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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/06/2026 has been entered.
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 7,10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ilzuka (JP 2005187044 A) in view of Inaba (JP 2007209829 A) in view of Tsutsumi (EP 1181930 A1) and further in view of Sierra-Gomez (US 2005/0247764 A1).
Referring to claims 7 and 11. Ilzuka discloses a patch packaging product (1; Figure 1a), comprising:
a bag body (body of 1);
an opening (1A; Figure 1b) formed in the bag body (body of 1);
a flap label (20) consisting of a sheet-shaped member (see sheet like label 20 in Figure 1A); and
wherein the opening (1A; Figure 1b) comprises
a first ratio of a first length of each of the plurality of folded patches along a first direction (Lp) to a first length of the opening along the first direction is 1.5 to 2.5 (In view of the Ilzuka dispenser as shown in Figure 1A, it is clearly seen the body of the flexible packaging forms a cuboid by the contents stored within the flexible package thus, it can be said the dimensions of the cuboid generally represent the dimensions of the resting articles contained within the flexible packaging. The claimed dimensions of Lp and La are shown below in their representative equivalents in the reproduced Figure 1a, below. When using any scale, the measured ratio of Lp/La is found to be 6.2 cm/ 2.5 cm respectively thus yielding a ratio of Lp/La equal to 2.48. Therefore, the cited range of Lp/La as being in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 is met by the dispenser of Ilzuka), and
a ratio of a second length of each of the plurality of folded patches along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (Lq) to a second length of the opening along the second direction (Lb) is 1.8 to 2.8, (In a similar analysis as disclosed above, the ratio of Lq/Lb may also be determined. The ratio of Lq/Lb in the reproduced Figure 1A below is 3.5 cm/ .5 cm respectively yielding a ratio of 7, which is considerable above the range of 1.8 to 2.8 as cited in the claim);
wherein the sheet-shaped member (see sheet like label 20 in Figure 1A) includes a tab (21) protruding outward.
and wherein the tamper evident seal is located at one corner of the flap label adjacent to the tab.
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Reproduced Figure 1A of Ilzuka.
Ilzuka discloses the ratio of Lq/Lb as being 7. Ilzuka does not specifically disclose the Lq/Lb ratio to be in the range of 1.8 to 2.8.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the opening size of the Ilzuka dispenser such that the ratio of Lq/Lb is in the range of 1.8 to 2.8 instead of 7, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Ilzuka does not disclose a patch packaging product, consisting of a plurality of folded patches; and a packaging bag configured to store the plurality of folded patches.
Inaba discloses a dispenser (10; Figure 1) comprising a patch packaging product (11; Figure 1b), consisting of a plurality of folded patches (see Figure 2b); and a packaging bag (10) configured to store the plurality of folded patches (11; Figure 1b).
wherein each of the plurality of folded patches (11) comprises a partial region in a longitudinal direction of the patch (see fold configuration of sheet 11 in Figure 2c),
wherein the plurality of folded patches (11) are stored in the packaging bag (12) wherein an end of the plurality of folded patches (end 14a; Figure 1b) is visible through the opening (13),
wherein each of the plurality of folded patches (11) is stored in the packaging bag (12) wherein, in the partial region, each of the release liners faces the opening (end 14a; Figure 1b).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of Ilzuka to include a patch packaging product, consisting of a plurality of folded patches; and a packaging bag configured to store the plurality of folded patches as taught by Inaba because comprising different types articles with the housing would allow the dispenser to be more useful and compatible with different types of articles thus, increasing sales.
Ilzuka in view of Inaba do not disclose wherein each of the plurality of folded patches includes a release liner configured to protect an adhesive layer of the respective folded patch,
Tsutsumi discloses a plurality of folded patches (4; Figure 1) wherein each of the plurality of folded patches (3; Figure 3) includes a release liner (4) configured to protect an adhesive layer (2) of the respective folded patch (3).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of Ilzuka in view of Inaba to include wherein each of the plurality of folded patches includes a release liner configured to protect an adhesive layer of the respective folded patch as taught by Tsutsumi because comprising different types of adhesive articles can be folded and stored in a stack without the adjacent patches adhering to the other patches.
Ilzuka in view of Inaba and further in view of Tsutsumi do not disclose wherein the tamper evident seal is located at one corner of the flap label adjacent to the tab.
Sierra-Gomez discloses a resealable food container (Figure 1) wherein the tamper evident seal (28; top right corner of tab 22; Figure 1) is located at one corner of the flap label (24) adjacent to the tab (22).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of Ilzuka in view of Inaba and further in view of Tsutsumi to include wherein the tamper evident seal is located at one corner of the flap label adjacent to the tab as taught by Sierra-Gomez because a tamper evident seal located at one corner of the flap label adjacent to the tab would allow a user to quickly determine whether the container was previously opened indicating tampering.
Referring to claim 10. Ilzuka in view of Inaba and Sierra-Gomez do not disclose each of the plurality of folded patches further includes:
a support;
wherein the adhesive layer formed on one side of the support;
wherein a material of the support is a fabric and the support has a thickness of 500 to 1000 µm, and
wherein the release liner has a thickness of 20 to 40 µm.
Tsutsumi discloses a plurality of folded patches (4; Figure 1) includes:
a support (1);
wherein the an adhesive layer (2) formed on one side of the support (1);
a material of the support is a fabric (1; Para. [0002]).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of Ilzuka in view of Inaba and Sierra-Gomez to include a support; an adhesive layer formed on one side of the support; and a release liner configured to protect the adhesive layer as taught by Tsutsumi because comprising different types articles with the housing would allow the dispenser to be more useful and compatible with different types of articles thus, increasing sales.
Ilzuka in view of Inaba, Tsutsumi and Sierra-Gomez further do not disclose the support has a thickness of 500 to 1000 µm, and the release liner has a thickness of 20 to 40 µm.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to comprise the support has a thickness of 500 to 1000 µm, and the release liner has a thickness of 20 to 40 µm, since it has been held that the provision of adjustability, where needed, involves only routine skill in the art. In re Stevens, 101 USPQ 284 (CCPA 1954).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/06/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. See modified rejections cited above in view of Ilzuka in view of Inaba, Tsutsumi and the new reference of Sierra-Gomez, including all newly added limitations.
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
In this case, Applicant argues ““each of the plurality of folded patches includes a release liner configured to protect an adhesive layer (22) of the respective folded patch” and “each of the 11 plurality of folded patches is stored in the packaging bag such that, in the partial region, each of the release liners faces the opening” as recited by newly-amended independent claim 7.” In view of the Examiner, the secondary reference of Inaba discloses a stack of sheets wherein the sheets are folded individually such that a one end of the folded sheet can be seen through an opened aperture of the dispenser opening. Furthermore, the reference of Tsutsumi discloses a stack of patches can be stored in a stack. Each of the patches comprise a support base comprising an adhesive layer that is covered by a release liner. The combination of the teachings disclosed by Ilzuka in view of Inaba and Tsutsumi disclose the claimed subject matter as recited. It is suggested the applicant incorporate additional structure to overcome the cite rejections.
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 RAKESH KUMAR whose telephone number is (571)272-8314. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH from 8AM-6:30PM EST.
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/RAKESH KUMAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651