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 . 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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 3 is
rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term "about" is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term "about" is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1-2 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Lin, US 20210318156 A1.
Claim 1
Lin in e.g., figs.1- 5 teaches:
A silicone cup (e.g., 100), comprising:
a body made of a silicone (e.g.,¶0004¶0073); and
a plurality of concave measurement windows (131-140 comprising recessed portions of 151 to 160 : see e.g.,¶0082 and fig.4 the citations1 which broadly reads on concave shape for windows 131 to 140) provided on an exterior surface (184) of the body (110).
Claim 2
Lin teaches the silicone cup of claim 1, wherein the plurality of concave measurement windows (131,151 to 135,155) include a first column of concave measurement windows (¶0078 one column for oz the other for ml, and as shown in e.g., fig.1) and a second column of concave measurement windows (136,156 to 140,160).
Claim 4
Lin teaches the silicone cup of claim 1, wherein each concave measurement window includes a solid protrusion (151 to 160) formed on a concave surface of the concave measurement window (¶0079).
Claim 5
Lin teaches the silicone cup of claim 1, wherein the body has a cylinder shape (e.g.,¶0072).
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin, US 20210318156 A1.
Claim 3
Lin teaches the silicone cup of claim 1, wherein a center point of each concave measurement window (131,151) is below the exterior surface, but does not specifically teach about 1-2 millimeters. Nevertheless, the specific claimed 1-2 millimeters, absent any criticality, is only considered to be the “optimum” range disclosed by Lin that a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been able to determine using routine experimentation (see In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955)) based, among other things, on the desired effect which is better view and identification, manufacturing costs, etc. (see In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980)), and neither non-obvious nor unexpected results, i.e. results which are different in kind and not in degree from the results of the prior art, will be obtained as long as the 1-2 millimeters is used, as already suggested by Lin .Since the applicant has not established the criticality (see next paragraph) of the 1-2 millimeters stated and since these ranges are in common use in similar devices in the art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to use these values in the device of Lin. Please note that the specification contains no disclosure of either the critical nature of the claimed 1-2 millimeters or any unexpected results arising therefrom. Where patentability is said to be based upon particular chosen dimensions or upon another variable recited in a claim, the applicant must show that the chosen dimensions are critical. In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Henry, US 20090255333 A1
Henry also teaches a cup 100, comprising: a body 110 and a plurality of concave measurement windows 220 provided on an exterior surface of the body 110.
OHYAMA , WO 2007043155 A1
OHYAMA teaches using a cup comprising depressions (12) of different inner volume.
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/FATEMEH ESFANDIARI NIA/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
1 See these citations: transparent measurement scale windows 131-140 (referred to as a first plurality of transparent windows) may extend from the exterior surface 184 of the body 110 to the interior surface of the body 110, which this broadly reads on concave windows ….. Each transparent measurement scale window 131-140 on the front side of the exterior surface 184 of the body 110 may be associated with a corresponding transparent measurement scale window 131′-140′ provided on the interior surface 180. FIG. 4 show the transparent measurement scale windows 131′, 132′, 133′, 134′, 136′, 137′, 138′, and 139′). The transparent measurement scale windows 131′-140′ may be formed in the same manner (e.g., etching) through which the windows 131-140 are formed at the front side of the exterior surface 184 of the body 110.