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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garcia et al. (U.S. 5,873,491) in view of Stoody (U.S. 5,642,838). Garcia et al. teaches a refill container 10, shown in figure 1, comprising a thin walled bottle 10 having a bottle neck at 130 and a discrete fitment 20 at one end thereof and secured to the bottle neck, the fitment 20 being structured to stably support the bottle when it rests on the fitment in an inverted position so that the bottle can be displayed on the shelf or stored in the consumer’s home in an inverted position (capable of supporting bottle when bottle in inverted due to the flat top wall of 20).
Garcia et al. discloses the claimed invention except for the destructive cover. Stoody teaches that it is known to provide a bottle with a destructive cover (see element 17). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed inventio to provide the container of Garcia et al. with the destructive cover, as taught by Stoody, in order to preserve the contents and provide tamper indication.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garcia et al. (U.S. 5,873,491) in view of Yoshiro et al. (JP 2011111186A). Regarding claim 10, Garcia et al. teaches a thin walled bottle 10 comprising a neck at 130 and a discrete fitment 20 having a support ledge (top wall of 20) secured to the neck and at least partly surrounding, directly or indirectly (figure 3), the neck, the ledge supporting the fitment 20 and the bottle when the bottle rests on the fitment in an inverted position so that the bottle can be displayed on the shelf or stored in the consumer’s home in an inverted position (capable of supporting bottle when bottle in inverted due to the flat top wall of 20).
Garcia et al. discloses the claimed invention except for the thin walled bottle having a wall thickness from 0.01 mm to 0.32 mm. Yoshiro et al. teaches that it is known to form a thin walled bottle with a wall thickness from 0.01 mm to 0.32 mm (“The thickness of each film piece can be a general thickness of 10 to 150 μm”). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the container of Garcia et al. with the thin walled bottle having a wall thickness of from 0.01 mm to 0.32 mm, as taught by Yoshiro et al., in order to provide the least amount of material while meeting the strength requirements.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 8 and 10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the primary reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The new primary reference of Garcia et al. is applied in the rejection for the teaching of providing a container with a fitment 20 capable of supporting the container in the inverted position. The fitment 20 of Garcia et al. is capable of supported the container in the inverted position because of the flat top wall of 20.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 NIKI MARINA ELOSHWAY whose telephone number is (571)272-4538. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 7: 00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Orlando E. Aviles can be reached on 571-270-5531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NIKI M ELOSHWAY/Examiner, Art Unit 3736
/ORLANDO E AVILES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3736