DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/2/2026 has been entered.
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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 1/2/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, and 3-26 remain pending in the application. New claim 24-26 has been added to the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments regarding the 35 USC 103 rejections of Claims 1-20 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for these reasons:
Regarding Applicant’s assertion that the magnets of Huyke would allow a handle to pass through as it is configured to limit the movement of contents (Page 8), the examiner disagrees, pointing out that manual separation of the magnets that is in the users control as taught by Huyke, would be applied to the modified Lin, as inserting a handle would be great enough to separate the magnets.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the 35 USC 103 rejection of claims 1, 3-26, have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the references being used in the current rejection. Note discussion of US Patent 2413465 issued to Ohlsen, below.
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, 3-22 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Publication 2007/0228096 by Lin (Here forth “Lin”) in view of International Publication KR20170025190 by Shim (Here forth “Shim”) and US Patent 9526309 issued to Huyke (Here forth “Huyke”) and US Patent 2413465 issued to Ohlsen (Here forth “Ohlsen”).
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a bag comprising:
at least two sides, a front, a back defining a sidewall having an outer surface (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin below, the sidewalls have an outer surface), and a base (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin below);
[Not taught: a storage compartment having an opening, wherein the opening is configured to allow access to the storage compartment (Fig B- Examiner Annotated Fig 6 of Shim below, storage compartment has an opening at 115a and allows access to the storage compartment; the back sidewall has a panel that inherently has a first side and second side and forms the sleeve)];
[Not taught: at least one strap or handle (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin below)];
a first panel having a first side and a second side and a top, wherein the first side and the second side are attached to the outer surface of the sidewall and wherein the first panel and the sidewall form a sleeve (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin below, the back sidewall has a panel that inherently has a first side and second side and forms the sleeve that attaches over the handle), wherein the sleeve is configured to allow a luggage handle to pass through from an open bottom of the sleeve to and through a top of the sleeve (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin below, there is an open bottom of the sleeve and it is always open as the fastener is not located at the bottom edge but rather higher up);
the top of the first panel and the sidewall (Fig A) comprising a [Not taught: magnetic] closure (Fig A) [Not taught: comprising at least one first panel magnet or ferromagnetic material attached to the top of the panel and at least one sidewall magnet or ferromagnetic material configured to be attracted to the at least one first panel magnet, the magnetic closure configured to disconnect upon a luggage handle being passed through the sleeve from the open bottom of the sleeve, and configured to automatically reconnect upon the luggage handle being slid out from the sleeve]; and
[Not taught: a second panel disposed between the first panel and the sidewall, wherein the second panel and the sidewall form a pocket].
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Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin
Lin does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation A: handle, storage compartment
Limitation B: a magnetic closure;
Limitation C: second panel
Shim disclose a similar Luggage that teaches Limitation A, a storage compartment having an opening, wherein the opening is configured to allow access to the storage compartment (Fig B- Examiner Annotated Fig 6 of Shim below, storage compartment has an opening at 115a and allows access to the storage compartment; Fig 2 of Shim, a closure device 115a configured to secure the storage compartment); at least one strap or handle (Fig B- Examiner Annotated Fig 6 of Shim).
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Fig B- Examiner Annotated Fig 6 of Shim
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Lin and Shim before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of Lin to include a handle, and compartment, as taught by Shim, to advantageously carry the bag and include more storage.
Huyke discloses Limitation B, wherein comprising at least one first panel magnet or ferromagnetic material attached to the top of the panel and at least one sidewall magnet or ferromagnetic material configured to be attracted to the at least one first panel magnet, the magnetic closure configured to disconnect upon a luggage handle being passed through the sleeve from the always open bottom of the sleeve, and configured to automatically reconnect upon the luggage handle being slid out from the sleeve (Fig 13 of Huyke, magnetic closure is made up of magnets 32 and 24 and when both side panels come close enough together, the magnets attach around any object between them and can separate to adjust to an object placed between them; wherein the magnetic closure comprises at least one first panel magnet 24 or ferromagnetic material attached to the top of the panel 22 and at least one sidewall magnet or ferromagnetic material configured to be attracted to the at least one first panel magnets 24 and attached to a corresponding area on the sidewall 36; Fig 13 of Huyke, wherein the at least one first panel magnets 24 attached to the top of the panel is at least one magnetic strip 24; magnet panels have multiple magnets; When replacing the zipper closure mechanism with the magnets between the first panel and the sidewall, the bottom at top openings are devoid of magnets).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Lin as modified and Huyke before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of Lin to modify the closures to be the magnetic closures, as taught by Huyke, to advantageously seal the opening of the storage body 10 and keep everything firmly in place during travel (Claim 1 Para 3).
