DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on December 19, 2024 was in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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 1-19 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. In Claim 1, lines 11-12, the phrase “an access opening” is unclear and confusing as presently set forth since it is not known whether this limitation is a new and distinct feature, or if it was meant to be a reference back to the previously established “an access opening” as recited in line 8; additionally, in lines 94-95, the phrase “a position, proximate to the first body side wall, of an end of the hinge plate away from the box body is provided with a limiting surface” is unclear and not properly understood since one may not readily infer whether the “position” is a location along a recited component or an actual structural feature. As such, the metes and bounds of patent protection being sought by applicant is unascertainable. In Claim 2, lines 6, 13 & 14 respectively, the phase “the door body” is unclear and confusing as presently set forth since it is not known as to which of the two door bodies [established in lines 1-2] is actually being referenced, i.e., “one of the two door bodies” or “another of the two door bodies”. In Claim 9, line 2, the phrase “a wall of the door body opposite to the door front wall” is unclear and confusing as presently set forth since it is not known whether this limitation is a new and distinct feature, or if it was meant to be a reference back to the previously established “a door rear wall” as recited in Claim 1, where the door rear wall is disposed opposite to the door front wall for example. Appropriate correction / clarification is requested. Consequently, the remaining claims are rejected since they are dependent, either directly or indirectly, upon an indefinite claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-19 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure – see the attached Form PTO-892 showing various hinge assemblies on refrigerators.
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JOH
January 30, 2026
/James O Hansen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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