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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9, 11, and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPUB 2020/0216220 A1 to Eckert et al. (“Eckert”) in view of U.S. Patent No. 5,794,814 to Baerenwald (“Baerenwald”).
This figure, now referred to as Eckert annotated Fig. 2C, used for the rejection of claims 1-19 has been replicated below, and the Examiner has added reference points for ease of explanation, and said reference points will be used for the rejection of claims 1-19 below.
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As to claim 1, Eckert teaches a container for the shipment and display of a product, the container comprising: (a) a sleeve (side panels 14) having an open top end and an open bottom end (Eckert Fig. 1 shows the side panels 14 have an open top and an open bottom); and (b) a pair of opposing trays (base member 12 and frame 13) releasably mounted on the top and bottom ends of the sleeve (Eckert Fig. 4A-4B shows the frame 13 on the top end of the side panel 14 and the base 12 on the bottom end of the side panel 14, respectively), each of the pair of opposing trays comprising, (i) a planar plate (planar member 20) that includes an inner surface (inner surface, annotated Fig. 2C), an outer surface (outer surface, annotated Fig. 2C), and an outer peripheral edge (outer peripheral edge, annotated Fig. 2C), (ii) a continuous outer flange (outer flange, annotated Fig. 2C) formed on the inner surface along the entirety of the outer peripheral edge, the continuous outer flange having a distal end, and (iii) a continuous inner flange (inner flange, annotated Fig. 2C) formed on the inner surface spaced at a fixed distance inward from the continuous outer flange (Fig. 2C shows the inner flange a fixed distance inward from the outer flange), the continuous outer flange having a distal end (first frame 22); (c) wherein the planar plate, the continuous outer flange, and the continuous inner flange define a continuous, peripheral groove (slot 24) which is adapted to receive either of the open top end and the open bottom end of the sleeve (Fig. 4B shows the side panel in the slot), the groove having a width and a height (Fig 4A and 4B show the slot 24 has a width and a height); but does not teach the groove having a width and a height, the width of the groove continuously increasing for the entirety of the height of the groove towards the distal ends of the continuous inner and continuous outer flanges.
Baerenwald teaches the groove (upper channel 53) having a width and a height (Baerenwald Fig. 4 shows the upper channel 53 having a width and a height), the width of the groove continuously increasing for the entirety of the height of the groove towards the distal ends of the continuous inner and continuous outer flanges (Baerenwald Fig. 4 shows the width of the upper channel 53 increasing for the entirety of the height of the channel towards the distal ends).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the shape of the channel of Baerenwald with the container as taught by Eckert to allow insertion of and gripping the formed edge of a wall (Baerenwald, col. 10, lines 6-8).
As to claim 2, Eckert modified by Baerenwald discloses the claimed invention except for wherein the continuous inner flange projects out from the inner surface of the plate and includes a tapered interior surface in communication with the groove. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to put the flange 42 on the inner flange facing the outer flange, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involved only routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04 VI. C.
As to claim 3, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the tapered interior surface of the inner flange extends out from the inner surface of the plate in the direction away from the outer flange. Modified Eckert would have the flange 42 on the opposite side of the slot 24 so the tapered surface 52 would extend in the direction away from the outer flange.
As to claim 4, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 3 wherein the tapered interior surface of the inner flange extends out from the inner surface of the plate at an angle of approximately 75 degrees (Eckert Fig. 2C shows the tapered surface is approximately 75 degrees).
As to claim 5, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 3 wherein the continuous outer flange projects orthogonally out from the inner surface of plate (Eckert annotated Fig. 2C shows the outer flange projects orthogonally from the bottom of the slot 24).
As to claim 6, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 5 wherein the continuous outer flange has an interior surface (Eckert annotated Fig. 2C shows the interior surface of the outer flange).
As to claim 7, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 6 wherein a plurality of projections (flange 44) protrudes out from the interior surface of the continuous outer flange and extends into the groove (Eckert Fig. 2C shows flanges 44 extending into the slot 24).
As to claim 9, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 7 wherein the sleeve is adapted to be collapsed into a flattened, generally planar configuration. The Eckert container is capable of being collapsed into a flattened configuration.
As to claim 11, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 9 wherein the sleeve includes four sidewalls (Eckert Fig. 1 shows the sleeve including four sidewalls).
As to claim 16, Eckert modified by Baerenwald discloses the claimed invention except for each of the continuous inner and continuous outer flanges has a height of approximately 0.38 inches. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the inner and outer flanges with a height of approximately 0.38 inches to make the flanges with the same height, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. MPEP 716.02(b) III.
