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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/20/2025 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, 3, 5, 8, 10-14, 17-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cortopassi (US 4684023 A) in view of Ng Pak Leung et al. (US 2021/0047072 A1; hereinafter Ng Pak Leung).
Regarding claims 1, 3, 5, 8, 10-14, and 17, Cortopassi discloses a content-identifying carton structure comprising a box (see Figures 2-3; base portion), a cover (i.e. lid) for the box, and a lock (48/50; Examiner notes that the 48/50 locks are on each side of the container) to reversibly maintain the cover in a closed position (Col 4 lines 17-27), the box comprising a base (16), sidewalls (14/18/28) and an opening (see Fig. 2; Examiner considers the opening to be the access to contents), the cover comprising a top (12) and flanks (26/44), the cover covering the opening and the cover covering at least a specific portion of a specific sidewall of the box when the cover is in the closed position, whereby at least one of the flanks and sidewalls comprises an alignment mark coinciding with the cover being in the closed position (see Figures 2-3; Examiner notes that the marks are exposed coinciding with when the lid is properly closed); whereby the alignment mark comprises both a flank alignment mark and a sidewall alignment mark (40/42; Examiner considers cuts to be “marks” as well), whereby the flank alignment mark and the sidewall alignment mark are aligned when the cover is in the closed position, whereby the lock is engaged by displacing the cover through rotation (i.e. hinged lid along fold 20). Examiner considers the locking mechanism to comprise an actuator since a pressing action is required to operate said locking mechanism. Cortopassi lacks teaching that detergent is placed within the container.
Ng Pak Leung teaches a consumer product container comprising detergent product (300). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of Applicant’s filing to modify Cortopassi’s container to be used to hold detergent product (Ng Pak Leung; see Par. 0007). Examiner considers Cortopassi’s container capable of containing detergent products.
Regarding claims 17-18, Cortopassi, as modified above, discloses a container comprising locking the container by displacing the cover until the alignment mark
coincides with the cover being in the closed position (Cortopassi; see Figures 1-3). Examiner considers sliding the cover in a telescoping manner over the box to be a translation.
Regarding claim 20, Cortopassi, as modified above, discloses a container comprising the lock emitting a clicking sound upon locking. Examiner considers the friction involved in locking/unlocking Cortopassi’s container to create a noise.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6, and 15-16 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 5-6, filed 10/20/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3-8, 10-18, and 20 under USC 103(a)—in view of Fox and Ng Pak Leung have been fully considered and are persuasive. Fox fails to disclose a cover that engages through rotation (e.g. hinged lid). Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of USC 103(a)—Cortopassi in view of Ng Pak Leung.
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.
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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.
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/CHRISTOPHER R DEMEREE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734