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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/17/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1 and 12 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 2008/0168794 A1) in view of Boarman et al. (US 2021/0041155 A1).
In regard to claim 1, Cho discloses a refrigerator appliance (refrigerator 10; Figs. 1-3) comprising: a cabinet defining a chilled chamber (a freezing chamber 12 and a cooling chamber 13); a door (doors 20 and 30) rotatably mounted to the cabinet to selectively permit access to the chilled chamber (12/13), the door (20) comprising a top guide track (guiding parts 52) and a bottom guide track (guide rails 44b); and an ice storage bin (corresponding to receiving chamber 50), the ice storage bin (50) being moveable between a closed position (when completely closed), a parked position (when retraction occurred), and a released position (when extraction occurred) relative to the door (20), the ice storage bin (50) comprising: a top pin (protrusion-shaped third guiding parts 61) extending from the ice storage bin (50), the top pin (61) being movably engaged with the top guide track (52) within a top recess (receiving grooves 52c) of the top guide track (52), (refer to par. 68), and a bottom pin (guide protrusions 53) extending from the ice storage bin (50), the bottom pin (53) being moveably engaged with the bottom guide track (44b) within a bottom recess (groove of guide rails 44b) of the bottom guide track (44b), (refer to par. 71).
Cho fails to explicitly teach wherein an icemaker mounted to the door; the ice storage bin being positioned directly below the icemaker and being positioned directly below the icemaker. Boarman teaches a refrigerator (50; Figs. 1-2 and 8) wherein an icemaker (an ice maker 52) mounted to the door (56); the ice storage bin (ice cube storage container 64) being positioned directly below the icemaker (52) being positioned directly below the icemaker (Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the refrigerator of Cho such that an icemaker mounted to the door; the ice storage bin being positioned directly below the icemaker and being positioned directly below the icemaker as taught by Boarman in order to communicates with an ice dispenser such that ice can be dispensed or otherwise removed from the appliance with the door in the closed position (refer to par. 53 of Boarman).
In regard to claim 12, Cho as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, Cho as modified teaches wherein the refrigerator appliance is a side-by-side refrigerator appliance (refer to par. 5 Fig. 1), and wherein the chilled chamber is a freezer chamber (a freezing chamber 12).
Claim 11 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 2008/0168794 A1) in view of Boarman et al. (US 2021/0041155 A1), further in view of LEE (KR 20210031250, see attached translation).
In regard to claim 11, Cho as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1, but fails to explicitly teach wherein the icemaker is an upper icemaker, wherein the upper icemaker is positioned directly above the ice storage bin, wherein the refrigerator appliance further comprises a lower icemaker and a lower ice storage bin, wherein the lower icemaker is mounted to the door, wherein the lower icemaker is positioned below the upper icemaker, and wherein the lower ice storage bin is positioned directly below the lower icemaker.
LEE teaches a refrigerator (Figs. 1 and 5) wherein the icemaker is an upper icemaker (a first ice maker 150), wherein the upper icemaker (150) is positioned directly above the ice storage bin (a first ice bin 180), wherein the refrigerator appliance further comprises a lower icemaker (a second ice maker 200) and a lower ice storage bin (a second ice bin 600), wherein the lower icemaker (200) is mounted to the door (10), wherein the lower icemaker (200) is positioned below the upper icemaker (150), and wherein the lower ice storage bin (600) is positioned directly below the lower icemaker (200).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the refrigerator of Cho such that the icemaker is an upper icemaker, wherein the upper icemaker is positioned directly above the ice storage bin, wherein the refrigerator appliance further comprises a lower icemaker and a lower ice storage bin, wherein the lower icemaker is mounted to the door, wherein the lower icemaker is positioned below the upper icemaker, and wherein the lower ice storage bin is positioned directly below the lower icemaker as taught by LEE in order to yield the predictable results of advantage of being able to produce more ice of multiple different shapes (refer to par. 52 of LEE).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 would be allowable, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 2-10 and 14-20 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 MARTHA TADESSE whose telephone number is (571)272-0590. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:30am-5:00pm EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Frantz Jules can be reached on 571-272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571 -273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR.
Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov.
Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/M.T/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/FRANTZ F JULES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
Prosecution Insights