Ohlsen discloses a similar bag that teaches Limitation C, a second panel disposed between the first panel and the sidewall, wherein the second panel and the sidewall form a pocket (Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 3 of Ohlsen below, the second panel and sidewall form a pocket wherein items can be stored within.
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Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 3 of Ohlsen
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Lin as modified and Ohlsen before them, when the application was filed, to include a second panel attached to the side wall to form a pocket, as taught by Ohlsen, to advantageously store items within.
Regarding claim 3, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including, wherein the at least one first panel magnet attached to the top of the panel is at least one magnetic strip (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 1; Fig 13 of Huyke).
Regarding claim 4, Lin as modified discloses all of the limitations including multiple magnetic strips (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 1; Huyke, Fig 13, multiple magnets 24 and 32).
Lin as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation D: 2-4 magnetic strips
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to teach Limitation D to provide a bag that has 2-5 magnetic strips, because Applicant has not disclosed why this number of magnetic strips provide an advantage, are used for a particular purpose, or solve a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with Lin’s modified bag (details above) because they both would have the same reconfigurability, and operability. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify Lin’s modified bag (details above) to obtain the invention as claimed.
Regarding claim 5, Lin as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation E: foam strip and magnet embedded in foam strip
Huyke discloses a similar bag that teaches Limitation E, wherein the first panel comprises at least one first panel foam strip located at the top of the first panel, and extending between sides of the first panel; wherein the at least one first panel magnet or ferromagnetic material is embedded in the at least one first panel foam strip (Fig 13, first panel 22 contains foam strip 26 that has magnets 24 embedded within, extending between the sides of the first panel; the at least one first panel foam strip 26 is sandwiched between two layers of material 22+28 and wherein the two layers of material retain the at least one first panel magnet or ferromagnetic material).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Lin as modified and Huyke before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of the modified Lin to include a foam panel with magnets embedded within, as taught by Huyke, to advantageously cause the panels to engage by themselves automatically when they were located close enough.
Regarding claim 6, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the at least one first panel foam strip is sandwiched between two layers of material and wherein the two layers of material retain the at least one first panel magnet or ferromagnetic material (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 5; Fig 13).
Regarding claim 7, Lin as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation F: foam strip with magnet embedded in foam strip
Huyke discloses a similar bag that teaches Limitation F, wherein the sidewall comprises a second panel and wherein the second panel comprises at least one sidewall foam strip located at the corresponding area of the sidewall (Fig 13, second panel 38 contains foam strip 34 that has magnets 32 embedded within, extending between the sides of the first panel).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Lin as modified and Huyke before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of Lin as modified to include a foam panel with magnets embedded within, as taught by Huyke, to advantageously cause the panels to engage by themselves automatically when they were located close enough.
Regarding claim 8, Lin as modified as modified includes all of the limitations including, wherein the magnetic closure is configured to automatically reconnect when the handle is removed from the sleeve (Magnets inherently automatically reconnect when brought close enough together).
Regarding claim 9, Lin as modified includes all of the Limitations including comprising a closure device configured to secure the storage compartment (Fig 2, the closure device 115a secures the storage compartment).
Regarding claim 10, Lin discloses a bag comprising:
at least two sides, a front, a back defining a sidewall having an outer surface of the sidewall (Fig A- Examiner annotated Fig 12 of Lin above, the sidewalls have an outer surface that is formed);
[Not taught: a storage compartment having an opening wherein the opening is configured to allow access to the storage compartment;
at least one strap or handle];
a first panel, the first panel comprising a first side, a second side (Fig A- Examiner annotated Fig 12 of Lin above, the back sidewall has a panel that inherently has a first side and second side and forms the sleeve), and a top, wherein the first side and the second side are attached to the outer surface of the sidewall to form a sleeve between the first panel and the outer surface of the sidewall (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin above, sleeve is formed between the first panel and outer panel), wherein the sleeve is configured to allow a luggage handle to pass through from an open bottom of the sleeve to and through a top of the sleeve (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin above, the sleeve allows a luggage handle to pass through the open bottom);
[Not taught: a pocket formed at least in part by the sidewall, the pocket configured to receive one or more items therein]; and
wherein the sleeve (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin above) comprises a [Not taught: magnetic] closure configured to disconnect upon a luggage handle being passed through the sleeve (Fig 12-23 of Lin ) and [Not taught: automatically] reconnect upon the handle being slid out from the sleeve (Fig A- Examiner Annotated Fig 12 of Lin Above, the closures can reconnect upon the handle being slid out from the sleeve).
