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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to applicant amendment received on 01/27/2026:
Amendments of Claims 1, 9 and 24 are acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
The Claim reads “and said one or more cover side walls form a right angle with said cover bottom”, but the Examiner is considering it a typo and it should read --and said one or more cover side walls form a right angle with said cover bottom wall--.
The Claim also reads “and said one or more base side walls form a right angle with said base bottom”, but the Examiner is also considering it a typo and it should read --and said one or more base side walls form a right angle with said base bottom wall--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 to 5, 7, 24 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madkour (US 4796751) in view of Mesalic (US 2007/0199841).
Regarding Claims 1 and 2:
Madkour discloses: A wipe container (Figure 4, cleaner kit 10), comprising:
a cover member having a fixed shape with one or more cover side walls, a cover bottom wall, and a cover top, said one or more cover side walls and cover bottom wall defining a cavity (Figures 4 and 5, outer wall 25 will be considered the cover member, short of any additional limitations it will be considered it has a fixed shape, and includes a cover bottom wall formed by a not numbered curved wall and two not numbered straight walls on both sides of the curved wall that will be considered the cover side walls, Compartment 16, formed by cover side walls and cover bottom wall will be considered the cavity; the cover top will be considered the area of the cavity in contact with common wall 15);
at least one wipe received in said cavity of said cover member (Figure 5, compartment 16 contains dry wiping material 19);
a dispensing slot formed in said cover member configured to dispense said at least one wipe from the cavity of said cover member (Figures 4 and 5, column 3, lines 59-60; compartment 16 is opened at one end such as by tearing along line 30 to remove the wiping material, short of any additional limitations that opening will be considered a slot formed on the cover member);
a base member having a fixed shape with one or more base side walls, a base bottom wall, and a base top, said one or more base side walls and said base bottom wall defining a fluid reservoir holding a fluid (Figures 4 and 5, wall 23 forms the base member, short of any additional limitations it will be considered it has a fixed shape, and includes a base bottom wall formed by a not numbered curved wall and two not numbered straight walls on both sides of the curved wall that will be considered base side walls, Compartment 16, formed by base side walls and base bottom wall will be considered the fluid reservoir holding a fluid, cleaning liquid; the open base top will be considered the area of the fluid reservoir holding a fluid in contact with common wall 15);
and said one or more base side walls form a right angle with said base bottom wall (See annotated Figure 4 below, the not numbered straight walls on outer wall 25 form first side walls and not numbered straight walls on outer wall 23 form the second side walls, in the Figure is can be seen that the “side walls” form a right angle with the bottom walls);
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and a partition disposed between said cover member and said base member to separate the fluid from the at least one wipe (Figure 4 and 5, common wall 15 will be considered the partition).
Madkour does not disclose the dispensing slot formed being formed in a center of said cover top.
Mesalic teaches a similar dual compartment storage container for wet wipes with a dispensing slot (Figure 3, Paragraphs 0020, 0021) opening 26 with access lid 28) that allows the user to access the wet wipe and after picking the wipe the slot can be easily sealed by an access lid.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Madkour the teachings of Mesalic and replace the tear away opening with an opening with a lid like Mesalic, so the opening slot can be sealed closed after picking a wipe.
Regarding Claim 3:
As discussed above for claim 1, Madkour discloses the invention as claimed.
Madkour does not specifically disclose that the cleaning agent is peroxide or actually anything in particular; but considering that Hydrogen peroxide is a common cleaning agent, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use it as a cleaning fluid.
Regarding Claim 4:
Madkour discloses that the partition is formed of a fluid impregnable membrane whereby fluid in said fluid reservoir cannot pass into the cavity (Column 3, lines 30 to 35, Both compartments are air-tight so that the moisture carried by cleaning material 18 cannot evaporate or leak and the wiping material 19 cannot absorb moisture either from cleaning material 18 or from the atmosphere).
Regarding Claim 5:
Madkour discloses that the membrane is made of metal foil (Column 3, lines 15-16).
Regarding Claim 7:
As discussed for Claim 1 above, the modified invention of Madkour discloses that the dispensing slot is remote from said reservoir (Figures 4 and 5, column 3, lines 59-60; the dispensing slot opens to compartment 16 is opened to remove the wiping material, not on compartment 14, that is considered the fluid reservoir so it will be considered remote to the fluid reservoir).
