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 .
Amendment filed December 2, 2025 has been acknowledged. Claims 1-14 remain pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The specification does not provide a description of a shorter leg coupled to a front panel and a longer leg coupled to a back panel as described in claims 15, 16, and 17.
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) 14 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gum (20140044379) in view of Credle, Jr. (6662829).
Regarding claim 14, Gum discloses a pouch enclosure comprising:
a front panel (1);
a back panel (1) coupled with the front panel along an outer edge of the front panel and the back panel (Fig. 1); and
a gusset panel (5) having shorter leg (defined by edges 24, 25, 26) and a longer leg (defined by edges 24, 25, 26, and section 18; par. 0035) separated from each other by a bend (24) in the gusset panel (par. 0029), the longer leg coupled with the front panel (par. 0035), the shorter leg having at least a middle portion that is separate from the front panel and the back panel (par. 0032), the middle portion of the shorter leg and the back panel forming an auxiliary port through which the product can be loaded into an interior volume disposed between the front panel and the back panel (par. 0032),
the middle portion of the shorter leg of the gusset panel configured to be coupled with the back panel after the product is loaded into the interior volume between the front panel and the back panel to enclose the product in the interior volume (par. 0032).
Gum DIFFERS in that it does not disclose a valve in the front panel through which the product is dispensed out of the interior volume. Attention, however, is directed to the Credle reference, which discloses a valve (180) in a front panel through which product is dispensed out of an interior volume.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Gum reference in view of the teachings of the Credle reference by including a valve for the purpose of controlling the flow of product from the interior volume.
Regarding claim 19, the gusset panel is an upper gusset panel (Fig. 2 of Gum) and further comprising a lower gusset panel (Fig. 2 of Gum) having first and second legs separated from each other by a bend (28 of Gum).
Regarding claim 20, the first leg of the lower gusset panel is coupled with the front panel and the second leg of the lower gusset panel is coupled with the back panel to form a gusset bottom of the pouch enclosure (par. 0029 of Gum).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 are allowed.
Conclusion
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 DONNELL ALAN LONG whose telephone number is (571)270-5610. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8AM-5PM.
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/DONNELL A LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754