Lin does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation G: handle, compartment
Limitation H: a magnetic closure
Limitation I: pocket formed by the sidewall
Shim discloses a similar luggage that teaches Limitation G, a storage compartment having an opening wherein the opening is configured to allow access to the storage compartment (Fig 3 opening is closed by element 115a that provides access into the storage compartment); at least one strap or handle (Fig A).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Lin and Shim before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of Lin to include a handle and compartment, as taught by Shim, to advantageously carry the bag and include more storage.
Huyke discloses Limitation H, wherein a magnetic closure configured to disconnect upon a luggage handle being passed through the sleeve and automatically reconnect upon the handle being slid out from the sleeve (Fig 13, magnetic closure is made up of magnets 32 and 24 and when both side panels come close enough together, the magnets attach around any object between them and can separate to adjust to an object placed between them; wherein the magnetic closure comprises at least one first panel magnet 22/second panel 36, magnet 24/32 or ferromagnetic material attached to the top of the first panel/second panel 22/36 respectively and at least one sidewall magnet 32 or ferromagnetic material configured to be attracted to the at least one first panel magnets 22 and attached to a corresponding area on the sidewall; Fig 13 wherein the at least one first panel magnets 24/second panel magnets 32 attached to the top of the panel is at least one magnetic strip 22/32 between the first and second sides respectively; magnet panels have multiple magnets; Magnets 24 and 32 are embedded within the foam strips 26 and 34; Fig 14, a foam layer 68 and wherein the foam strip 58 is positioned on the foam layer 68).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Lin as modified and Huyke before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of Lin to modify the closures to be the magnetic closures, as taught by Huyke, to advantageously seal the opening of the storage body 10 and keep everything firmly in place during travel (Claim 1 Para 3).
Ohlsen discloses a similar bag that teaches Limitation I, wherein the sleeve comprises a pocket formed at least in part by the sidewall, the pocket configured to receive one or more items therein (Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 3 of Ohlsen, the side wall is a part of the sleeve of the modified Lin, so the sleeve is capable of receiving items in pocket at opening 123a via zipper and forms a pocket when zipper opening 191 is sealed; the pocket comprises an opening 123a accessible between the first panel and the sidewall; the pocket comprises an opening 123a accessible between the first panel and the sidewall; wherein the sleeve and the pocket are configured to compress the pocket based on the luggage handle being passed through the sleeve of the modified Ohlsen; the pocket comprises an opening accessible between the first panel and the sidewall of the modified Ohlsen; the pocket comprises an opening accessible between the first panel and the sidewall; Fig C-Ecaminer Annotated Fig 3 of Ohlsen above, the second panel comprises a second panel that inherently has a first side, second side, and bottom, wherein the second panel first side, second side, and bottom are attached to the sidewall to form the pocket between the sidewall to form the pocket between the second panel and the sidewall).
Regarding claim 11, Lin as modified includes all the limitations including wherein the pocket is formed by a second panel attached to the first panel and the sidewall (Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 3 of Ohlsen, the pocket that forms the sleeve is attached to the side wall and when taught to the modified Lin is indirectly attached to the first panel as it is attached to the side wall that is attached to the first panel).
Regarding claim 12, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including, wherein the magnetic closure comprises at least one second panel magnet or ferromagnetic material attached to the top of the second panel and at least one sidewall magnet or ferromagnetic material configured to be attracted to the at least one second panel magnet and attached to a corresponding area on the sidewall (See the detailed description the rejection 10; Fig 13).
Regarding claim 13, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including, wherein the at least one second panel magnet attached to the top of the second panel is at least one magnetic strip (See the detailed description the rejection 10; Fig 13).
Regarding claim 14, Lin as modified discloses all of the limitations including multiple magnetic strips on a second panel (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 1; Huyke, Fig 13, multiple magnets 32 and 24; Lin, second panel forms the sleeve portion opposite the first panel of the back sidewall).