Regarding Claim 24:
Madkour discloses a wipe container, comprising:
a first container having a fixed shape with one or more first side walls, a first bottom wall, and a first top, and a first flange extending outward from said one or more first side walls, wherein
said one or more first side walls and first bottom defining a cavity (Figures 4 and 5, Compartment 16 will be considered a first container, short of any additional limitations it will be considered it has a fixed shape, formed by outer wall 25 that includes a first bottom wall formed by a not numbered curved wall and two not numbered straight walls on both sides of the curved wall that will be considered the first side walls, Compartment 16 defines a cavity, the open first top will be considered the area of the cavity in contact with common wall 15, the not numbered section of outer wall 25 in contact with common wall 15 where the three walls 15, 23 and 25 are sealed together, short of any additional limitations, can be considered a first flange);
at least one wipe received in said cavity of said first container (Figures 4 and 5, Column 3, lines 8 to 15, Compartment 16 contains a removable thin sheet of dry wiping material 19 formed of woven or unwoven textile fabric);
a second container having one or more second side walls, a second bottom wall, and a second top, and a second flange extending outward from said one or more second side walls,
wherein said one or more second side walls and second bottom defining a fluid reservoir (Figures 4 and 5, Compartment 14 will be considered a second container, formed by outer wall 23 that includes a second bottom wall formed by a not numbered curved wall and two not numbered straight walls on both sides of the curved wall that will be considered the second side walls, Compartment 14 defines a cavity, the open second top will be considered the area of the cavity in contact with common wall 15, lines 64-66, Compartment 14 forms a cavity that contains a removable moistened absorbent cleaning material 18 moistened with a cleaning liquid. That surely can be considered a fluid, so it will be considered a “fluid reservoir”, the not numbered section of outer wall 23 in contact with common wall 15 where the three walls 15, 23 and 25 are sealed together on the side of the not numbered straight walls, short of any additional limitations, can be considered a second flange);
wherein said one or more first side walls form a right angle with said first bottom wall and wherein said one or more second side walls form a right angle with said second bottom wall (See annotated Figure 4 below, the not numbered straight walls on outer wall 25 form first side walls and not numbered straight walls on outer wall 23 form the second side walls, in the Figure is can be seen that the “side walls” form a right angle with the bottom walls),
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a dispensing opening formed in said cover member configured to dispense said at least one wipe from the cavity of said cover member (Figures 4 and 5, column 3, lines 59-60; compartment 16 is opened at one end such as by tearing along line 30 to remove the wiping material); and
Madkour also discloses a fluid-impermeable partition disposed between said first flange container and second container flange whereby fluid in said fluid reservoir cannot pass into the cavity (Column 3, lines 30 to 35, Both compartments are air-tight so that the moisture carried by cleaning material 18 cannot evaporate or leak and the wiping material 19 cannot absorb moisture either from cleaning material 18 or from the atmosphere, Figures 4 and 5, Column 4, lines 35 to 42, the separate compartments 14, 16 being formed with a common wall 15, that as indicated above will be considered the partition, between them by three separate sheets of a moisture and gas impervious material arranged in an overlying relationship and the four peripheral edges being joined together).
Madkour does not disclose the dispensing opening formed being formed in a center of said cover top.
Mesalic teaches a similar dual compartment storage container for wet wipes with a dispensing slot (Figure 3, Paragraphs 0020, 0021) opening 26 with access lid 28) that allows the user to access the wet wipe and after picking the wipe the slot can be easily sealed by an access lid.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Madkour the teachings of Mesalic and replace the tear away opening with an opening with a lid like Mesalic, so the opening slot can be sealed closed after picking a wipe.
Regarding Claim 26:
Madkour discloses that said cover member, said base member, and said partition are sealed together at a perimeter, thereby creating a perimeter seal (Figures 4 and 5, Column 4, lines 35 to 42, the separate compartments 14, 16 being formed with a common wall 15 between them by three separate sheets of a moisture and gas impervious material arranged in an overlying relationship and the four peripheral edges being joined together, the three walls 15, 23 and 25 are sealed together in an air tight manner, such as by using a suitable adhesive, by crimping or by heat sealing).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madkour (US 4796751) in view of Mesalic (US 2007/0199841), and further in view of Futagawa (US 5865309) or in the alternative Barrella (US 2008/0070101).
