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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/16/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 09/16/2025 (hereinafter “amendment”) has been accepted and entered. Claims 21-26 and 29 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a)
The 35 U.S.C. 112(a) rejections of claim(s) 23 is withdrawn as a result of the amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 21-26 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 21 recites “a plurality of linear extensions formed on surfaces of said flexible sections”, this is unclear. What are they linear extensions of? Just a projection straight up from the surface? A linear projection from end to end? For purposes of compact prosecution and in light of the specification the examiner will treat this to mean the material used is a ribbed material, as shown in the figures and as recited in the specification “ribbed with linear extensions”.
Claim 21 recites “the flexible sections and rigid enabling each of the first and second panels to be configured to fold along a boundary formed by adjacent flexible sections or rigid linear extensions”, this is unclear. First, this appears to be a typographical error. It is unclear if it should be “the flexible sections enable each of the first and second panels to be configured” or “the flexible sections and rigid linear extensions enable each of the first and second panel”. The rigid linear extensions (ribbing) are formed on the surface of the flexible sections, so it is unclear if the properties of the flexible panels (ribbing) need to be recited again. Additionally, the rigid linear extensions are on the surface of the flexible section thusly how is the boundary formed by an adjacent linear extension? And not just formed by the flexible sections? Should this instead be “fold along a boundary formed by adjacent flexible sections”? It is unclear if the applicant is claiming more than that the material used is ribbed. For purposes of compact prosecution, the examiner will treat this as claiming a folding container made from flexible ribbed material.
The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections of claim(s) 25 from the action dated 06/16/2025 is withdrawn as a result of the amendment.
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) 21-26 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Little US 4,984,906 in view of Schafer US 2023/0013257 A1, herein after referred to as Little and Schafer respectively.
Regarding claim 21 Little discloses an erectable, resealable enfoldment (Figs. 1-12), comprising:
a body comprising first (30 rectangular section, Fig.3-8) and second panels (20 rectangular section) connected together; wherein said first and second panels form a substantially T-shaped configuration in an opened configuration (Col. 3, lines 54-58);
wherein each of the first (30) and second (20) panels comprises a plurality of flexible sections (31, 32, 33, 21, 22 and 23), the flexible sections enable each of the first (30) and second (20) panels to be configured to fold along a boundary formed by adjacent flexible sections (Figs. 1 and 3);
at least one fastening slider (47 slide fastener); fastener retaining projections disposed along a portion of an outer periphery of the first panel and the second panel which are used to retain said fastening slider (46 zipper chain);
wherein the fastener retaining projections (46) engage and disengage each other along the outer periphery of the first panel and the second panel where the fastening slider is pulled along the outer periphery of the first panel and second panels thereby connecting said first and second panels together (Col. 4, lines 35-43).
Little is silent to the material of the flexible sections being ribbed which is having rigid linear extension formed on surfaces of said flexible sections and formed on the outer surface of said first and second panels.
Schafer teaches an erectable resealable enfoldment (Figs. 1-5) that is made from ribbed plastic sheets (paragraph [0030], lines 9-10) and also teaches equivalence between at least PVC, corrugated cardboard, ribbed plastic sheets, fibrous material and multiply paper (paragraph [0030].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the outer material used for the flexible sections of the first and second panel with the ribbed plastic sheets (ribbed having rigid linear extensions form on the surface of the plastic material) as taught by Schafer as doing so is well known in the art and would yield predictable results. Additionally using ribbed plastic allows for the enfoldment of Little to be easily cleaned by a user and also provides surfaces easily gripped by a user. Further it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Regarding claim 22 Little as modified discloses the erectable, resealable enfoldment of claim 21 and further discloses wherein the flexible sections and linear rigid extensions (ribbing) of each first (30) and second (20) panel span substantially the length of each first panel and second panel (Figs. 3-4, each flexible section is made from ribbed plastic and as such the linear extensions and flexible sections will span the length of each panel).
Regarding claim 23 Little as modified discloses an erectable, resealable enfoldment of claim 22 and further discloses wherein the body is constrained to fold about the linear rigid extensions (each flexible section has linear rigid extensions (ribbing), and the body folds about the flexible sections which each include the ribbing.
Regarding claim 24 Little as modified discloses the erectable, resealable enfoldment of claim 21 and further discloses wherein when the first (30) and second (20) panels are connected together to form a substantially rectangular box-like form (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 25 Little as modified discloses the erectable, resealable enfoldment of claim 21 and further discloses wherein when the fastening slider (47) is pulled along the outer periphery of the first panel and second panel to disengage the fastener retaining projections the panels assume an open flat-like configuration (Col. 4 lines 35-43).
Regarding claim 26 Little as modified discloses the erectable, resealable enfoldment of claim 25 and further discloses wherein the panels join together to form one of a primary configuration and secondary configuration (Figs. 1-8).
Regarding claim 29 Little as modified discloses the erectable, resealable enfoldment of claim 21 and further discloses where said body is formed of a plastic material (Schafer paragraph [0030]). Additionally, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 21-27 and 29 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on solely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lauren Kmet whose telephone number is (313)446-4834. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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, Anthony Stashick can be reached at (571) 272-4561. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/L KMET/ Examiner, Art Unit 3735
/Anthony D Stashick/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3735