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 .
This action is written in response to the amendment filed 01/12/2026
Claims 37-39 have been added
Claims 21-40 are presented for examination
This action is Final
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.
Claim(s) 21-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuhn (US 2007/51734) in view of Guckert et al. (US 2005/0051538).
Claims 21, 34. Kuhn discloses a shipping container 01 for shipping temperature-sensitive goods to be transported, comprising:
container walls 02 surrounding and closing off on all sides an interior space provided for receiving the goods to be transported, the container walls having thermal insulation 24 (abstract).
Kuhn discloses vacuum insultation panels arranged at least one of in the interior space and delimiting the interior space, and wherein the heat conducting plates surround the interior space on all sides and without gaps, to assist in thermally insulating the container [0047] but fails to disclose heat conducting plates with expanded graphite. Guckert teaches insulation heat conducting plates having a multilayer structure and having at least one layer of expanded graphite [0001];
the heat conducting plates having at least one carrier layer on which the layer of expanded graphite is arranged and the at least one carrier layer consisting of one of cardboard and plastic ([0057]; fig. 1A-C). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the vacuum insulation plates of Kuhn to include the insulating plates of Guckert to assist in the better transmission of heat from the plates to the product/container.
Claim 22. Kuhn- Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein: the at least one carrier layer comprises at least two carrier layers; and the layer of expanded graphite is arranged between two of the at least two carrier layers (Guckert; fig. 1A-C).
Claims 23, 35. Kuhn-Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein the at least one carrier layer has a thickness of 0.3-1 mm (Guckert; [0025], [0028]).
Claims 24, 36. Kuhn-Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein the at least one layer of expanded graphite has a thickness of 0.4-4 mm (Guckert; [0025], [0028]).
Claims 25-26. Kuhn- Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein the layer of expanded graphite has a thermal conductivity of 190-760 W/mK in a plate plane (Guckert; [0025], [0028]).
Claims 27-28. Kuhn- Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein the heat conducting plates traverse the interior space (Kuhn; [0046] fig. 6).
Claims 29-30. Kuhn- Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein the heat conducting plates surround passive cooling elements arranged in the interior space of the shipping container (Kuhn; [0004]).
Claim 31. Kuhn- Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein the container walls are multilayered and have at least one layer of a coolant as thermal insulation (Kuhn; [0004], [0008]).
Claim 32. Kuhn- Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein the container walls are multi- layered and have at least one thermal insulation layer as thermal insulation (Kuhn; [0043]).
Claim 33. Kuhn-Guckert discloses a shipping container according to claim 21, wherein the container walls are multi- layered and have an outer shell made of one of a cardboard and a plastic (Kuhn; [0044]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 37-40 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 filed 01/12/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The vacuum insulation of Kuhn consists of at least four panels sandwiched between inner and outer lays of the sidewalls, a bottom wall, a rear wall and a top wall ([0043-0046]; fig. 3, 6). Butt joints (mating surfaces) are used to create a continuous seam across the four panels. It is the Examiner’s position that due to the butt joints, the sandwiched panels would lack the presence of gaps. Guckert teaches heat conducting plates of expanded graphite with additional layers provided for improving heat-insulation. Because Kuhn discloses vacuum insulation elements aiding in the prevention of heat exchange, modifying the vacuum insulation panels with the heat conducting plate layers of Guckert would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to assist in the better transmission of heat from the plates to the product/container.
With the above arguments, the rejection is respectfully maintained.
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 RAVEN COLLINS whose telephone number is (571)270-1672. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm EST.
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, ANTHONY STASHICK can be reached at 571-272-4561. 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.
/RAVEN COLLINS/Examiner, Art Unit 3735
/Anthony D Stashick/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3735