As to claim 17, Eckert modified by Baerenwald discloses the claimed invention except for wherein the continuous inner and continuous outer flanges are spaced apart approximately 0.24 inches on the inner surface of the plate. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the inner and outer flanges spaced apart approximately 0.24 inches to have a space that can tightly hold the sidewall, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. MPEP 716.02(b) III.
As to claim 18, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 3 wherein each of the pair of opposing trays is constructed as a unitary plastic member (Eckert, pg. 3, ¶ 0032).
Claim(s) 8 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eckert in view of Baerenwald further in view of U.S. PGPUB 2004/0188506 A1 to Lane (“Lane”).
As to claim 8, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 7, but does not teach wherein each of the plurality of projections is semicircular in lateral cross-section.
Lane teaches wherein each of the plurality of projections (registration posts 48) is semicircular in lateral cross-section (Lane Fig. 6 shows the registration posts 48 are semicircular when attached to the sidewalls).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the projections of Lane with the container as taught by Eckert modified by Baerenwald to align the mounting apertures during the assembly of the box construction (Lane, pg. 1, ¶ 0014).
As to claim 12, Eckert modified by Baerenwald and Lane teaches the container as claimed in claim 11, wherein each of the four sidewalls includes a linear slot (slots 28) along the bottom end of the sleeve (Lane Fig. 5 shows the sidewalls have slots 28 at the bottom end).
As to claim 13, Eckert modified by Baerenwald and Lane teaches the container as claimed in claim 12 wherein each of the plurality of projections on the continuous outer flange of one of the pair of opposing trays is dimensioned to protrude through a corresponding linear slot along the bottom end of the sleeve (Lane, pg. 2, ¶ 0035).
As to claim 14, Eckert modified by Baerenwald and Lane teaches the container as claimed in claim 13 wherein each of the four sidewalls for the sleeve is provided with a set of circular openings (apertures 25).
As to claim 15, Eckert modified by Baerenwald and Lane teaches the container as claimed in claim 14 wherein the set of circular openings in each of the four sidewalls is in alignment with the set of circular openings in its opposing sidewall to promote laminar airflow through the container upon assembly (Lane, pg. 2, ¶ 0031).
Claim(s) 10 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eckert in view of Baerenwald further in view of U.S. Patent No. 8,361,956 B2 to Dowd (“Dowd”).
As to claim 10, Eckert modified by Baerenwald teaches the container as claimed in claim 9, but does not teach wherein the sleeve is constructed of a unitary, corrugated plastic member having a thickness of approximately 0.24 inches.
Dowd teaches wherein the sleeve (sleeve 80) is constructed of a unitary, corrugated plastic member (Dowd, col. 3, lines 48-53).
Eckert modified by Baerenwald and Dowd discloses the claimed invention except for the sleeve having a thickness of approximately 0.24 inches. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the thickness of the sleeve approximately 0.24 inches to make the sleeve easily inserted into the slot, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. MPEP 716.02(b) III.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention use the material of Dowd to make the container of Eckert modified by Baerenwald to provide mass produced sleeve at a relatively low cost (Dowd, col. 3, lines 53-56).
As to claim 19, Eckert modified by Baerenwald and Dowd teaches the container as claimed in claim 18, but does not teach wherein each of the pair of opposing trays is shaped to define a central opening.
Dowd teaches wherein each of the pair of opposing trays (two trays 12) is shaped to define a central opening (central opening 62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention add the central openings of Dowd with the container of Eckert modified by Baerenwald to allow for flow of cooling and ripening gases (Dowd, col. 5, lines 20-21).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 5-8, filed 11/05/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-7, 9, 11, and 16-18 under 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art references.
Conclusion
Applicant is duly reminded that a complete response must satisfy the requirements of 37 C.F. R. 1.111, including: “The reply must present arguments pointing out the specific distinctions believed to render the claims, including any newly presented claims, patentable over any applied references. A general allegation that the claims “define a patentable invention” without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references does not comply with the requirements of this section. Moreover, “The prompt development of a clear Issue requires that the replies of the applicant meet the objections to and rejections of the claims.” Applicant should also specifically point out the support for any amendments made to the disclosure. See MPEP 2163.06 and MPEP 714.02. The ''disclosure'' includes the claims, the specification and the drawings.
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/M.L.P/Examiner, Art Unit 3733
/JEFFREY R ALLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733