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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 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.
Claims 1, 16, 28, and 31-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subtlbeauty/subtl-beauty-the- ultimate-makeup-brand-for-women-o, last updated December 12, 2018) in view of Gilgyeongmun (KR 200389430 Y1), Banik (US 7,604,142), and Wacker (US 1,735483), and further in view of Gueret (US RE38,398 E).
Regarding Claim 1, the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign teaches a beauty system comprising:
(a) a jar including a cavity (jar containing cosmetic labeled in annotated Figure 1 below);
(b) a lid operably removably securable to the jar (lid labeled in annotated Figure 1 below; threadingly and removably connected by screwing the threads of the lid onto the threads topmost jar);
(c) a base operably connected to one of the one or more jars a lower portion of the jar (base labeled in annotated Figure 1 below; connected by screwing the base onto the bottom jar).
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Annotated screen shot of Subtl Beauty Kickstarter
The Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign does not explicitly teach the further details of the lid, a pan in the cavity of the jar, or a bezel to retain the pan.
However, Gilgyeongmun, in the same field of endeavor of cosmetic containers (abstract), teaches a lid operably removably securable directly to the jar (Figure 2 shows lid 20 will directly secure to main body 10; translation page 3 second paragraph states “lid 20 is fastened to be detachably attached to the top of the main body 10”), wherein the lid includes:
(i) a lower outer casing removably (translation page 3 second paragraph) directly securable to an upper portion of the jar (see annotated Figure 2 below),
(ii) an upper hatch (auxiliary cover 40), wherein the upper hatch includes a top casing (middle of auxiliary cover 40 where it is flat and covers the top of the container; see annotated Figure 2 below) attached to an upper outer casing (inclined annular protrusions 82 around the exterior edges of the auxiliary cover 40), wherein the upper outer casing is coupled to the lower outer casing by a hinge (folding member 50) such that the upper hatch is movable between an open configuration (Figure 2) and a closed configuration (Figure 3), wherein when the lower outer casing is secured to the upper portion of the jar, the lid remains operably secured to the jar when the upper hatch is in each of the open and closed configurations (translation second paragraph under heading “Tech Problem” describes the auxiliary cover opening and closing while the lid remains attached on the container), wherein the upper hatch has an inner surface (inside of upper hatch as can be seen in the open configuration shown in Figure 2), and wherein when the lower outer casing is secured to the upper portion of the jar and the upper hatch is in an open configuration, the cavity of the jar is accessible (translation first paragraph under heading “Advantageous Effects”).
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Annotated Figure 2 from Gilgyeongmun (KR 200389430 Y1).
Gilgyeongmun does not explicitly describe the lower outer casing being threadingly attached, but it is described as being “detachably attached” and the main body 10 in Figure 2 appears to have threads on it. Therefore it would be obvious to have the lid attach via a threaded attachment between the lower outer casing and the jar. Furthermore the lid of the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign is threadingly and removably attached so maintaining use of the same mechanism while modifying details of the lid would be obvious.
Gilgyeongmun teaches a lid with this configuration so the jar can be opened without removing the lid entirely, increasing convenience (translation first paragraph under heading “Background Art”) and decreasing the probability of the lid being lost during use (translation last paragraph under “Background Art”).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the beauty system as taught by Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign to include a lid with a lower casing and an upper hatch as taught by Gilgyeongmun in order to increase the convenience to the user and decrease the risk of the lid being lost.
Neither Gilgyeongmun nor the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign teach a mirror in the inner surface of the upper hatch of the lid.
However, Banik, in the same field of endeavor of cosmetic containers (abstract), teaches wherein the mirror is held by the inner surface (end wall 202) of the upper hatch (cover portion 200; paragraph [0029]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the beauty system of the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign with the removable pans and bezels as taught by Wacker with the lid as taught by Gilgyeongmun to also include the mirror on the inner surface of the upper hatch of the lid as taught by Banik. This is a simple combination of prior art methods to yield a predictable result of including a mirror inside the lid of the beauty system, a common feature in cosmetic compacts.
