Ex Parte B¿sing et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jul 10, 2018

12933092 (P.T.A.B. Jul. 10, 2018)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
12/933,092 09/17/2010
46726 7590 07/12/2018
BSH Home Appliances Corporation
100 Bosch Boulevard
NEW BERN, NC 28562
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Johannes Blsing
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.
2007P03249WOUS 6337
EXAMINER
BELL, SPENCER E
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1711
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
07/12/2018 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):
MBX-NBN-IntelProp@bshg.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte JOHANNES BUSING, STEPHAN LUTZ, BRUNO REITER,
MICHAEL ROSENBAUER, and PEDRO SANCHO
Appeal2017-010779
Application 12/933,092
Technology Center 1700
Before CATERHINE Q. TIMM, N. WHITNEY WILSON, and
JULIA HEANEY, Administrative Patent Judges.
WILSON, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants 1 appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner's
February 23, 2017 decision finally rejecting claims 24--46 ("Final Act.").
We have jurisdiction over the appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). 2
We affirm.
CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
Appellants' disclosure is directed to a water-bearing domestic
appliance, such as a dishwasher or a washing machine (Spec. ,r,r 1, 2). The
1 Appellants identify the real party in interest as BSH Bosch und Siemens
Hausgerate GmbH (Appeal Br. 3).
2 This Application was previously appealed to the Board (Appeal No. 2015-
004053). The Board reversed the rejections at issue in that appeal.
Appeal2017-010779
Application 12/933,092
appliance includes a water diverter that controls the distribution of washing
liquor (Spec. ,r 2). The diverter is carried by a carrier element to which an
actuator, such as an electric motor, is fastened (Spec. ,r,r 3, 4, and 6).
Appellants' carrier element comprises a cast part, wherein lines, such as
electrical lines, are embedded within the cast part (Spec. ,r,r 7, 8). The lines
are provided for actuating the actuator (id.). The cast part embedded lines
are surrounded by molding material (integrated within the carrier element
casting) such that the lines are exposed only at contact points (Spec. ,r,r 9,
10, 27; Fig. 3). Claim 24, the sole independent claim on appeal, is
representative and reproduced below from the Claims Appendix to the
Appeal Brief:
24. A water-bearing domestic appliance, comprising:
a water diverter having a carrier element, the water
diverter to distribute washing liquor; and
an actuator fastened to the carrier element; wherein the
carrier element includes lines embedded in a cast part for
actuating the actuator, wherein a molded material surrounds the
lines, the lines exposed from the molded material only at
contact points of the lines.
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Appeal2017-010779
Application 12/933,092
REJECTIONS
I. Claims 24--28, 35, 36, and 45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a)
as unpatentable over Uroz3 in view of Shute4, Trapasso, 5 and Swanson. 6
II. Claims 24--46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as
unpatentable over Baccanini7 in view of Shute, Trapasso, and Swanson.
III. Claim 28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as unpatentable
over Uroz in view of Shute, Trapasso, and Swanson, and further in view of
Zinn. 8
IV. Claim 28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as unpatentable
over Baccanini in view of Shute, Trapasso, and Swanson, and further in
view of Zinn.
DISCUSSION
Appellants do not offer separate arguments for any of the dependent
claims. Accordingly, we focus our discussion on the rejections of claim 24.
For each of Rejections I and II, the Examiner finds that either Uroz or
Baccanini disclose each element of the claimed invention, except that neither
explicitly teaches that "the lines are embedded in a cast part, the cast part
being the carrier element, wherein the molded material of the carrier element
surrounds the line9 so that the lines are only exposed at their contact points"
3 Uroz et al, EP 1 728 461 Al, published December 6, 2006.
4 Shute, US 3,737,651, issued June 5, 1973.
5 Trapasso et al., US 2009/0126705 Al, published May 21, 2009.
6 Swanson et al., US 6,070,606, issued June 6, 2000.
7 Baccanini et al., DE 102 46 407 Al, published April 30, 2003.
8 Zinn, US 5,021,923, issued June 4, 1991.
9 We note than in our earlier decision, we construed the claim such that the
water diverter carrier element is required to include lines that are embedded
in a cast part such that the cast part embedded lines are surrounded by
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Appeal2017-010779
Application 12/933,092
(Final Act. 4, 8). The Examiner further finds that "molding electric lines
into a plastic component is well known and would be readily obvious to one
of ordinary skill in the art" (id.). The Examiner cites to each of Shute,
Trapasso, and Swanson as evidence supporting this finding (id. at 4, 5, 8,
and 9). The Examiner determines that it would have been obvious to modify
the carrier elements of each of Uroz and Baccanini to have the electrical
lines embedded in the molded plastic material of the carrier element in order
to waterproof the device and reduce the likelihood of electrical shock (id. at
5, 9).
