Ex Parte Liu

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Sep 6, 2016

12852250 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 6, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
12/852,250 08/06/2010
23446 7590 09/08/2016
MCANDREWS HELD & MALLOY, LTD
500 WEST MADISON STREET
SUITE 3400
CHICAGO, IL 60661
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Wei Liu
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.
25308US01 3426
EXAMINER
TRAN, THIEN S
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3742
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
09/08/2016 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):
mhmpto@mcandrews-ip.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte WEI LIU
Appeal2014-007791
Application 12/852,250
Technology Center 3700
Before EDWARD A. BROWN, AMANDA F. WIEKER, and
SEAN P. O'HANLON, Administrative Patent Judges.
O'HANLON, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Wei Liu (Appellant)1 appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the
Examiner's January 31, 2014 final decision ("Final Action" or "Final Act.")
1 According to Appellant, the real party in interest is Sears Brands, L.L.C.
App. Br. 3. (For reasons that are unclear to us, the second page of
Appellant's Appeal Brief bears a page number at the bottom of the page of
"3." Citations to the Appeal Brief are to the page numbers indicated at the
bottom of the respective pages, instead of the actual page numbers arrived at
by counting the pages.)
Appeal2014-007791
Application 12/852,250
rejecting claims 1, 2, 6-10, and 14--17. 2 We have jurisdiction over this
appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
SUMMARY OF DECISION
We REVERSE.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Appellant's disclosure is directed to "the field of stand mixers." Spec.
i-f 2. Claim 1, reproduced below from page 20 (Claims Appendix) of the
Appeal Brief, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter:
1. A mixing system comprising:
a stand mixer comprising:
a mixer portion comprising a charging dock, the
charging dock having a charging output that provides a
charging current,
an upright portion configured to support the mixer
portion, and
a base configured to support the upright portion;
and
a cordless kitchen appliance having a rechargeable
battery disposed therein, wherein the cordless kitchen appliance
is coupleable to the charging dock, and
wherein the charging output provides the charging
current to the rechargeable battery when the cordless kitchen
appliance is coupled with the charging dock.
Independent claim 9, directed to a mixing system, and independent claim 1 7,
directed to a stand mixer, contain similar limitations as claim 1. See App.
Br. 21-22, 23 (Claims Appendix).
2 Claims 3-5 and 11-13 are withdrawn from consideration. Final Act. 2.
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Appeal2014-007791
Application 12/852,250
REJECTIONS
Claims 1, 2, 7-10, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as
being anticipated by Siano (US 2004/0129809 Al, pub. July 8, 2004).
Claims 6 and 14 rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Siano and Cochran (EP 1419723 A2, pub. May 19, 2004).
ANALYSIS
The Examiner finds that Siano discloses all of the elements of
independent claim 1 including, inter alia, a stand mixer (modular appliance
system 400)3 having a mixer portion (vessel 406 in combination with blade
assembly 408) comprising a charging dock (receptacles 410), an upright
portion (base 402), and a base ("feet on which base 402 sits"). Final Act. 3-
4 (citing Siano i-fi-156-57, Figs. 3, 13, and 14).
Appellant disagrees, arguing, inter alia, that:
a stand mixer attached to a base that includes receptacles that
may hold handheld appliances and recharge batteries of the
handheld appliances as taught by Siano is different than a stand
mixer comprising a mixer portion that comprises a charging
dock, where the mixer portion is separate and distinct from a
stand mixer upright portion and base ....
App. Br. 13; see also Reply Br. 5-8. Continuing, Appellant argues that
"[t]he [Final] Action fails to address and Siano fails to disclose 'a mixer
portion comprising a charging dock."' App. Br. 14. The Examiner answers
that "Siano discloses 'a mixer portion (Fig 13, vessel 406, blade assembly
3 Parentheticals refer to the terminology of Siano.
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Appeal2014-007791
Application 12/852,250
408, 0056) comprising a charging dock (Fig 13, receptacles 410, 0056,
0057). '" Ans. 5.4
We are persuaded by Appellant's arguments. Siano discloses that its
embodiment illustrated in Figure 13 "includes a base 402 including an upper
surface 404 adapted to support a vessel 406 . ... The upper surface 404 may
also include one or more receptacles 410 for storing one or more handheld
appliances 412 and attachments therefore." Siano i-f 56. Thus, Siano's
receptacles 410 are part of base 402 rather than of vessel 406, and, therefore,
Siano's vessel 406 and blade assembly 408 do not comprise receptacles 410.
The Examiner's conclusory statements fail to establish that the Siano mixer
portion comprises a charging dock. Accordingly, we reverse the Examiner's
rejection of claim 1. Independent claim 9 also requires "a mixer portion
comprising a charging dock" (App. Br. 21 (Claims Appendix)), so we
likewise reverse the Examiner's rejection of claim 9. Because claims 2, 6-8,
10, and 14--16 depend from one of claims 1 and 9, and the Examiner's use of
Siano and Cochran with respect to claims 6 and 14 does not remedy the
foregoing error for claims 1 and 9, we likewise reverse the Examiner's
rejection of dependent claims 2, 6-8, 10, and 14--16.
Independent claim 17 requires "a charging dock integrated into the
mixer portion." App. Br. 23 (Claims Appendix). We interpret this language
to require that the charging dock is part of the mixer portion. As discussed
above with respect to claims 1 and 9, the Examiner has failed to establish
4 As used herein, "Ans." refers to the Examiner's Answer mailed on June 13,
2014.
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Appeal2014-007791
Application 12/852,250
that the Siano receptacles 410 are part of vessel 406 and blade assembly 408.
Accordingly, we reverse the Examiner's rejection of claim 17.
DECISION
The Examiner's decision to reject claims 1, 2, 6-10, and 14--17 is
reversed.
REVERSED
5