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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 11, 12, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Home US 6,446,622.
Regarding claims 11 and 20, Home discloses a household gas stove, comprising: a gas burner, a gas valve (3) designed to control a flow of combustion gas to the gas burner; an ignitor designed to ignite the combustion gas at the gas burner (Home, abstract); and a knob mechanism (10) designed to actuate the gas valve and comprising a movable permanent magnet (12), which is designed to generate a magnetic field, and an immovable switch (30) switchable from an off mode, in which the switch is outside a range of the magnetic field (Home, Figure 5), into an on mode in which the switch is within the range of the magnetic field (Home, Figure 7), by moving the magnet relative to the switch, wherein the switch activates the ignitor when being switched from the off mode into the on mode (Home, column 3: lines 26-31).
Regarding claim 12, Home further discloses an ignitor circuit, said switch being designed to close the ignitor circuit to supply power from a power supply to the ignitor to ignite the combustion gas at the gas burner when the switch is switched into the on mode (Home, column 2: lines 50-59).
Claim(s) 11, 12, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gjerde et al US 7,425,128.
Regarding claims 11 and 19, Gjerde discloses a household gas stove, comprising: a gas burner, a gas valve (Gjerde, abstract) designed to control a flow of combustion gas to the gas burner; an ignitor (22) designed to ignite the combustion gas at the gas burner (Gjerde, abstract); and a knob mechanism (36) designed to actuate the gas valve and comprising a movable magnet (80), which is designed to generate a magnetic field, and an immovable reed switch (20) switchable from an off mode in which the switch is outside a range of the magnetic field, into an on mode in which the switch is within the range of the magnetic field (Gjerde, column 5: line 67-column 6: line 10), by moving the magnet relative to the switch, wherein the switch activates the ignitor when being switched from the off mode into the on mode (Gjerde, abstract).
Regarding claim 12, Gjerde further discloses an ignitor circuit, said switch being designed to close the ignitor circuit to supply power from a power supply to the ignitor to ignite the combustion gas at the gas burner when the switch is switched into the on mode field (Gjerde, column 5: line 67-column 6: line 10).
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(s) 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Home US 6,446,622 in view of Porraro US 9,605,852.
Regarding claims 17 and 18, Home discloses the device of claim 11 but fails to disclose a device interacting with the switch. Porraro discloses a stove burner having an illumination device interacting with a magnetic switch that is turned on when the switch is switched into the on mode and turned off when the switch is switched into the off mode (Porraro, column 5: line 50-column 6: line 6). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the stove of claim 11 to comprise a device interacting with the switch as taught by Porraro as to provide a visual indicator of the ignition of the burner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not disclose, either alone or in combination a knob element of the household gas stove as claimed, wherein the knob element is held to the control element by the magnet such as to be removable and attachable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: French et al US 20190107288 discloses a household stove device. French differs from the instant invention in that a magnet of French is stationary while the switch is moveable.
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/KRISTEN C HAYES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642
