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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/04/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant does not present specific arguments against the prior art references as applied.
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.
Claims 25-29 are 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.
Claim 25 states “A shelving stack comprising…each shelving stack of the plurality of shelving stacks” and it is therefore not clear if one or more than one shelving stack is required. Appropriate correction is required.
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(s) 1-7, 21-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cohen (US 5,964,163) in view of McClure (US 2009/0152335).
Regarding claims 1 and 4 and 24, Cohen (hereafter “D1”) discloses a system (60; embodiment of figures 11-21) for shelf product packaging (col. 1, lines 54-58), storage, and display comprising an unassembled shelf assembly (10; as in figure 19; col. 7, lines 19-25) forming a shelving stack, the shelving stack including a plurality of shelf bodies (shelves 62) and a plurality of poles (rods 72), each shelf body having an upper side, an underside and a peripheral side wall (side wall of short end of 62, i.e. facing left in figure 12A/B), the plurality of shelf bodies being stacked atop one another in a stack such that the side wall of each shelf body is aligned with the side wall of each of the other shelf bodies of the stack of shelf bodies (as in figure 19 short sides are aligned at least in the vertical plane), the stack including at least three shelf bodies, at least two adjacent shelf bodies (taking the top two in figure 19) of the stack of shelf bodies defining a cavity (each shelf body 62 has cavities), the plurality of poles (72) being within the cavity, the shelving stack being an unassembled shelf assembly.
D1 does not disclose the placing or on a pallet the shelf assembly packages/parts.
McClure (hereafter “D2”) teaches the shipping/transport of shelf assembly members (20) stacked in packaged configurations in columns on a pallet (200; in packages 100; [0024]), the packages not extending beyond the perimeter of the pallet (figure 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing date to provide a plurality of the stacked packaged shelf assemblies of D1 on a pallet in columns as taught by D2 for the transportation or shipping of the shelf assemblies.
Regarding claims 2-3, D1 in view of D2 does not specify the pallet size (from D2), though D2 does disclose transport of grocery products ([0015]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date when selecting a pallet for the shelf assembly packages of D1 to select a standard pallet size as determined by at least one of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the benefit of reuse and interchangeability of pallets, and wherein the perimeter includes a (GMA standard) pallet length of 40 inches, and a pallet width of 48 inches.
Regarding claim 5, D1 as modified discloses wherein the shelving stack further includes a shelf end cap (84) (figure 16 – D1).
Regarding claim 6, D1 as modified discloses wherein the shelf components (as at 72) are disposed between top surfaces of one or more pairs of adjacent shelf bodies (figure 19 – D1).
Regarding claim 7, D1 as modified discloses wherein at least one shelf body (62) of the plurality of shelf bodies and at least one shelf component is injection molded and formed using a single piece of material (molded polymer material disclosed – abstract; injection molding process specifically, if not disclosed by D1, is not required in a product-by-process claim).
Regarding claim 21-23, D1 as modified discloses wherein the peripheral side walls (short end walls of each of the shelf bodies are within 1 mm of an adjacent shelf body as in figure 19) of the at least two adjacent shelf bodies (62) of the shelving stack are within 1 millimeter of each other.
Regarding claims 25-28, see the discussions of claims 1-7 above.
Regarding claim 29, D1 as modified discloses stacks of shelf assembly components packaged to take up a minimum amount of space. D1 discloses differing shelf assembly sizes (col. 7, lines 26-34). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to transport 16 shelf assemblies on the pallet, in four stacks of four units thus dividing the pallet into four equal sections, wherein a pallet width of each pallet section is equal to an assembly width of each unassembled shelf assembly and a pallet length of each pallet section is equal to an assembly length of each unassembled shelf assembly for maximum use of pallet area.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 PATRICK D HAWN whose telephone number is (571)270-5320. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at 5712728227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK D HAWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631