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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/08/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-5, 9-17, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mack et al. (WO 2022101339 A1; hereinafter Mack) in view of Dixon (US 6296175 B1).
Regarding claims 1, 9-10, and 12-13, Mack discloses a push-over box and blanks for making discloses a two-piece container with self-locking cover comprising an inner construct (1) comprising a plurality of inner panels extending at least partially around a first interior of the inner construct, wherein the inner construct comprises an inner locking tab (9/10) foldably connected to at least one inner panel (3) of the plurality of inner panels (see Fig. 1); and an outer construct (21) comprising a plurality of outer panels extending at least partially around a second interior of the outer construct, the inner construct being at least partially received in the second interior of the outer construct, wherein the outer construct comprises an outer locking tab (33/34) foldably connected to at least one outer panel of the plurality of outer panels, and the inner locking tab comprises an inner proximal section (9.1/10.1) foldably connected to the at least one inner panel and an inner distal section (9.2/10.2) foldably connected to the inner proximal section along a first fold line (see Fig. 1), the inner distal section being folded along the first fold line into face-to-face contact with the inner proximal section (see Fig. 2), the outer locking tab comprises an outer proximal section (33.1/34.1) foldably connected to the at least one outer panel and an outer distal section (33.2/34.2) foldably connected to the outer proximal section along a second fold line, the outer distal section being folded along the second fold line into face-to-face contact with the outer proximal section (see Fig. 5), the first fold line of the inner locking tab and the second fold line of the outer locking tab engage one another for resisting movement between the inner construct and the outer construct (see Fig. 8). Mack lacks a partially removable engagement feature in the outer construct.
Dixon teaches a tamper resistant container comprising an engagement feature extending in at least one outer panel of an outer construct, the engagement feature comprising a cover panel (105) that is at least partially separable from at least one outer panel for forming an engagement hole in the at least one outer panel (Col 2 line 60-67); wherein an inner locking tab (112) of an inner construct extends along the engagement feature in the outer construct so that the inner locking tab can be engaged via the engagement hole when the cover panel is at least partially removed for moving the inner locking tab with respect to the outer locking tab for facilitating movement of the inner construct and the outer construct relative to one another from a closed configuration to an open configuration (Col 4 lines 14-49). Examiner considers the engagement feature to form an engagement “recess” after said engagement feature is deflected by a user. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of Applicant’s filing to modify Mack’s container outer construct to include a partially removable engagement feature, as taught by Dixon, in order to provide a means for disengaging the inner locking tab from the outer locking tab by pressing on the outer construct where the outer locking tab is located and then sliding the outer construct off the inner construct (Dixon; Col 1 lines 50-65). Examiner notes that the engagement features and locking tabs of the inner and outer construct are mirrored on two opposing sides of the container.
Regarding claims 2 and 14, Mack, as modified above, teaches a container and blanks for making wherein the cover panel is at least partially separable from the at least one outer panel along a weakening line (Dixon; 103 see Fig. 1).
Regarding claims 3-4 and 15-16, Mack, as modified above, discloses a container and blanks for making further comprising an engagement recess (Mack; 39/40) extending in the outer construct, wherein at least a portion of the inner construct extends along at least a portion of the engagement recess in the outer construct so that the inner construct can be gripped via at least the engagement recess in the outer construct (Mack; see Figures 6-8).
Regarding claims 5, 11, 17, and 21, Mack, as modified above, discloses a container and blanks for making wherein the plurality of outer panels of the outer construct comprises a top panel (Mack; 22) foldably connected to the at least one outer panel, the outer construct comprises an opening opposite to the top panel, the inner construct being selectively movable through the opening, and wherein the engagement feature is closer to the top panel than the opening and the engagement recess extends along the opening (Mack; see Figures 6-8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 and 18-19 are 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 10-13, filed 12/08/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-4, 6-8, 11-14, 18-19, and 21 under USC 103(a)—Garmon in view of Dixon have been fully considered and are persuasive. The combination fails to teach the inner and outer locking tab construction, as claimed. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of USC 103(a)—Mack in view of Dixon.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER R DEMEREE whose telephone number is (571)270-1982. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
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, NATHAN J NEWHOUSE can be reached at (571)272-4544. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHRISTOPHER R DEMEREE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734