Subtl Beauty Kickstarter, Gilgyeongmun, and Banik do not teach a pan or a bezel as claimed.
However, Wacker, in the same field of endeavor of containers for cosmetics (title, Figure 3), teaches a cosmetic container comprising:
(d) a pan (pan 13) removably disposed within the cavity of the jar (page 2 lines 33-64), wherein the pan contains at least one of a cosmetic (rouge cake 18), a skin care composition, or a hair care composition; and
(e) a bezel (bezel 18) configured to releasably retain the pan within the cavity of the jar (page 1 lines 79-90).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the beauty system of the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign to include the removable pans and bezel to retain the pans as taught by Wacker. One would be motivated to make this combination so that the cosmetics could be replaced by a refill pan as they are used up (Wacker: page 1 lines 57-69).
Wacker does not teach the pan including a rim and the jar including a ridge. Rather the bulge in the side of the pan is held in place by cooperation of the bezel and the channel-shaped flange.
However, Gueret, in the same field of containers for cosmetic products (abstract, Figure 3), teaches wherein the pan (refill 13) includes an outer rim (flange 15), wherein the jar (body 5) includes a ridge (portion of body 5 under flange 15 in Figure 3), wherein the bezel (frame 11 with opening 11c) is sized and configured to sandwich the outer rim of the pan between the bezel and the ridge of the jar (Figure 3).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pan and bezel as taught by Wacker within the system taught by the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign, Gilgyeongmun, and Banik such that the pan had a rim that was sandwiched between the ridge of the jar and the bezel as taught by Gueret. This would be a simple substitution of one arrangement for retaining the pan (snap fit around the bulge of the pan as taught by Wacker) for another (sandwiching the pan rim between the bezel and jar as taught by Gueret) with the predictable result that the pan would be retained in the jar.
Regarding Claim 16, Wacker further teaches wherein the pan is plastic, metal, acrylic, nylon, or combination thereof (page 2 lines 100-104 state the pan can be made of metal or other suitable materials).
Regarding Claim 28, Wacker further teaches wherein the bezel is generally annular and includes a first aperture configured to be directly above and communicating with the cavity when the bezel is fitted within the upper portion of the jar (Figure 2 shows that bezel 18, which surrounds pan 13 is annular; Figure 3 shows that there is an aperture in bezel 18 to reach the contents of pan 13).
Regarding Claim 31, Gilgyeongmun further teaches wherein the upper hatch (auxiliary cover 40) includes a latch mechanism (locking member 80) configured to lock the upper hatch in the closed configuration (see magnified inset in Figure 3).
Regarding Claim 32, Gilgyeongmun further teaches wherein the latch mechanism includes a deflectable detent (locking member 80 comprising horizontal protrusion 86) configured to engage a ledge of the lower outer casing (horizontal annular locking protrusion 70) for resisting movement of the upper hatch from the closed configuration toward the open configuration (Figure 6b; translation provided with previous office action: bottom of page 4 into top of page 5).
Regarding Claim 33, Gilgyeongmun further teaches wherein the detent is configured to deflect out of engagement with the ledge in response to application of a threshold opening force for permitting movement of the upper hatch from the closed configuration toward the open configuration (see Figure 6c where the threshold opening force is applied by the locking and unlocking member 60) .
Regarding Claim 34, Banik further teaches wherein the hinge (hinge mechanism 400) includes a spring (spring element 502) configured to allow the upper hatch to automatically move from the closed configuration toward the open configuration (col 7 lines 37-55).
Utilizing the hinge with a spring as taught by Banik rather than the simpler hinge as taught by Gilgyeongmun is a simple substitution of replacing the hinge mechanism of Gilgyeongmun with the hinge mechanism with a spring of Banik with the predictable result of a hinge configured to automatically move towards the open configuration once activated.
Regarding Claim 35, the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign further teaches wherein the base comprises a compartment (see annotated Figure 1 above; for the base to hold a mini applicator it must have a cavity or compartment).
