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 02/04/2025 and 09/10/2025 are 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.
Claim 1-3 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE et al. (US 2022/0316788 A1) in view of JANG (KR20060032523A, see attached translation).
In regards to claim 1, LEE discloses a refrigerator (Fig. 1) comprising: an inner case (an inner case 40) including a storage compartment (storage chamber 20); an evaporator (E) configured to generate cold air; and a duct (100, 200) at rear side of the storage compartment (20) and configured to supply the cold air (par. 60) generated by the evaporator (E) to the storage compartment (20), the duct (100/200) including: a cooling space (cooling space 45) recessed in a rear side of the duct (100/200), and in which the evaporator (E) is installed (Fig. 3), but fails to explicitly teach the remaining limitations. JANG teaches a refrigerator wherein a contact portion (a contact portion 71/71') protruding rearwardly from an edge of the cooling space so that a contact surface (surface of contact 71/71’) of the contact portion (71/71') contacts a surface of the inner case (53), and forming a passageway recessed from the contact surface in which an electric wire (W) is arrangeable, the contact portion (71/71') including: a first inner surface (inner surface of contact 71) forming the passageway, a second inner surface (inner surface of contact 71’) forming the passageway and facing the first inner surface, a first protrusion (a support projection 73) protruding from the first inner surface toward the second inner surface, and a second protrusion (a support projection 73') protruding from the second inner surface toward the first inner surface, wherein an end of the second protrusion is closer to the first inner surface than an end of the first protrusion (as can be seen in Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the refrigerator of LEE such that a contact portion protruding rearwardly from an edge of the cooling space so that a contact surface of the contact portion contacts a surface of the inner case, and forming a passageway recessed from the contact surface in which an electric wire is arrangeable, the contact portion including: a first inner surface forming the passageway, a second inner surface forming the passageway and facing the first inner surface, a first protrusion protruding from the first inner surface toward the second inner surface, and a second protrusion protruding from the second inner surface toward the first inner surface, wherein an end of the second protrusion is closer to the first inner surface than an end of the first protrusion as taught by JUNG in order to preventing a phenomenon in which the position of the lead wire W is arbitrarily changed (refer to page 13, lines 1-3).
In regards to claim 2, LEE meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, JANG teaches wherein the first protrusion (73) and the second protrusion (73’) are spaced apart from each other (as can be seen in Fig. 4).
In regards to claim 3, LEE meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 2. Further, JANG teaches wherein the passageway (path in between contacts) includes: a first passageway (left side path) between the end of the first protrusion (73) and the second inner surface, a second passageway (right side path) between the end of the second protrusion (73’) and the first inner surface, and a communicating portion (opening in between contacts) formed by a side surface of the first protrusion (73) and a side surface of the second protrusion spaced apart from each other, and communicating the first passageway with the second passageway (as can be seen in Figs. 4-5).
In regards to claim 10, LEE meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 2. Further, JANG teaches wherein when arranged in the passageway, the electric wire (W) includes: a first portion in contact with the first protrusion (73), and a second portion different from the first portion and in contact with the second protrusion (73’), (as can be seen in Figs. 4-5).
In regards to claim 11, LEE meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, LEE teaches wherein the duct (100/200) includes: a guide passage (connection duct 300) configured to guide the cold air to the storage compartment (20), and a damper (400) configured to open or close the guide passage (par. 81), and a first end of the electric wire (heating wire 450) is connectable to the damper (400) when the electric wire (450) is arranged in the passageway (par. 161).
In regards to claim 12, LEE meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 11. Further, LEE teaches further comprising: a power supply (corresponding to a controller; par. 161) arranged on a side of the contact surface opposite to the damper (400), and connectable to a second end of the electric wire (450).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 and 13-15 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