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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-9 and 12-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nusbaum (US 2005/0173368) in view of Rouquette (US 2013/0248530).
Regarding Claim 1, Nusbaum discloses a container closure (1) made of plastic (Paragraph 0034) comprising a spout (18) configured for drinking out of a container, comprising a jacket (12) for fastening a closure to the container, the jacket having an internal thread (13) formed on an inner face of the jacket to be screwed onto a neck of the container (Paragraph 0035, 0037). Nusbaum discloses a lower rim at the lower end of a tamper evident strip (14) and a nozzle adjoining the jacket and defining a pouring opening at 24. Nusbaum discloses a closure cap (5) coupled to the spout and having a sealing element (37) on an inner side of the spout for closing the pouring opening. Finally Nusbaum discloses a hinge (strap 3 – Paragraph 0056) coupling the closure cap relative to the spout to allow the closure cap to pivot from a closed position to an open position relative to the spout and vice versa.
Nusbaum does not disclose a plurality of thread turns formed on an outer face of the jacket.
Rouquette discloses a similar closure assembly having a drinking spout (3) and a tamper-evident ring (107) wherein an outer surface of the jacket has a plurality of thread turns (a continuous second retaining arrangement 5 comprising four elongate second retaining segments evenly distributed around the circumference – Paragraph 0078). Nusbaum and Rouquette are analogous inventions in the art of tamper-evident drinking cap closures with additional caps.
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the cap of Nusbaum with the plurality of thread turns on the exterior surface as seen in Rouquette in order to form a closure that is responsive not only to internal pressure acting on the closure cap, but also to external pressure applied by a user unscrewing the closure cap. The closure cap will be held at an intermediate position until the internal pressure within a container has been reduced and provides a sports cap suitable for carbonated beverages (Paragraphs 0008 and 0027-0030).
Regarding Claim 2, Rouquette discloses the plurality of thread turns comprise lower thread turns and upper thread turns lying above the lower thread turns as each of the thread turns are vertically spaced.
Regarding Claim 3, Rouquette discloses the lower thread turns have a first (13) and a second stop (14), the first and second stops delimit the lower thread turns.
Regarding Claim 4, Rouquette discloses the upper thread turns have a first stop (16) and an open thread runout opposite to the stopping abutment 15 along angle β as discussed in Paragraph 0081 and seen in Figure 1.
Regarding Claim 5, Rouquette discloses the thread runouts open into an upper rim of the jacket.
Regarding Claim 6, Rouquette does not disclose the upper and lower threads are of the same length, and the first stop of the upper threads and the first stop of the lower threads are arranged vertically one above the other. However, Rouquette considers that the retaining arrangement may comprise segments having an adequate rotational length to contact the second retaining arrangement (Paragraph 0040). Furthermore, Rouquette discloses that the first and second regions extend about different degrees of circumference about the closure spout (Paragraph 0051). Therefore, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that the location and lengths of the threads may be varied to accommodate different desired degrees of rotation to vary the holding force of the screw cap.
Regarding Claim 7, Nusbaum discloses a free rim of the closure cap (31), a tamper-proof ring (29) is connected to the closure cap by the hinge and by at least one breaking web (53) (Paragraph 0078).
Regarding Claim 8, Rouquette discloses at least one first pin (20 – Paragraph 0092) configured to engage in one of the lower thread turns, While Rouquette discloses that this retaining pin is formed on the cap (100) and is not positioned on an inner side of the tamper-proof ring, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that the location of the pin may be varied as a simple repositioning of parts that would have no unexpected results in the attachment of the cap tamper evident band to the jacket.
Regarding Claim 9, Rouquette discloses at least one second pin (19) formed on an inner side of the closure cap above the free rim and configured to engage in one of the upper thread turns.
Regarding Claim 12, Nusbaum discloses the container closure has an axis of rotation (2) about which the closure cap together with the tamper-proof ring is rotatable relative to the spout.
Regarding Claim 13, Nusbaum discloses the jacket has an upper rim (10) forming a connecting surface that connects the upper rim to the nozzle (Paragraph 0036).
