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 .
The elected invention is the invention of Group I, and the elected species is the species thereof of Group 2 (Fig 16). Applicant made the elections in the reply filed on 7/11/24.
Claims 34-35 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention or species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7/11/24.
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.
Claim(s) 23-31, 33 and 36-37 is/are finally rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Willard et al. (4,819,793) cited by applicant in view of Mogil et al. (7,669,436). As set forth in the last rejection:
Willard discloses most of the features of the claims including:
A beverage and/or food carrier bag (beverage carrier 10);
The walls as set forth in claim 23 lines 2-4 (see Fig 1). The claimed second side wall can be the wall to which seating members 58 are attached as shown in Fig 7;
A base (bottom 14 or bottom 14 and flooring 20);
Beverage holders (the beverage containers shown in the Willard drawings as being held in the bag);
A spacer (separator 22 or separator 60); and
A cover (ceiling 54 for enclosing the container 12 as described in column 5 line 46 and shown in Figs 5 and 6).
In Willard the cover is disclosed as engaging seating member 58, but Willard does not disclose attaching the cover to seating member 58. Thus, what Willard does not disclose relative to claim 23 are the first and second attachment portions.
Mogil is applied to meet the requirements in claim 23 for first and second attachment portions. For example, Mogil discloses fabric strip securement 84 and a corresponding mating fabric strip securement on strap or flexible handle 82 such that lid 32 can be secured to a wall of the Mogil container. Both lid 32 in Mogil and ceiling 54 in Willard are for enclosing their respective containers. Therefore, it would have been obvious in view of Mogil to provide first and second attachment portions (such as the mating fabric strips of Mogil) on the cover and second side wall of Willard (the attachment portion on the second side wall can be provided directly on the second side wall or on the corresponding seating member 58, and the attachment portion on the cover can be provided on the portion of the cover that seats on seating member 58, or is otherwise immediately adjacent the second side wall as shown in Willard), in order to provide for securement of the cover to the second side wall, further to provide a more stable seating of the cover and/or to prevent unintended opening of the Willard container.
The features of claims 25-33 are either clearly disclosed by Willard or are clearly conventional in the relevant art as shown by the prior art of record. Therefore, where not disclosed in Willard, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art to provide the features of claims 25-33 to the invention of Willard in order to provide the container with added convenience or make it more economical to construct.
Claim 24 is obvious over Willard in view of Mogil as follows. Willard can be viewed as disclosing most of the features of claims 23 and 24 as set forth above, except for the first and second attachment portions, for the tray and for a spacer. Mogil is applied to meet these features. Mogil meets the first and second attachment portions as indicated above and discloses a that tray (receptacle 30) and spacers (ribs 122 and/or wall portions 136, 144) can be provided within a beverage and/or food carrier bag of the type disclosed in Willard. In addition to the attachment portions, it would also have been obvious in view of Mogil to provide the apparatus of Willard with a tray and a spacer as required in claim 24 for the purpose of providing the carrier bag with increased flexibility of use while also providing for the secure retention of content therein.
Regarding new claim 36, it would have been obvious to construct the Willard cover to depend or hang from the first side wall when the attachment portions are not connected, as a mere design expedient and/or in order to save materials in construction, making the bag more economical to produce. Based on the disclosure in Willard (such as claim 15, for example only) one having ordinary skill in the relevant art would recognize that seating member 58 for the cover is not absolutely required. Thus, it would have been obvious to delete it and save the cost of providing it. Alternatively or additionally, given the Willard disclosure of deleting the coolant 42 from the flooring 52 and providing it as only a single layer or double layer (column 5 lines 58-64), one having ordinary skill in the relevant art would recognize that the same could be done with the cover, given the similarities between the cover and the flooring. In this event also, the Willard construction would be more economical and the flexibility of the cover would make it depend or hang from the first side wall, as claimed, when the attachment portions were not connected.
With the latest claim amendments applicant has amended the claims to require formation of the bag of canvas and of cotton canvas (note independent claim 23 and new claim 37 respectively). These features may not be disclosed in Willard and Mogil. However, the prior art of record shows the features to be conventional in the relevant art. For example, all 17 references cited in this Office action, including Mitchell et al. (2016/0101924), discloses a beverage and/or food carrier bag that is formed of canvas and suggest that cotton canvas is a conventional canvas for forming bags of the noted type. Therefore, it would have been obvious to form the bag of Willard of canvas and cotton canvas (to make at least a portion of the bag such as an outer shell, lining etc., from canvas and cotton canvas), for the purpose of providing the bag with added durability and/or to provide a more economical bag.
Applicant's arguments filed on 12/12/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Note the commentary above.
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 JACOB K ACKUN whose telephone number is (571)272-4418. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 11am-7pm.
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/JACOB K ACKUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736