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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-11 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Huizingh (EP 2,457,849).
Regarding claims 1, 4 and 13, Huizingh discloses a process and apparatus of manufacturing containers from polymeric materials with unwarped internal partition (modular bottle crate made of plastic, framework 79 is formed below the cross strut 78 and defines the bottle locations – see Fig. 4) comprising:
(a) premanufacturing a bottom part of a container from a polymeric material, wherein said bottom part embodying essentially a platform shape (The components 4 and 6 are made of a thermoplastic material and is manufactured in one piece by an injection molding process – see Fig. 2A and paragraph [0051]);
(b) premanufacturing a top part of said container from a polymeric material, wherein said top part comprising (inner component 6):
(l) a bottom plate of said top part, configured to match said bottom part, wherein a superior surface of said bottom part is engageable to an inferior surface of said bottom plate of said top part (bottom 46 has bottom ribs 74 which are also arranged in a grid shape on the outside and which correspond in course and position to the bottom ribs 30 of the outer component 4);
(II) a plurality of surrounding sidewalls, wherein an interior profile of said surrounding sidewalls is configured to match an exterior profile of said bottom part (see Fig. 1);
(IIl) at least one interior partition, configured for dividing an interior volume of said container into at least two distinct compartments, wherein said interior partition extends essentially an entire distance in-between two opposing sidewalls, of said plurality of surrounding sidewalls, wherein said interior partition forms an integral monolithic part (a round cross strut 78 runs centrally between upper portions of the longer side walls 50 of the inner component 6) of said plurality of surrounding sidewalls (framework 79 is formed below the cross strut 78);
(c) applying a preheating treatment to said bottom part (insertion section 86 has heating elements 88 which are formed in a manner complementary to the joining surfaces of the outer component 4);
(d) appending said top part of said container to said bottom part following said step of applying said preheating (when the joining surfaces of both components 4 and 6 are plasticized, the inner component 4 can be removed from the receiving section 82 with the aid of the cross strut 78 serving as a carrying handle);
(e) welding said interior profile of said surrounding sidewalls of said top part with said exterior profile of said bottom part, thereby forming a welded complex of said container (the inclined joining surface 66 of the inner component 6 comes to bear against the inclined joining surfaces 34 of the outer component 4 - welding device 80 has a receiving portion 82 which substantially corresponds to the contour of the outer component 4 and into which the inner component 6 can be inserted – see Figs. 5A-B);
(f) cooling down said welded complex of said container, thereby facilitating stretching of said at least one interior partition and forming of a container with an unwarped internal partition (inherent after the welding operation).
Regarding claims 2 and 14, Huizingh discloses the interior profile of said surrounding sidewalls is configured to overlap with said exterior profile of said bottom part (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 5, Huizingh discloses plurality of interior monocytic partitions (framework 79 is formed below the cross strut 78 and defines the bottle locations in which the bottles are accommodated in the bottle case 2).
Regarding claim 6, Huizingh discloses an open top configuration (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 7, Huizingh discloses a plurality of interior monocytic partitions being disposed essentially orthogonally to at least one another partition of said plurality of interior monocytic partitions (framework 79 is formed below the cross strut 78 and defines the bottle locations in which the bottles are accommodated in the bottle case 2 – see Figs. 2A and 3).
Regarding claim 8, Huizingh discloses a container with a peripheral rim (see Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 9, Huizingh discloses a structured shape configured for engaging to inferior surface (see Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 10, Huizingh discloses a reinforcement rib (see Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 11, Huizingh discloses at least one structural element (reinforcement ribs 24 and 26 in fig. 2A) configured for affixing articles in said container.
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) 3, 12 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huizingh (EP 2,457,849) in view of Mogor et al (US 2020/0172291).
Regarding claims 3 and 15, Huizingh does not disclose the ultrasonic welding as claimed by the applicant. Regarding this difference, the applicant is directed to the reference of Mogor.
Mogor discloses ultrasonically welding base 38 to body 36 of cartridge assembly 12. Mogor further discloses that ultrasonic welding is uniquely beneficial in food packaging as the method is fast, sanitary and produces a hermetic seal between components and works well with a variety of materials suitable for forming components of the nested container system, such as plastics (see paragraphs [0048]-[0049]). For these reasons, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to employ ultrasonic welding in the method and apparatus of Huizingh.
Regarding claim 12, it is the examiner’s position that lids connected to a container via an interlocking mechanism, snap-on mechanism or hinged mechanism are well known and conventional in the art and would have been obvious to employ in the method of Huizingh based on the simplicity and desirability of such closing systems.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES D SELLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1237. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30-5.
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JAMES D. SELLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1745
/JAMES D SELLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1745