Lin as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation J: 2-5 magnetic strips
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to teach Limitation J to provide a bag that has 2-5 magnetic strips, because Applicant has not disclosed why this number of magnetic strips provide an advantage, are used for a particular purpose, or solve a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with Lin’s modified bag (details above) because they both would have the same reconfigurability, and operability. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify Lin’s modified bag (details above) to obtain the invention as claimed.
Regarding claim 15, Lin modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the second panel is inwardly located from the first panel and the second panel further comprises at least one foam strip located at the top of the second panel, and extending between the first side and the second side of the second panel, wherein the at least one second panel magnet or ferromagnetic material is embedded in the at least one foam strip (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 10; Fig 13 of Huyke).
Regarding claim 16, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including, wherein the magnetic closure comprises at least one first panel magnet or ferromagnetic material attached to the top of the first panel and at least one sidewall magnet or ferromagnetic material configured to be attracted to the at least one first panel magnet and attached to a corresponding area on the sidewall (See the detailed description the rejection of claim 10; Fig 13 of Huyke).
Regarding claim 17, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including, wherein the at least one first panel magnet attached to the top of the first panel is at least one magnetic strip (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 10; Fig 13 of Huyke).
Regarding claim 18, Lin as modified discloses all of the limitations including multiple magnetic strips on the first panel (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 10; Huyke, Fig 8 of Huyke, multiple magnets 23 and 24; Lin, second panel forms the sleeve portion opposite the first panel of the back sidewall).
Lin as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation K: 2-5 magnetic strips
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to teach Limitation K to provide a bag that has 2-5 magnetic strips, because Applicant has not disclosed why this number of magnetic strips provide an advantage, are used for a particular purpose, or solve a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with Lin’s modified bag (details above) because they both would have the same reconfigurability, and operability. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify Lin’s modified bag (details above) to obtain the invention as claimed.
Regarding claim 19, Lin as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation L: foam strip with magnet embedded in foam strip
Huyke discloses a similar bag that teaches Limitation L, wherein the first panel comprises at least one foam strip located at the top of the first panel, and extending between sides of the first panel (Fig 13 of Huyke, foam strip 26 is located at the top of the first panel 22 and extends between the sides of the first panel).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Lin as modified and Huyke before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of the modified Lin to include a foam panel with magnets embedded within, as taught by Huyke, to advantageously cause the panels to engage by themselves automatically when they were located close enough.
Regarding claim 20, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the second panel further comprises a foam layer and wherein the foam strip is positioned on the foam layer (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 10, foam layer 68).
Regarding claim 21, Lin as modified includes the following Limitations including, wherein the open bottom of the sleeve is always open by being devoid of a bottom closure mechanism between the first panel and the sidewall (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 1; when the top zipper fastener is replaced with the magnetic fasteners).
Regarding claim 22, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the sleeve is different from the pocket and wherein the sleeve and the pocket are configured to compress the pocket based on the luggage handle being passed through the sleeve ( See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 10, Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 3 of Ohlsen above, pocket accessed via zipper and when taught to the modified Lin, the pocket and sleeve will have a level of compression applied when handle is inserted within the sleeve).
Regarding claim 24, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the pocket comprises an opening accessible between the first panel and the sidewall (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 10; Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 3 of Ohlsen above).
Regarding claim 25, Lin as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the pocket comprises an opening accessible between the first panel and the sidewall (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 10; Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 3 of Ohlsen above).
Regarding claim 26, Lin as modified includes all the limitations including wherein the second panel comprises a second panel first side, second side, and bottom, wherein the second panel first side, second side, and bottom are attached to the sidewall to form the pocket between the sidewall to form the pocket between the second panel and the sidewall (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 10; Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 3- of Ohlsen above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 23 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 23, Lin further discloses wherein the pocket is disposed in the sleeve between the first panel and the outer surface of the sidewall (Fig A, sleeve is formed), [Not taught: wherein the magnetic closure of the sleeve is further configured to facilitate closure of the pocket].
Lin as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation M: wherein the magnetic closure of the sleeve is further configured to facilitate closure of the pocket
Lin as modified does not expressly disclose Limitation M, wherein the magnetic closure of the sleeve is further configured to facilitate closure of the pocket.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA KAVINI TAMIL whose telephone number is (571)272-6655. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Jenness can be reached at 571-270-5055. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JESSICA KAVINI TAMIL/Examiner, Art Unit 3733
/DON M ANDERSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733