Regarding Claim 6:
As discussed above for claim 1, The modified invention of Madkour discloses the invention as claimed.
Madkour does not disclose at least one fill port disposed in said perimeter seal, said fill port being in fluid communication with said fluid reservoir.
Futagawa teaches a similar dual chambered container using a fill port located in the seal of the container (Figure 5, Fill port 25 on second chamber 32) to fill the liquid chamber of a similar dual-chambered container and after filling sealing the fill port with a cap 28.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Madkour the teachings of Futagawa and include a fill port located in the seal of the container to fill the cleaning liquid on compartment 14 and sealing the port once the filling is completed, as the use of fill ports to fill containers is well known in the art.
Additionally, if this rejection is argued.
Barrella teaches filling a liquid reservoir in a foil cell container through a fill port located in the perimeter seal of the foil cell container (Figures 1 to 3, Fill port 20 is located in the perimeter seal to fill the liquid reservoir of the foil cell container).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Madkour the teachings of Barrella and include a fill port located in the seal of the container to fill the cleaning liquid on compartment 14 and sealing the port once the filling is completed, as the use of fill ports on a perimeter seal to fill containers is well known in the art.
Claims 8 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madkour (US 4796751) in view of Mesalic (US 2007/0199841) as applied to Claims 1 and 24 above, and further in view of Paley (US 5814159).
Regarding Claims 8 and 25:
As discussed above for claim 1, The modified invention of Madkour discloses the invention as claimed.
Madkour does not disclose a puncture member disposed on said base member, said puncture member is configured to penetrate said partition.
Paley discloses a similar wipe container for a wipe and a cleaning fluid including a puncture member on the fluid reservoir to perforate it and wet the wipes with the cleaning fluid (Figures 9 and 10, puncturing device 102).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Madkour the teachings of Paley and include a puncture member disposed on said base member to perforate it and allow the wipes get wet with the cleaning fluid if so desired.
Claims 9 to 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madkour (US 4796751) Futagawa (US 5865309), Paley (US 5814159) and Stern (US 2002/0066680).
Regarding Claims 9, 10 and 14:
Madkour discloses a wipe container (Figure 4, cleaner kit 10), comprising:
a cover member having a fixed shape with a cover bottom wall, a cover top, one or more cover side walls extending upright with respect to said cover bottom wall, and a cover flange extending outward from a cover perimeter of said one or more cover side walls, wherein
said one or more cover side walls and cover bottom defining a cavity (Figures 4 and 5, outer wall 25 will be considered as forming the cover member, short of any additional limitations it will be considered it has a fixed shape, and includes a cover bottom wall formed by a not numbered curved wall and two not numbered straight walls on both sides of the curved wall that will be considered the cover side walls extending upright with respect to said cover bottom wall, Compartment 16, formed by cover side walls and cover bottom wall will be considered the cavity; the open cover top will be considered the area of the cavity in contact with common wall 15; while the not numbered section of outer wall 25 in contact with common wall 15 where the three walls 15, 23 and 25 are sealed together, short of any additional limitations, can be considered a cover flange extending outward from a cover perimeter of said one or more cover side walls);
at least one wipe received in said cavity of said cover member (Figure 5, compartment 16 contains dry wiping material 19);
a base member having a fixed shape, a base bottom wall, and a base top, one or more base side walls extending upright from said base wall, and a base flange extending outward from a base perimeter of said one or more base side walls,
said one or more base side walls and said base bottom wall defining a fluid reservoir (Figures 4 and 5, wall 23 forms the base member, short of any additional limitations it will be considered it has a fixed shape, and includes a base bottom wall formed by a not numbered curved wall and two not numbered straight walls on both sides of the curved wall that will be considered base side walls extending upright from said base wall, Compartment 18, formed by base side walls and base bottom wall will be considered the fluid reservoir holding a fluid, cleaning liquid; the open base top will be considered the area of the fluid reservoir holding a fluid in contact with common wall 15, while the not numbered section of outer wall 23 in contact with common wall 15 where the three walls 15, 23 and 25 are sealed together, short of any additional limitations, can be considered a base flange extending outward from a base perimeter of said one or more base side walls);
a partition fixedly disposed between said cover and base members, said partition being formed of a membrane;
at least one release member configured to open the partition (Figure 4 and 5, common wall 15 will be considered the partition); and
wherein said cover and said base members are sealed together to create a perimeter seal, wherein the cavity and fluid reservoir are inside the perimeter seal and said at least one fill port extends outside the perimeter seal (Figures 4 and 5, Column 4, lines 35 to 42, the separate compartments 14, 16 being formed with a common wall 15 between them by three separate sheets of a moisture and gas impervious material arranged in an overlying relationship and the four peripheral edges being joined together).
