect to claim 2 Li discloses the filtering assembly comprises a filtering cup [reference character 23], and an air inlet cover [reference character 22], a part of structure of the filtering cup is inserted through the mounting hole into the fume extracting pipe [see Fig. 6], and a part of structure of the filtering cup is abutted against the support base to enable the support base to support the filtering cup [see Fig. 6], an opening of an upper end of the filtering cup matches an opening of an upper end of the support base [see Fig. 6].
Li does not disclose a strainer the strainer being laid on the opening of the upper end of the filtering cup, and the air inlet cover is covered on the strainer.
Bruckbauer discloses a downdraft fume removal system that includes a filtering cup [reference character 14] and a strainer [reference character 6] placed immediately downstream of the air inlet [see Fig. 2].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the system taught by Li by including a strainer immediate downstream of the inlet to the exhaust, as taught by Bruckbauer, in order to prevent grease laden air from entering the volute fan. Note that in the combination the air inlet cover would cover all of the structure within the fume extracting pipe, including the strainer.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et. al (CN 112484083 A) in view of Kim et. al (US 2021/0215350 A1).
With respect to claim 10 Li discloses the fume extraction device mentioned in claim 1.
Li does not disclose an induction cooker integrated stove.
Kim discloses an induction stove [reference character 1] having a downdraft fume removal system.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the system taught by Li by installing the fume extraction system in an induction stove, as taught by Kim, in order to eliminate the need for cooking gas.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 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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