Regarding Claim 36, the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign further teaches wherein the compartment is operably configured to store a cosmetic applicator, mirror, or combination thereof (see annotated Figure 1 above, where a mini applicator is stated as being in the base).
Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subtlbeauty/subtl-beauty-the- ultimate-makeup-brand-for-women-o, last updated December 12, 2018), Gilgyeongmun (KR 200389430 Y1), Banik (US 7,604,142), Wacker (US 1,735483), and Gueret (US RE38,398 E) as applied to claim 28 above, and further in view of Schefer (US 4,826,014).
Regarding Claim 29, the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign, Gilgyeongmun, Banik, Wacker, and Gueret teach the beauty system of claim 28 (as presented above). They do not teach the bezel including cross-members.
However, Schefer, in the same field of endeavor of cosmetic containers (abstract), teaches wherein the bezel (lid 22) includes one or more cross-members (portion of lid 22 extending between openings 50; Figures 6 and 7) extending across the first aperture for alignment with one or more corresponding dividers of the pan (dividers between cosmetics products 40; Figures 6 and 8). Schefer includes this structure to have a defined opening for each of a plurality of cosmetic inserts (col 1 lines 53-68).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the beauty system as taught by the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign, Gilgyeongmun, Banik, Wacker, and Gueret to include the bezel having cross members overlying dividers in the pan as taught by Schefer in order to provide a multiple cosmetics with individual defined openings in one layer.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subtlbeauty/subtl-beauty-the- ultimate-makeup-brand-for-women-o, last updated December 12, 2018), Wacker (US 1,735483), Gilgyeongmun (KR 200389430 Y1), Banik (US 7,604,142), Wacker (US 1,735483), and Gueret (US RE38,398 E) as applied to claim 28 above, and further in view of Giese et al. (US 5,655,553).
Regarding Claim 30, the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign, Gilgyeongmun, Banik, Wacker, and Gueret teach the beauty system of claim 28 (as presented above). They do not teach the jar including a second aperture.
However, Giese, in the same field of endeavor of cosmetic containers (abstract), teaches wherein the jar (platform 22 is in place of a jar) includes a second aperture (aperture 41) directly below and communicating with the cavity (wells 36), wherein the second aperture is below the first aperture (top of wells 36; Figure 2). Giese teaches the second aperture in order to selectively remove makeup pans from the compact so they can be replaced or refilled (description page 1 third and fourth paragraph).
Therefore it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the beauty system as taught by the Subtl Beauty Kickstarter campaign, Gilgyeongmun, Banik, Wacker, and Gueret to include the second aperture on the jars below the first aperture in order to make it easier to remove the pans from the jars.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/09/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Gueret does not teach a ridge as it teaches an annular groove in which the folded edge of the flange sits. However, the annular groove was not the ridge indicated in the rejection of previous claim 25, rather the area of the jar under the flange was considered the ridge. The ridge is the raised part under the flange directly adjacent to the wall of the pan, while the annular groove is further out towards the periphery of the container. It is by the flange resting on this ridge that pan is held at the height it is and therefore cooperates with the bevel. The addition of the flange of Gueret to the pan of Wacker leads to a pan with an outer rim, in the form of a flange surrounding the pan. Gueret teaches this outer rim being sandwich, therefore it would be obvious to extend the channel-shaped flange surrounding the pan in Wacker to sit under the outer rim and form a ridge. As explained above, this is a simple substitution of one securing arrangement for another. The cooperation of the outer rim of the pan and ridge of the jar as taught by Gueret has the added benefit of allowing the top of the pan to sit at the top of the jar even if the height of the pan is less than the height of the jar, which could be desirable so different sized refill pans can be used with the same jars.
The rejection of claims 32 and 33 have been changed based on the amendment and are now rejected using Gilgyeongmun (KR 200389430 Y1).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JENNIFER P CONNELL/Examiner, Art Unit 3772
/THOMAS C BARRETT/SPE, Art Unit 3799