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 .
Applicant’s election without traverse of the invention of Group I, claims 1-11 in the reply filed on 4/15/26 is acknowledged.
Claim 13 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/15/26.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gronnevik (5,330,067). The claimed protective case reads on the box of Gronnevik as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the reference. Thus, the box of Gronnevik can hold some mobile device as functionally required in the claim preambles. Additionally, the claimed body portion can be bottom section 2 and the claimed movable portion can be side sections 3-6 together. The claimed flattened configuration is most clearly illustrated by Fig 1 and the claimed folded configuration is most clearly seen in Fig 2. The four elastic connectors of claim 5 are fastening tongues 9.
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gronnevik. The reference may not expressly disclose the inclined surfaces as claimed, however, they are conventional in the relevant art. It would have been obvious to provide the case of Gronnevik with inclined surfaces as recited in claim 3, for the purpose of facilitating the folding of the side walls (3, 4, 5 and 6) with the body portion.
Claims 4, 6 and 8-11 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB K ACKUN whose telephone number is (571)272-4418. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 11am-7pm.
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, Orlando E. Aviles can be reached at (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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/JACOB K ACKUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736
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