Regarding Claim 14, Nusbaum discloses the spout defines an undercut (defined by projection 20) on the inner side of the spout above the lower rim, said undercut configured to have a non-detachable form-fit with the cap with projection 30. While Nusbaum does not disclose this non-detachable connection is to maintain the spout on the container, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that the location of this connection may be modified to be at the location of tamper-evident strip (14) to cooperate with projections on the neck of the receptacle to enable the jacket to be held on the container neck (Paragraph 0038).
Regarding Claim 15, Nusbaum discloses the free rim of the closure cap defines at least one indentation (51 – Paragraph 0069), the at least one breaking web arranged in the indentation for releasably connecting the closure cap to the tamper-proof ring.
Regarding Claim 16, Nusbaum discloses the hinge has a latching mechanism (weakness 44) configured to fix the closure cap in the open position (Paragraph 0062).
Regarding Claim 17, Nusbaum discloses an outer ring (35) formed on an inner side of the cap, wherein in the closed position, an end of the nozzle is arranged between the outer ring and the sealing element (Paragraph 0049).
Regarding Claim 18, Nusbaum discloses the outer face of the jacket is corrugated at the lower rim as shown in Figures 1 and 5.
Regarding Claim 19, Nusbaum discloses a sealing ring (28) formed on an inner side of the connecting surface (Paragraph 0044).
Claims 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Modified Nusbaum (US 2005/0173368) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Bertram (US 2019/0071225).
Regarding Claim 10, Modified Nusbaum discloses the limitations of claim 9 as discussed above. Nusbaum does not disclose an elevation formed in the upper thread turns and/or in the lower thread turns.
Bertram discloses a similar threaded closure (20) with an elevation (28, 29) formed in the thread turns.
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the threads of Modified Nusbaum with the elevations of Bertram in order to provide users with a tactile and audible feedback mechanism (Paragraphs 0012-13).
Regarding Claim 11, Bertram discloses the elevation is of a height that, during rotation, corresponding pins (32) pins can slide over the elevation with a resistance perceptible to a user.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nusbaum (US 2005/0173368) in view of Rouquette (US 2013/0248530) and Kwon (US 2011/0297682).
Regarding Claim 20, as discussed above in claim 1, Nusbaum discloses a container body for receiving a filling material a container neck, adjoining the container body and enclosing a dispensing opening, the container neck having an outer thread formed on an outer surface thereof in Paragraph 0035. This container is also recited to include an annular bead formed below the external thread to cooperate with the tamper-evident strip (14) as discussed in Paragraph 0038.
As set forth previously in Claim 1, Nusbaum in view of Roquette discloses container closure, comprising: a spout configured for drinking out of the container, the spout defining an undercut on an inner side of the spout above a lower rim of the spout, the undercut configured to have a non-detachable form-fit with the container, the spout comprising: a jacket for fastening a closure to the container and having an internal thread formed on an inner face of the jacket for screwing onto a neck of the container; a lower rim; and a nozzle adjoining the jacket and defining a pouring opening; a closure cap coupled to the spout and having a sealing element on an inner side of the spout for closing the pouring opening; a hinge coupling the closure cap relative to the spout to allow the closure cap to pivot from a closed position relative to the spout to an open position and vice versa; and a plurality of thread turns formed on an outer face of the jacket;
Modified Nusbaum in view of Roquette does not disclose that when the container closure is screwed onto the container neck for a first time, the container closure interacts in a form-fitting manner with the annular bead to non-detachably hold the container closure to the container. Rather, the connection in Nusbaum and Roquette is a tamper-evident frangible connection.
Kwon discloses a similar hinged screw-cap closure where a tamper evident frangible detachable hinged closure (30) is configured to non-detachably attach to a bottle (10) at stopping step (13) as discussed in Paragraph 0057. Modified Nusbaum and Kwon are analogous inventions in the art of hinge cap screw-on closures with tamper evidencing frangible bridges.
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the frangible detachable connection of Nusbaum between the container and closure with the non-detachable closure seen in Kwon in order to prevent the loss or contamination of the cap (Paragraph 0008).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIDEON R. WEINERTH whose telephone number is (571)270-5121. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10AM-6PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Greg Pickett can be reached on (571) 272-4560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GIDEON R WEINERTH/Examiner, Art Unit 3736
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