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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/23/2026 has been entered.
Claim 1, 4, 10-11 were amended, claim 3 was canceled. Claims 1-2, 4-12 are pending.
Status Identifiers for Claims
Under 37 C.F.R. 1.121 each amendment document must include status identifiers indicating the current status of each of the claims in the application. Examiner notes that the amendment document filed 1/23/2026 includes an incorrect status identifier for claim 4. While the current amendments have been entered for consideration, all further amendments to the claims must comply with the requirements set forth in 37 C.F.R. 1.121. Future such issues will accordingly result in a notice of non-compliance.
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 7 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.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "wherein the side walls comprise " in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The upper side and lower side are introduced in claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a(1) as being anticipated by Forshee (US 4366905 A).
With respect to claim 1, Forshee discloses a container, comprising: a bottom (19); side walls (14a, 16a, 32) connected to the bottom wall; at least one encoding body (28, far left one on figure 1) that is adapted to project into an encoding body receptacle of another container; at least one encoding body receptacle (30) having an opening that is sized to receive an encoding body of a further container; the at least one encoding body (28) being fastened to an upper side of one of the side walls by a connecting device (38), which is releasable without destruction, and having a projection (34); and the encoding body receptacle (30) being fastened to a lower side of one of the side walls, which lies opposite to the upper side, by a connecting device (40) which is releasable without destruction and at least one encoding body lock (20, 22, 24) configured to block the introduction of the encoding body of the further container, the encoding body lock being fastened to one of the side walls by a connecting device which is releasable without destruction; and the lower side is in a region of a bottom of the container.
Examiner Note: “at least one encoding body lock configured to block the introduction of the encoding body of the further container” is a broad statement and will be read as such. Item 24 of Forshee does not allow for a direct connection of item 28 and can be considered “blocking” the introduction of an encoding body of a further container from the hole that item 24 is in.
PNG
media_image1.png
782
520
media_image1.png
Greyscale
With respect to claim 2, Forshee discloses the container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting device (38) which is releasable without destruction by which the at least one encoding body (28) is fastened or is fastenable to one of the side walls is a first connecting device (38), and the connecting device (40) which is releasable without destruction by which the at least one encoding body receptacle (30) is fastened or is fastenable to one of the side walls is a second connecting device (40).
With respect to claim 4, Forshee discloses the container as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the connecting device (38) for the encoding body or the connecting device (40) for the encoding body receptacle forms a positively locking connection.
Examiner Note: The present applications specification [0013] states “A connecting device which can be released without destruction is understood to mean an arrangement, with the aid of which two components can be connected to one another, the combination of components remaining intact in a temporally unlimited manner without external action, and it being possible for this component combination to be released again by way of a defined external action without damage of the connecting device. A connecting device which can be released without destruction in this way can be non-positive and/or positively locking connections.”
With respect to claim 5, Forshee discloses the container as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the connecting device (38) for the encoding body or the connecting device (40) for the encoding body receptacle forms a non-positive locking connection.
Examiner Note: Specification [0013] states “A connecting device which can be released without destruction is understood to mean an arrangement, with the aid of which two components can be connected to one another, the combination of components remaining intact in a temporally unlimited manner without external action, and it being possible for this component combination to be released again by way of a defined external action without damage of the connecting device. A connecting device which can be released without destruction in this way can be non-positive and/or positively locking connections.”
With respect to claim 6, Forshee discloses the container as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the connecting device (38) for the encoding body or the connecting device for the encoding body receptacle comprises a plug-in connection.
With respect to claim 7, Forshee further discloses the container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side walls comprise a lower side and an upper side (top and bottom of 32) which lies opposite the lower side which in each case is in a region of the bottom, at least one of the at least one encoding body, the at least one encoding body receptacle (30), or the at least one encoding body lock being fastened or being fastenable by the respective connecting device on or to the lower side of a respective one of the side wall.
With respect to claim 8, Forshee further discloses the container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side walls comprise a lower side and an upper side (top and bottom of 32) which lies opposite the lower side which is in a region of the bottom, at least one of the at least one encoding body (28), the at least one encoding body receptacle, or the at least one encoding body lock being fastened or being fastenable by the respective connecting device on or to the upper side of a respective side wall.
With respect to claim 9, Forshee further discloses the container as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the connecting devices for the at least one encoding body (28), the at least one encoding body receptacle (30), or the at least one encoding body lock is actuatable either manually or without tools.
With respect to claim 10, Forshee further discloses the container as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one encoding body, the at least one encoding body receptacle, or the at least one encoding body lock is configured in a different color than at least one of the side walls or the bottom. (This feature would at least be inherent between the encoding body lock, which is a conventional bolt made of metal [col 5 lines 25-45], and the side walls or bottom, which is made of plastic. Being composed of two different materials, such as plastic and metal, would inherently result in different colors)
With respect to claim 11, Forshee discloses an arrangement comprising at least two of the containers as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one encoding body, the at least one encoding body receptacle, or the at least one encoding body lock (20, 22, 24 - item 22, a washer can be considered disk-shaped) includes a disk-shaped element, and the disk-shaped element includes a part of the connecting device is releasable without destruction.
With respect to claim 12, Forshee discloses an arrangement comprising at least two of the containers as claimed in claim 1, the containers being stackable on one another, wherein the at least one encoding body (28) which is fastened to a first one of the containers is introducible exclusively in a single stack position sufficiently far into the at least one encoding body receptacle (40) which is fastened to a second one of the containers in order to stack the containers on one another. (as discussed in abstract)
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The examiner has used the same reference but altered the mapping of the encoding body lock to read on the amended claims.
Applicants amendments to claims 10 and 11 overcome the previous 112b rejection.
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US-4366905-A OR US-5466057-A OR US-7472969-B2 OR US-5647181-A OR US-3874753-A OR US-3754805-A OR US-20210029976-A1 OR US-20180273314-A1 OR US-20240092531-A1 OR US-20220106076-A1 OR US-20140291193-A1 OR US-20170327270-A1 OR US-20160095430-A1
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYMREN K SANGHERA whose telephone number is (571)272-5305. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri.
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, Anthony Stashick can be reached on (571)272-4561. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SYMREN K SANGHERA/Examiner, Art Unit 3735