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 .
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) 1-7 and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (CN 112373949) in view of Maxwell et al. (US 2013/0188891).
Regarding claim 1, Wu discloses a bag, the web comprising: an exterior sheet material (1); and an expandable slit sheet material (2) coupled to the exterior sheet material along longitudinal seams (top), wherein the expandable slit sheet material has slits (22) arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal seams; wherein the web has a longitudinal fold (bottom) such that the expandable slit sheet material is on an inner side of the exterior sheet material, and wherein the longitudinal fold is substantially parallel to the longitudinal seams; wherein, when the expandable slit sheet material is in an unexpanded form, the exterior sheet material extends farther away from the longitudinal seams than the expandable slit sheet material extends from the longitudinal seams; and wherein the expandable slit sheet material in each of the bags is expandable from the unexpanded form to an expanded form. See Figs. 1-4. Wu does not disclose a web of bags.
Maxwell, which is drawn to a bag, discloses a web of preformed bags. See Fig. 12. Thus, it 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 to have the bag of Wu be made from a web of webs, as disclosed by Maxwell, in order to facilitate manufacture and produce multiple bags at a time.
Regarding claim 2, portions of the exterior sheet material on either side of the longitudinal fold are coupled together to form transverse seams. See Figs. 1-4.
Regarding claim 3, a closed longitudinal edge of the web at the longitudinal fold forms bottoms of the bags, an open longitudinal edge of the web between the longitudinal seams forms open tops of the bags, and the transverse seams form sides of the bags. See Figs. 1-4.
Regarding claim 4, as modified above, lines of weakness in the longitudinal seams on either side of one of the bags, wherein the lines of weakness can be broken to remove the one of the bags from the web. See Maxwell, [0040].
Regarding claim 5, a first connecting material (Fig. 4, at top) is on an inner surface of the exterior sheet material proximate the longitudinal fold; and a second connecting material (21) on an outer surface of the expandable slit sheet material at a location corresponding to the first connecting material on the exterior sheet material. See Fig. 4.
Regarding claim 6, the first and second connecting materials are complimentary parts of a binary adhesive that, upon at least one of contact or pressure applied between the first and second connecting materials, cause the first and second connecting materials to be adhered together. See Fig. 4.
Regarding claim 7, the first and second connecting materials are adhered together, the first and second connecting materials can cause the expandable slit sheet material to remain in the expanded form. See Figs. 3-4.
Regarding claim 21, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use a fiber-base material in order to strong yet flexible sheet material, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. See In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Regarding claim 22, as modified above, the expandable slit sheet material in each of the bags is separately expandable to the expanded form.
Regarding claim 23, the expandable slit sheet material includes a first transverse seam, wherein portions of a first transverse side of the expandable slit sheet material are coupled together by the first transverse seam. See Figs. 1-4.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu and Maxwell as applied above in further view of Goodrich (US 11,440,305).
Regarding claim 8, Wu does not disclose pleats as claimed. Goodrich, which is drawn to a bag, discloses using transverse pleats (1400). See Fig. 17. Thus, it 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 to use pleats as disclosed by Goodrich on the sheet material of Wu in order to better protect items within the bag.
Claim(s) 11, 15-18, 25, 26 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu and Maxwell as applied above in further view of Yan (US 10,850,891).
Regarding claim 11, Wu does not disclose an interior sheet as claimed. Yan, which is drawn to a bag, discloses an interior sheet material (13) that is coupled to an exterior sheet material (other 13) and an expandable slit sheet material at longitudinal seams such that the expandable slit sheet material is located between the interior sheet material and the exterior sheet material. See Figs. 8-12. Thus, it 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 to have an interior sheet, as disclosed by Yan, on the bag of Wu in order to further cushion any items therein.
Regarding claim 15, as modified above, the interior sheet material is a multi-part interior sheet material. See Yan, Figs. 1-12.
Regarding claim 16, as modified above, the multi-part interior sheet material comprises: upper parts coupled to the expandable slit sheet material at the longitudinal seams; and a lower part is folded such that the lower part substantially conforms to the expandable slit sheet material at the longitudinal fold. See Yan, Figs. 1-12.
Regarding claim 17, the lower part is capable of moving with respect to the upper parts. See Figs. 1-4.
Regarding claim 18, as modified above, the multi-part interior sheet material further comprises: a third connecting material (other glue areas) located on lower ends of the upper parts; and a fourth connecting material (other glue area) located on upper ends of the lower part. See Yan, Figs. 1-12.
Regarding claim 25, as modified above, a second expandable slit sheet material coupled to the expandable slit sheet material and to the exterior sheet material along the longitudinal seams, wherein the second expandable slit sheet material has slits arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal seams. See Yan, Figs. 8-12.
Regarding claim 26, as modified above, the second expandable slit sheet material includes a second transverse seam that couples portions of the second expandable slit sheet material to each other.
Regarding claim 28, Wu, as modified above, discloses the claimed invention except for the offset transverse seams. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have offset transverse seams in order to fit certain shaped objects, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Japiske, 86 USPQ 70.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu, Maxwell, and Yan as applied above in further view of Goodrich (US 11,440,305).
Regarding claim 12, Wu does not disclose pleats as claimed. Goodrich, which is drawn to a bag, discloses using transverse pleats (1400). See Fig. 17. Thus, it 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 to use pleats as disclosed by Goodrich on the sheet material of Wu in order to better protect items within the bag.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 1/12/2026, have been fully considered but are not persuasive. 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, it is well within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art to manufacture multiple bags from a web of preformed bags, as disclosed by Maxwell, in order to facilitate manufacture and produce multiple bags at a time. Moreover, Maxwell discloses this motivation in [0106]-[0111].
Next, applicant argues the combination of Wu in view of Yan. It is the Office’s position that Yan is used to show the common nature of a multi-sheet material wherein an interior sheet material (13) is coupled to an exterior sheet material (other 13) and an expandable slit sheet material at longitudinal seams such that the expandable slit sheet material is located between the interior sheet material and the exterior sheet material. See Figs. 8-12. The expanded and unexpanded nature of Yan is irrelevant to the combination as the slits of Wu are not modified by the combination, only the layers of sheet are modified. Thus, it 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 to have an interior sheet, as disclosed by Yan, on the bag of Wu in order to further cushion any items therein.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEREK J BATTISTI whose telephone number is (571)270-5709. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm M-F.
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 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.
/DEREK J BATTISTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734