14468657 (P.T.A.B. Feb. 27, 2019)

Ex Parte HWANG et al

Patent Trial and Appeal BoardFeb 27, 2019

14468657 (P.T.A.B. Feb. 27, 2019)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 14/468,657 08/26/2014 26171 7590 03/01/2019 FISH & RICHARDSON P.C. (DC) P.O. BOX 1022 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022 UNITED ST A TES OF AMERICA FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Jungyeon HWANG UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www .uspto.gov ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 20519-0172001 6518 EXAMINER ZERPHEY, CHRISTOPHER R ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3763 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 03/01/2019 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address(es): P ATDOCTC@fr.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte JUNGYEON HWANG, JIYOUNG PARK, HYUN JUNG KIM, EUN JOO LEE, KYUKW AN CHOI, and BORAMLEE Appeal 2018-004461 1 Application 14/468,657 Technology Center 3700 Before: JEREMY M. PLENZLER, LEE L. STEPINA, and FREDERICK C. LANEY, Administrative Patent Judges. STEPINA, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL 1 Appellant (LG Electronics Inc.) is listed in the Appeal Brief as the real party in interest. Appeal Br. 1. Appeal2018-004461 Application 14/468,657 STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 134 from a rejection of claims 24--29. 2 We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 6(b). We REVERSE. CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER The claims are directed to a refrigerator. Claim 24 is the sole independent claim on appeal and is reproduced below with emphasis added. 24. A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet; a first storage compartment defined at an upper portion in the cabinet; a first door configured to open and close the first storage compartment; a second storage compartment defined at a lower portion in the cabinet; a second door configured to open and close the second storage compartment; an insulation wall horizontally disposed between the first storage compartment and the second compartment and configured to maintain the first and second compartments in different temperatures from each other; a food passing hole defined in the insulation wall and located at a front portion of the insulation wall, the second storage compartment being configured to communicate with the first storage compartment through the food passing hole; and a transparent access cover configured to slide into the insulation wall, wherein the food passing hole is selectively opened based on a horizontal movement of the transparent access cover into the insulation wall. Appeal Br. 13 (Claims App.). 2 Claims 8-20 are allowed. Final Act. 7. 2 Appeal2018-004461 Application 14/468,657 REFERENCES RELIED ON BY THE EXAMINER Squire Jung Porter us 2,898,173 us 3,077,749 US 9,429,351 B2 REJECTION Aug. 4, 1959 Feb. 19, 1963 Aug.30,2016 Claims 24--29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 103 as unpatentable over Jung, Porter, and Squire. OPINION The Examiner finds Jung discloses "a food passing hole (29) defined in the insulation wall ( 13 and 16) and located at a front portion of the insulation wall, the second storage compartment ( 15) being configured to communicate with the first storage compartment ( 14) through the food passing hole." Final Act. 5. The Examiner relies on Porter to teach an access cover for covering the hole disclosed by Jung. Id. at 6-7. The Examiner reasons that adding a cover, as taught by Porter, to air passage 29 in the refrigerator of Jung would improve control over air circulation. Id. at 6. Appellant argues that a person of ordinary skill in the art would not have found it obvious to add a cover to air passage 29 of Jung because Jung uses this opening to deliver air between compartments 14 and 15. Appeal Br. 5. Appellant argue that adding a cover to this opening would restrict airflow, contrary to Jung's intended use of air passage 29. Id. 3 Appeal2018-004461 Application 14/468,657 In response, the Examiner finds that air passage 29 of Jung allows for fluid communication between compartments 14 and 15, but "offers no control of said opening." Ans. 2. In this regard, the Examiner states, "[ w ]hen analyzing the propriety of the combination of Jung and Porter it would be difficult to imagine a more direct teaching to apply a teaching reference to a primary reference." Id. Although we appreciate the Examiner's position regarding providing control of air flow, when desired, we agree with Appellant's argument that doing so in Jung is contrary to the intended purpose of air passage 29. Jung discharges air into the refrigerator via discharge ports 42 and 43 and then receives air at opening 38 for recirculation. See Jung 3:3-19, Fig. 4. Some of this flow passes through air passage 29. See id. The Examiner does not explain adequately why a person of ordinary skill in the art would have any reason to block air passage 29 in order to control the air flow through it. In other words, the rationale set forth in the Final Office Action relies on an unsupported finding that control of flow through air passage 29 would be desirable. See Final Act. 6. In the context of the refrigerator disclosed by Jung, we disagree that providing more "control" over the flow is a self- explanatory reason for adding a cover to air passage 29 of Jung. Accordingly, we do not sustain the rejection of claim 24 and claims 25-29 depending therefrom as unpatentable over Jung, Porter, and Squire. 4 Appeal2018-004461 Application 14/468,657 DECISION The Examiner's rejection of claims 24--29 is reversed. REVERSED 5