DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS’s) submitted on January 26, 2025, November 25, 2025 & May 26, 2026 were in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
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. Therefore, the “control portion”, “main door electric component” & “secondary door electric component” [Claim 1] must be clearly shown / labeled in the drawings or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). 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 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 1-20 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, recitation of the features “main door electric component” & “secondary door electric component” as presently set forth, is not readily understood since the disclosure is silent as to what may actually constitute such features, thereby rendering the metes and bounds of patent protection being sought by applicant unascertainable. In Claims 9-11, the phrases “the first wire barrel” & “the second wire barrel” do not have a proper antecedent basis. Consequently, the remaining claims are rejected since they are dependent, either directly or indirectly, upon an indefinite claim.
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.
Claims 1-2 & 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 110462317. CN`317 teaches of a door-in-door refrigerator (refrigerator as shown in fig. 1), comprising: a cabinet (10), provided with a cabinet opening (note fig. 30 for instance) and a control portion (14); a main door (40), disposed on the cabinet, to close or open the cabinet opening, wherein the main door is provided with a main door electric component (such as the disclosed heater for example); a main door hinge (80), to rotatably connect the main door to the cabinet; a secondary door (50), disposed on the main door, wherein the secondary door is provided with a secondary door electric component (such as the display assembly (60) for example); a secondary door hinge (70), to rotatably connect the secondary door to the main door; and a wire harness (note figs. 19 & 22-25 for instance), comprising a secondary door wire harness (either (501) or (502-505) for instance) and a main door wire harness (401), wherein the secondary door wire harness is employed to connect the secondary door electric component to the control portion (disclosed) and the main door wire harness is employed to connect the main door electric component to the control portion (disclosed); wherein the secondary door wire harness passes through the main door hinge and the secondary door hinge (fig. 23), and the main door wire harness passes through the main door hinge (fig. 23). As to Claim 2, the secondary door wire harness passes through the secondary door hinge from bottom to top, passes into the main door from a top of the secondary door hinge, passes through the main door hinge from bottom to top, and passes into the cabinet from a top of the main door hinge, to be connected to the control portion (note figures 22-25 for instance); and the main door wire harness passes through the main door hinge from bottom to top, and passes into the cabinet from the top of the main door hinge, to be connected to the control portion (as shown). As to Claim 8, the refrigerator further comprising: a secondary door hinge box (72), disposed above the main door and rotatable connected to the secondary door, wherein the secondary door hinge is wrapped in the secondary door hinge box (fig. 19); and a main door hinge box (82), disposed above the cabinet and rotatable connected to the cabinet, wherein the main door hinge is wrapped in the main door hinge box (fig. 25).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7 & 9-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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 refrigerators with hinge / wiring harness assemblies.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES O HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6866. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8 am - 4:30 pm.
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, Daniel Troy can be reached at 571-270-3742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JOH
August 14, 2026
/James O Hansen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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