wherein said one or more cover side walls form a right angle with said cover bottom wall and wherein said one or more base side walls form a right angle with said base bottom wall (See annotated Figure 4 below, the not numbered straight walls on outer wall 25 form first side walls and not numbered straight walls on outer wall 23 form the second side walls, in the Figure is can be seen that the “side walls” form a right angle with the bottom walls),
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Madkour does not disclose at least one fill port disposed in said perimeter seal, said fill port being in fluid communication with said fluid reservoir.
Futagawa teaches a similar dual chambered container using a fill port located in the seal of the container (Figure 5, Fill port 25 on second chamber 32) to fill the liquid chamber of a similar dual-chambered container and after filling sealing the fill port with a cap 28.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Madkour the teachings of Futagawa and include a fill port located in the seal of the container to fill the cleaning liquid on compartment 14 and sealing the port once the filling is completed, as the use of fill ports to fill containers is well known in the art.
Madkour does not disclose a puncture member and much less it being a flexible a convex dome; but it is to be noted that several references, such as Paley as referenced above, teach the use of some kind of “puncture member” on the fluid reservoir to puncture the partition wall and allow the wipes get wet on the cleaning fluid.
Stern teaches using a puncture member shaped as a flexible convex dome (Figures 6 to 8 and 10) to tear an impermeable partition wall made of a foil and allow for the mixture of two components.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Madkour the teachings of Paley and Stern and include a puncture member on the fluid reservoir to puncture the partition wall and allow the wipes get wet on the cleaning fluid and to make the puncture member shaped as a flexible convex dome as a shape that can be easily pressed by a finger.
Regarding Claim 11:
As discussed above for claim 9, The modified invention of Madkour discloses the invention as claimed.
The modified invention of Madkour does not specifically disclose that the cleaning agent is peroxide or actually anything in particular; but considering that Hydrogen peroxide is a common cleaning agent, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use it as a cleaning fluid.
Regarding Claim 12:
Madkour discloses that the membrane is made of metal foil (Column 3, lines 15-16).
Regarding Claim 13:
Madkour discloses that the cover member includes a dispensing slot for dispensing said at least one wipe, said dispensing slot being remote from said reservoir (Figures 4 and 5, column 3, lines 59-60; compartment 16 is opened at one end such as by tearing along line 30 to remove the wiping material).
Regarding Claim 15:
As discussed above for claim 9, The modified invention of Madkour discloses the invention as claimed.
The modified invention of Madkour does not disclose another puncture member or another fill port.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include additional puncture members or fill ports since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding Claim 16:
As discussed above for claim 9, The modified invention of Madkour discloses the invention as claimed.
The modified invention of Madkour does not disclose holding a plurality of wipes.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include additional puncture members or fill ports since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Claims were amended to overcome the rejections under 112(b), but since they were amended exactly as interpreted by the Examiner then they do not overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 made in the last action. As written only one wall requires to be forming a right angle with the bottom wall.
The Examiner considers that, as written, proper rejections at least of the independent claims can be made using Mesalic (US 2007/0199841), that in particular discloses all the walls forming right angles with bottom walls, McConnell (US 9844497), McConnell (US 6639185), Levy (US 4700048) or McMahan (US 4084080) just to name some, additionally to Nakamura (US 4610357), Walker (US 3775801), Ponsi (US 5900278) and Khan (US 8240472) mentioned in previous actions.
Same as before, the Examiner recommends calling to set up an interview to maybe discuss real differences between the references on the record and the current application.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. in particular Mesalic (US 2007/0199841), McConnell (US 9844497), McConnell (US 6639185), Levy (US 4700048), McMahan (US 4084080), Nakamura (US 4610357), Walker (US 3775801), Ponsi (US 5900278) and Khan (US 8240472), is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDUARDO R FERRERO whose telephone number is (571)272-9946. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-7:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SHELLEY SELF can be reached at 571-272-4524. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDUARDO R FERRERO/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
/ROBERT F LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731