In response to the rejections, Appellants argue that Shute does not
teach, "'lines embedded in cast part for actuating the actuator' nor 'wherein
a molded material of the cast part surrounds the lines"' (Appeal Br.
5)( emphasis omitted). According to Appellants, Shute' s plastic housing 20
is "merely a cover" for the fluorescent lamp components and, presumably, is
not a molded material, which surrounds the electrical lines (id.)( emphasis
omitted). However, as explained by the Examiner, Shute plainly states, and
Shute's FIG. 2 shows, that "plastic housing 20 is cast about the assembly
forming an integral waterproof light unit thus embedding the parts in the
plastic housing 20" (Ans. 3, citing Shute, 2:6-8 ( emphasis omitted)).
Shute' s Figure 2 is reproduced below:
molding material (integrated within the carrier element casting) such that the
lines are exposed from the molded material of the cast part only at contact
points of the lines (PTAB Decision in Appeal No. 2015-004053, dated Sept.
23, 2016, 3).
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Appeal2017-010779
Application 12/933,092
-t.4 ...
i
FIG. 2
Shute's FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of its light, with portions
shown in elevation.
Thus, Shute explicitly states that plastic housing 20 embeds the parts
of the light, including the lines. This is consistent with, and supportive of,
the Examiner's finding that molding electric lines into a plastic component is
well known and would have been readily obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art.
The Examiner finds that Swanson teaches that in an electrically
operated valve for use in dishwashers and other similar devices, the
electrical coil of the valve is "typically encapsulated with molded plastic
material in order to reduce the likelihood of electrical shock" (Final Act. 4--
5, citing Swanson, 1 :33-37). Appellants argue that this disclosure of
encapsulation of an electrical coil does not teach or suggest a molded
material surrounding the lines because doing so for each line of a coil would
be, in essence, impractical. However, even if Appellants' interpretation of
Swanson's specific embodiment were correct, it would not alter the general
teaching that an electrical coil is "typically encapsulated with molded plastic
material in order to reduce the likelihood of electrical shock," which
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Appeal2017-010779
Application 12/933,092
supports the Examiner's underlying finding that "molding electric lines into
a plastic component is well known and would be readily obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art."
It is well established that "a reference must be considered not only for
what it expressly teaches, but also for what it fairly suggests." In re Burckel,
592 F.2d 1175, 1179 (CCPA 1979). In this instance, Swanson teaches that
covering electrical coils with molded plastic material reduces the likelihood
of electrical shock, which would fairly suggest molding electric lines into a
plastic component.
Finally, the Examiner finds that Trapasso teaches a heating element in
which a polymer is overmolded over the heating element and embedded
electric lines so that only the contact points of the electric lines are exposed
(Final Act. 4). Appellants argue, inter alia, that Trapasso's device is a
heater, not an actuator (Appeal Br. 7-8). However, Trapasso does teach
molding plastic over electrical lines and, therefore, supports the Examiner's
finding that "molding electric lines into a plastic component is [ sic, was]
well known." Final Act. 4.
Accordingly, having considered the evidence and arguments set forth
by Appellants in the Appeal Brief and the Reply Brief, we determine that
Appellants have not demonstrated reversible error in the rejections on
appeal.
CONCLUSION
We AFFIRM the rejection of claims 24--28, 35, 36, and 45 under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Uroz in view of Shute, Trapasso,
and Swanson.
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Appeal2017-010779
Application 12/933,092
We AFFIRM the rejection of claims 24--46 under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a)
as unpatentable over Baccanini in view of Shute, Trapasso, and Swanson.
We AFFIRM the rejection of claim 28 under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as
unpatentable over Uroz in view of Shute, Trapasso, and Swanson, and
further in view of Zinn.
We AFFIRM the rejection of claim 28 under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as
unpatentable over Baccanini in view of Shute, Trapasso, and Swanson, and
further in view of Zinn.
No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with
this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.I36(a)(l)(iv).
AFFIRMED
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