DETAILED ACTION
In Application filed on 10/07/2024, claims 1-5 are pending. Claims 1-5 are considered in the current Office 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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Currently, claim 2 recites the limitation “…whereby the cover comprises sidewalls having openings”. However, figures of the instant application fails to provide proper antecedent basis for this limitation. At most, the specification and Figure 3 of the drawing discloses “Cover 36 is a disc-shaped lid having a flat surface 35 with an opening 38 in its center [0012]” and nothing discloses the sidewalls of the cover comprises of openings as recited in claim 2. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 3 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “…and an underside surface a rounded wall extending…” should read as “…and an underside surface, a rounded wall extending…”.
Claim 3 recites “…further comprising an outer housing;” should read as “…further comprising an outer housing.”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP1932433 (“Koike et al” hereinafter Koike).
Regarding Claim 1, Koike teaches a cotton candy machine (Figure 2 and abstract), comprising: a base (Figure 2, base 2); a motor (Figure 3, motor 14); a shaft having a first end and a second end (Figure 3, rotary shaft 11 has a upper end 11a and a lower end 11b), the first end of the shaft in communication with the motor (Figure 3 and [0025], the motor 14 has a drive shaft to which a first gear 13a is connected. The first gear 13a is in meshing engagement with a second gear 13b that is connected to the lower end 11b of a vertically extending rotary shaft 11; thus, the lower end 11b of the rotary shaft 11 is in communication with the motor 14); a rotating chamber (Figure 7, rotary pan 10) comprising: a plate (Figure 6, lid member 45 which comprises a flange portion 46 that formed a plate shape) having an upper surface and an underside surface (all flange have a upper surface and an underside surface), a rounded wall extending upwardly from the plate (Figure 6, cover body 51), and a cover having a central opening applied atop the rounded wall (Figure 6, retention member 60); a heating element disposed below the underside surface of the plate (Figure 5, electrically heated wire 26 is defines a heater [0034] and located below the underside surface of the lid member 45); a collar extending downwardly from the rotating chamber and surrounding the heating element (Figure 5, bobbin receiving pedestal 25); and the second end of the shaft connected to the rotating chamber to impart rotational force to the rotating chamber (Figure 3, upper end 11a of the rotary shaft secured to a horizontal pedestal 28 that is defined by a thin circular plate [0028]).
Regarding Claim 2, Koike teaches the cotton candy machine of Claim 1, whereby the cover comprises sidewalls having openings (Figure 6, retention member 60 has an opening 61 extending therethrough in the vertical direction [0043] and comprises of sidewalls with three first screw thread parts 60a which is consider as openings).
PNG
media_image1.png
486
520
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 3, Koike teaches the cotton candy machine of Claim 1, further comprising an outer housing (see annotated Figure 2).
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) 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP1932433 (“Koike et al” hereinafter Koike) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US2020/0253233 (Korin).
Regarding Claim 4, Koike teaches the cotton candy machine of Claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the base comprises a ring portion having a series of openings configured to allow air exchange between the outside of the base and the interior of the base.
However, Korin teaches the base comprises a ring portion having a series of openings (Figure 2, diffusor 8 comprises of a plurality of air intake openings 20 and [0040]) configured to allow air exchange between the outside of the base and the interior of the base (Figure 4 and [0041]).
Koike and Korin are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both are in the same field of apparatus for preparing cotton candy. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modified the apparatus as taught by Koike such that it discloses all of the above mentioned limitations as taught by Korin to lifts candy floss upwards ([0051]).
Regarding Claim 5, the modified Koike teaches the cotton candy machine of Claim 4, whereby the ring portion comprises a lower segment and an upper segment (Korin, see Figure 2, the lower segment is where the plurality of air intake opening are located while the upper segment does not contain any opening).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XINWEN (Cindy) YE whose telephone number is (571)272-3010. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8:30 - 17:00.
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, Susan Leong can be reached at (571) 270-1487. 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.
XINWEN (CINDY) YE
Examiner
Art Unit 1754
/SUSAN D LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1754