Ex Parte RosenbauerDownload PDFBoard of Patent Appeals and InterferencesNov 14, 201111043237 (B.P.A.I. Nov. 14, 2011) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ________________ BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS AND INTERFERENCES ________________ Ex parte MICHAEL ROSENBAUER ________________ Appeal 2011-001614 Application 11/043,237 Technology Center 1700 ________________ Before EDWARD C. KIMLIN, MICHAEL P. COLAIANNI, and RAE LYNN P. GUEST, Administrative Patent Judges. KIMLIN, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL This is an appeal from the final rejection of claims 13-14, 16-19, 22- 32, and 34. Claims 15, 21, and 33 stand objected to by the Examiner. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). Claims 13 and 25 are illustrative: 13. A method for operating a rinsing program in a dishwasher machine, comprising: adjusting a rinsing program including adjusting a predetermined set of Appeal 2011-001614 Application 11/043,237 2 executable steps of a rinsing program to an adjusted set of executable steps of the rinsing program in response to a selected one of a detection that no rinse aid has been added and the dishwasher machine is operating and a detection that there is an absence of salt above a predetermined minimum quantity, the softening device is switched off, and the dishwasher machine is operating. 25. A method for operating a dishwasher, comprising: determining whether an amount of salt exceeds a predetermined quantity, a softening device is switched off, and the dishwasher is operating; and adjusting an operation of the dishwasher in response to a detection that there is an absence of salt above a predetermined minimum quantity, the softening device is switched off, and the dishwasher machine is operating. The Examiner relies upon the following references in the rejection of the appealed claims (Ans. 3): Cooper 5,806,541 Sep. 15, 1998 Spanyer 2003/0079760 A1 May 01, 2003 Price 2003/0213503 A1 Nov. 20, 2003 Bashark 6,887,318 B2 May 03, 2005 Appellants’ claimed invention is directed to a method for operating a rinsing program in a dishwasher machine. The method entails adjusting the rinsing program in response to a detection of a variety of conditions, including, as set forth in some of the appealed claims, determining whether a softening device is switched off. Appealed claims 13, 14, 16, 17, 22, 23, 25-27, 29 and 32 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being anticipated by Spanyer. Claims 30 and 34 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Spanyer in view of Bashark. Also, claims 18, 19, 24, 28 and 31 stand Appeal 2011-001614 Application 11/043,237 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Spanyer in view of Bashark, Cooper and Price. In addition, the appealed claims stand rejected under the judicially created doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting. We consider first the Examiner’s § 102 rejection over Spanyer. We will sustain the rejection of claims 13, 14, 16, 17, 22 and 23 because Appellant has not refuted the Examiner’s position that these claims do not require adjusting a rinsing program in response to determining whether a softening device is switched off. Claims 13 and 14, for instance, only require adjusting a rinsing program in response to detection of one of the selected conditions recited, including that no rinse aid has been added and the machine is operating. Appellant has not contested the Examiner’s finding that Spanyer discloses determining an amount of rinse aid in the dispenser and optimizing the fan unit cycle in response thereto. Nor does Appellant contest the Examiner’s finding that Spanyer’s disclosure of determining the amount of rinse aid meets the claim limitation of detecting that there is no absence of salt above a predetermined minimum quantity. For the same reasons, we will sustain the Examiner’s § 103 rejection of claims 18, 19 and 24 over Spanyer in view of Bashark, Cooper and Price. We will not sustain the Examiner’s § 102 rejection of claims 25-29 and 32. These claims require determining whether a softening device is switched off before adjusting an operation of the dishwasher, contrary to the Examiner’s finding that determining whether a softening device is switched off is only an optional determination, i.e., that the “claims are not limited to only this limitation” (Ans. 12, second para.). The § 103 rejections of dependent claims 28, 30, 31 and 34 must fall for the same reason. Appeal 2011-001614 Application 11/043,237 4 Appellant has not contested the Examiner’s rejection of all of the appealed claims under the judicially created doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting. Accordingly, we will summarily affirm this rejection. In conclusion, based on the foregoing, the Examiner’s decision rejecting the appealed claims is affirmed. No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. §1.136(a)(1)(v). AFFIRMED ssl Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation