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 Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities:
(Claim 6, line 1) “a an axially” may be “an axially”;
(Claim 13, line 9) “a stop” may be “a front door stop ”;
(Claim 13, line 9) “a rear surface” may be “a front door rear surface”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Claim 7 recites “ground supports comprise at least a portion of an underside of the container body”. The specification and drawings to not show that the wheels are integrally a part of the underside of the container body.
Claims 7-8 are rejected due to their dependencies.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "upper end" in lines 9-10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “upper end”. It is unclear what “upper end” is referring to. For purposes of examination the examiner is interpreting “upper end” to mean “an upper end of the sidewall”.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “a portion of the for access” (Line 20). It is unclear what “portion is being referenced. For purposes of examination the examiner is interpreting “a portion of the for access” to mean “a portion of the top opening for access”.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the floor surface" in lines 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the top of the container volume" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation “top of the container volume”. It is unclear what “ the top of the container volume” is referring to. For purposes of examination the examiner is interpreting “ the top of the container volume ” to mean “a top opening of the container volume”.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the front door rear surface" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the front door stop" in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 3-4, 6-12 and 14-15 are rejected due to their dependencies.
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 1, 6-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Publication 2004/0075248 by Elden (Here forth “Elden”) in view of US Design Patent D637811 issued to Hong (Here forth “Hong”).
Regarding claim 1, Elden discloses a sports ball bin comprising a container body (Fig A of Elden), the container body having a sidewall (Fig A of Elden, the side wall wraps around all sides of the container between the floor and opening), a floor (Fig A of Elden, floor is at the bottom of the container), a top opening (Fig A of Elden), and [Not taught: a front opening], the sidewall having a rear sidewall portion extending upwardly from the floor to the top opening (Fig A of Elden), a front sidewall portion opposite the rear sidewall portion and extending upwardly from the floor to the front [Not taught: opening] (Fig A of Elden), [Not taught: the front opening extending upwardly from the front sidewall portion to the top opening], a left sidewall portion extending forwardly from the rear sidewall portion to the front sidewall portion and upwardly from the floor to the top opening (Fig A of Elden), a right sidewall portion extending forwardly from the rear sidewall portion to the front sidewall portion and from the floor to the upper end (Fig A of Elden, the right side wall extends from the floor to the upper end of the side wall), and a container volume extending upwardly from the floor to the top opening within a periphery formed by the sidewall and the front opening (Fig A of Elden, the container volume is within the sidewalls, floor and top opening); a lid movably connected to the container body for movement to and from a closed position and at least one open position (Fig A of Elden, the lid is movably connected to the container body as it is connected to the body in the closed position and moved off when in the opened position), the lid in the closed position covering at least portion of the top opening (Fig 2 of Elden), the lid in the open position exposing the top opening to permit balls to be loaded into the container volume through the top opening (Fig A of Elden, the lid when in the opened position allows balls of a certain size to be loaded within); a seat formed on a top side of the lid (Fig A of Elden); [Not taught: a front door movably connected to the container body for movement to and from a closed position and at least one open position, the front door in the closed position covering the front opening, the front door being openable by a person sitting on the seat to expose the front opening and a portion of the for access to balls in the container volume]; a ground support disposed below the container volume, the ground support being operative to contact a ground surface to support the sports ball bin in a freestanding position (Fig A of Elden, wheels are the ground support).
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Fig B- Examiner Annotated Fig 3 of Elden
Elden does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitations A: front door
Hong discloses a similar container that teaches Limitation A, a front opening (Fig B of Hong); a front sidewall portion opposite the rear sidewall portion and extending upwardly from the floor to the front opening (Fig B of Hong, front and rear sidewalls extend upwardly from the floor to the upper end of the sidewall), the front opening extending upwardly from the front sidewall portion to the top opening (Fig A of Elden and Fig B of Hong, the front opening extends from the front side wall portion to the top opening of the modified Elden); a front door movably connected to the container body for movement to and from a closed position and at least one open position (Fig 1-2 of Hong), the front door in the closed position covering the front opening (Fig 2 of Hong), the front door being openable by a person sitting on the seat to expose the front opening and a portion of the for access to balls in the container volume (Fig A of Elden and Fig B of Hong, the front door of the modified Elden is openable by a portion sitting on the seat as the front door can lock and unlock from the lid; Fig B of Hong, the front door comprises a lock portion, where in the closed position it covers a portion of the top opening of the modified Elden; Fig A of Elden and Fig B of Hong, the lid and the front door in their respective closed positions cooperate to cover the entire top opening).
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Fig B- Examiner Annotated Fig 1 of Hong
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Elden and Hong before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the storage bin of Elden to include a front door for a front opening, as taught by Hong, to advantageously access the contents within the storage bin from a front side.
Regarding claim 6, Elden further discloses further comprising an axially aligned pair of wheels and a transport handle (Fig A), the transport handle being connected to the container body so as to permit a user to grasp and pull the handle in a rearward direction to tilt the sports ball bin rearwardly from the freestanding position to a transport position in which only the wheels of the sports ball bin contact the ground surface, and to permit the user to wheel the sports ball bin in the transport position over the ground surface by pushing or pulling the handle (Fig A, the storage bin is capable of performing this function).
Regarding claim 7, Elden as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation B: ground supports comprise at least a portion of an underside of the container body
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Limitation B, wherein the container has ground supports integrally attach instead of having separate ground supports that are not part of the underside of the container body. Such a modification involves only having separate panels attached to each other, and a device having the claimed relative integrally attached panels would not perform differently than the prior art device. Such modification would involve no change in function (see MPEP 2144.04 VB). Further Applicant has not disclosed criticality for the claimed material.
Regarding claim 8, Elden further discloses wherein the ground support further comprises the wheels (Fig A of Elden).
Regarding claim 9, Elden as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the front door in the closed position covers a portion of the top opening (Fig B of Hong, the front door covers a portion of the top opening of the modified Elden).
Regarding claim 10, Elden as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the lid and the front door in their respective closed positions cooperate to cover the entire top opening (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 1; Fig A of Elden and Fig B of Hong).
Regarding claim 11, Elden as modified does not expressly disclose the following limitations:
Limitation C: front door locking feature downward facing from door locking feature and lid upward-facing locking feature
Hong further discloses a similar storage bin capable of holding sports balls teaches Limitation C, wherein the front door comprises a downward-facing front door locking feature and the lid comprises a complementary upward-facing lid locking feature, the front door locking feature being operative to engage the lid locking feature by a user closing the front door when the lid is closed, to lock the lid in a closed position (Fig B of Hong , locking features include the downward-facing front door locking feature/dented seat and the upward-facing locking feature/dent protrusion, wherein both engage when the lid of the modified Elden is closed and front door is closed).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Elden as modified and Hong before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the storage bin of Elden include locking features to connect to front door to the lid, as taught by Hong, to advantageously lock the door to the lid to prevent items from coming out.
Regarding claim 12, Elden as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein one of the front door locking feature and the lid locking feature is a detent seat and the other is a detent protrusion (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 11; Fig B of Hong).
Claims 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elden and Hong in view of US Publication 2017/0362017 of Whalen (Here forth “Whalen”).
Regarding claim 2, Elden as modified does not expressly discloses the following Limitations:
Limitation D: Floor is pitched forward
Whalen discloses a similar equipment storage bin capable of storing small sports balls that teaches Limitation D, wherein the floor of the container body is pitched forward when the sports ball bin is in the freestanding position, so that when balls are placed in the container volume, the balls are guided forward on the floor surface toward the front side of the container volume (Fig 4, the bin floor 110B is capable of being pitched forward towards front wall portion 160 ).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Elden as modified and Whalen before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the storage bin of Elden as modified to have the ground be pitched forward in the free standing position, as taught by Whalen, to advantageously hold and display the items within.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elden and Hong in view of US Patent 3381782 issued to Ikelheimer (Here forth “Ikelheimer”).
Regarding claim 3, Elden as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation E: removable divider panel
Ikelheimer discloses a similar storage bin capable of storing small sports balls that teaches Limitation E, further comprising a removable divider panel disposed in the container volume, the divider panel being disposed to divide the container volume into left and right sections (Fig 1-2 of Ikelheimer, divider panel 4 can divide the container volume into left and right sections; a slot 3 is formed on each of the front and rear sidewall portions of the container body, the slot 3 being operative to receive and direct downward insertion and upward removal of respective front and rear edges of the divider panel 4 into and out of the container volume; the divider panel 4 comprises a rear portion and a front portion, the rear portion extending from the bottom of the container volume to the top of the container volume as seen in Fig 1, and the front portion extending from the bottom of the container volume to the bottom of the front opening of the container body).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Elden as modified and Ikelheimer before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the storage bin of Elden include removable divider that divide the storage area into left and right sections, as taught by Ikelheimer, to advantageously provide organization within the storage space.
Regarding claim 4, Elden as modified includes all of the limitations including further comprising a slot formed on each of the front and rear sidewall portions of the container body, the slot being operative to receive and direct downward insertion and upward removal of respective front and rear edges of the divider panel into and out of the container volume (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 3; slot 3 is formed on the sidewalls of the container and can receive the divider panels 4).
Regarding claim 5, Elden as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the divider panel comprises a rear portion and a front portion, the rear portion extending from the bottom of the container volume to the top of the container volume, and the front portion extending from the bottom of the container volume to the bottom of the front opening of the container body (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 3; divider panel 4 rear portion extends from the bottom to the top of the container 1 and the front portion extends from the bottom of the container volume to the upper edge of the front sidewall ).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elden and Hong in view of US Publication 2022/0218080 by Shalgi(Here forth “Shalgi”).
Regarding claim 13, Elden as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation F: front door pivot joint
Limitation G: Door stop
Hong further discloses a similar storage bin capable of storing sports balls that teaches Limitation F, wherein the front door is pivotally connected to the container body at a lower-end pivot joint to allow the front door to pivot open about the pivot joint from the closed position to the at least one open position and to pivot closed from the at least one open position to the closed position (Fig 7 of Hong, the front door pivots about joint shown from the opened to closed position), the front door further comprising a rear surface, the front door rear surface extending above the lower end pivot and facing rearwardly when the front door is in the closed position (Fig B and 4-5 of Hong, the front door has a rear surface that faces rearwardly), the at least one front door open position comprising a horizontal open position in which the front door rear surface extends horizontally forwardly of the lower-end pivot joint and faces up (Fig 4 of Hong).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Elden as modified and Hong before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the storage bin of Elden to have the front door be pivotally attached, as taught by Hong, to advantageously gain access and close access through the front door without removing the door from the storage bin
Shalgi further discloses a similar storage bin capable of holding sports balls that teaches Limitation G, the front door further comprising a stop (Fig C of Shalgi, front door stop; the front door stop comprises a stop surface that is operative; when the front door is in the horizontal open position, to be disposed below the front door rear surface and to abut an outer front side of the container body), the front door stop being operative to engage the container body when the front door is in the horizontal open position, to restrain the front door from pivoting downwardly from the horizontal open position (Fig C).
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Fig C- Examiner Annotated Fig 16 of Shalgi
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Elden as modified and Shalgi before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the storage bin of Elden to add a door stop to the rear surface of the front door, as taught by Shalgi, to advantageously prevent the surface from over-rotating and damaging another part of the bin
Regarding claim 14, Elden as modified further discloses wherein the front door stop comprises a stop surface that is operative (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 13, Fig C of Shalgi), when the front door is in the horizontal open position, to be disposed below the front door rear surface and to abut an outer front side of the container body (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 13, Fig C of Shalgi).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elden, Hong, and Shalgi in view of US Patent 3061157 by Moss (Here forth “Moss”).
Regarding claim 15, Elden as modified does not expressly disclose the following Limitations:
Limitation H: cup holder recesses
Moss further disclose a similar storage bin capable of storing sports balls to teach Limitation H, wherein the front door further comprises at least one cup holder recess formed on the front door rear surface (Fig B of Moss).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Elden as modified and Moss before them, when the application was filed, to include cup holder recess on the front lid, as taught by Moss, to advantageously be able to hold drinks.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA KAVINI TAMIL whose telephone number is (571)272-6655. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Jenness can be reached at 571-270-5055. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JESSICA KAVINI TAMIL/Examiner, Art Unit 3733
/NATHAN J JENNESS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3733 19 May 2025