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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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, 5, 7, and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen (US2021/0259386) in view of Huang (US2021/0078784) and Li (WO2011/072426A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shen discloses a paper cosmetic container (Figures 1-4), comprising:
a box (1) made of paper (“the body 1 and the powder holder 4 are both made of a paper”, refer to Paragraph [0024]) and including a lid (not labeled, refer to cropped and annotated Figure 4, below), a base (not labeled, refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below), a flexible bending member (not labeled, refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below) interconnecting the lid and the base (refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below), and at least one compartment (2), the at least one compartment having a space (not labeled but is the vertical hollow portion of 2, refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below), a first end member (not labeled, refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below) at a first side (not labeled, refer to the cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below), a first opening (23) at a second side (not labeled, refer to the cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4) opposing the first end member (refer to the cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4), and at least one second opening (21) on a top (refer to Shen Figure 4); and
at least one storing member (4) moveably disposed (“drawn out by pulling”, refer to Shen Paragraph [0022]) in the space of the at least one compartment and including a plurality of receptacles (41) corresponding to the at least one second opening respectively (refer to Shen Figure 3 wherein each of the receptacles are accessible via the at least one second opening, thereby corresponding to the at least one second opening).
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Shen does not disclose a support disposed on an inner surface of the base or that the least one compartment is disposed on a top surface of the support or that each of the plurality of receptacles has a corresponding through hole through a bottom thereof, wherein each of the corresponding through holes do not extend through the base.
Huang discloses a similar paper cosmetic container (Figures 1-8) comprising a box (10) that includes a lid (101), a base (103), and a flexible bending member (102) interconnecting the lid and the base (best shown in Figure 2). Huang further discloses an additional piece of paper (14) that serves as a support, disposed on an inner surface of the base (best shown in Figure 2), the flexible bending member and the lid (refer to Figure 2), and a compartment (16) disposed on a top surface of the support (refer to Figure 2; additionally refer to Paragraph [0019]) such that the support provides an additional layer of thickness to the box. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shen’s paper cosmetic box to comprise a support in the form of an additional piece of paper, disposed on an inner surface of the base, lid, and flexible bending member, such that the at least one compartment is disposed on a top surface of the support, as taught by Huang, since such a modification would have involved combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of providing a paper cosmetic container having an additional layer of paper which acts as a support for the at least one compartment, thereby increasing the durability of the container.
The combination of Shen and Huang does not disclose each of the plurality of receptacles has a corresponding through hole through a bottom thereof, wherein each of the corresponding through holes do not extend through the base.
Li discloses a similar cosmetic container (1, Figures 1A-8) comprising a lid (), base (10), at least one compartment (21), at least one storing member (7), movably disposed (“removable tray”, refer to Paragraph [052]) within the at least one compartment, and a plurality of receptacles (14) configured to store a colored cosmetic material therein (refer to Paragraph [069]), where each of the plurality of receptacles have a corresponding through hole (9, best shown in Figure 2B) through a bottom thereof (refer to Figure 2B), wherein each of the corresponding through holes do not extend through the base (refer to Figures 1A, 1D, 4-5, wherein the base is shown to be solid along at least portions that correspond to the through holes of the storing member), where Li’s through holes are provided as a means for “inserting a tool through the hole to eject a cup of a colored cosmetic product located within the repository 14” (refer to Paragraph [069]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the cosmetic container of the combination of Shen and Huang such that each of the plurality of receptacles has a corresponding through hole through a bottom thereof, wherein each of the corresponding through holes do not extend through the base, as taught by Li, since such a modification provides the advantage of providing a means for assisting in ejecting a cosmetic pan stored therein.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 1, as applied above. Shen further discloses wherein the at least one storing member further comprises a tab (41) at a side (refer to Shen Figure 4).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 1, as applied above. Shen further discloses at least one insert (“an aluminum plate or a plastic plate for carrying cosmetic powder is adhered on the powder compartments”, refer to Shen Paragraph [0024]) for containing a cosmetic product (“for carrying cosmetic powder”, refer to Shen Paragraph [0024]), the at least one insert configured to be disposed in the at least one receptacle.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 1, as applied above. Shen further discloses a sheet of packaging paper disposed on a periphery, an inner surface, and an underside of the at least one storing member (Shen discloses that the entire storing member is formed of paper, refer to Paragraph [0024]; sheet is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a rectangular piece of paper”, referring at least to Figure 4, the at least one storing member is depicted as being rectangular and is made of paper, thereby defining a sheet, additionally each of the individual claimed surfaces are depicted as being a rectangular surface and therefore define a sheet; since the storing member is formed of paper, each of the claimed surfaces, as indicated in the cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4 below, are formed of a sheet of paper).
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Regarding claim 10, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 1, as applied above. The combination already discloses a sheet of paper disposed about an entire length of the box, including the base, the lid, and the flexible bending member (Per the modification addressed in claim 1, a support in the form of a sheet of paper was added to the base, the lid, and the flexible bending member). The combination does not thus far disclose that the sheet of paper disposed on the inner surface of the flexible bending member is a separate, additional piece of paper; however, use of a one piece structure or a multi-piece structure would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the paper cosmetic container of the combination of Shen, Huang and Li such that the single sheet of paper forming the support is provided as a separate sheet of paper, one at the base, and one at the inner surface of the flexible bending member, since it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill.
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wang (CN211882653U) and Quehl (US2012/0067942).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 1, as applied above. The combination does not thus far disclose a strap including a first half disposed between a front portion of the base and a front portion of the support, and a second half disposed on the front portion of the lid. Rather, the combination discloses a tab (11, refer to Shen Figure 4) that extends into a slot (22, refer to Shen Figure 4) to retain the lid in a closed state.
Wang discloses a similar paper cosmetic container (Figure 1) comprising a base (21) hingedly coupled (refer to Figure 1; additionally refer to Page 3 of the translation) to a lid (11), the lid configured to receive a slidably removable mirror (14) and the base configured to receive a slidably removable storing member (23) including at least one receptacle (22). Wang further discloses a strap (3) for “binding the top box on the bottom box” (refer to Page 2 of the translation), i.e. the strap is used as a means for fastening the lid to the box to retain the lid and box in a closed state. The strap being disposed at a front portion of the container such that in the closed state, a portion of the strap extends on the front portion (referring to Figure 1, the front portion is that side opposite the hinge) of the lid. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the paper cosmetic container of the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li to comprise a strap for retaining the lid in a closed state wherein a first portion of the strap is disposed on the front portion of the lid, as taught by Wang, since such a modification would have involved simple substitution of one known element (a tab in slot retention means) with another known element (a strap retention means) in order to yield the predictable result of retaining the lid in a closed state thereby preventing any contaminants from soiling the cosmetic material stored within the container. While the combination of Shen, Huang, Li and Wang discloses a strap including a portion disposed on the front portion of the lid during the closed state, the combination does not disclose that a remaining half is disposed between a front portion of the base and a front portion of the support. Rather, the combination is silent on how the lower half of the strap is configured.
Quehl discloses a similar retention means (refer to Figures 14A-14B) for retaining a base (2) and a lid (1) by use of a strap (3). Since Quehl looks to solve the same problem as that of Wang, i.e. both Wang and Quehl are concerned with releasably retaining two components together to maintain a closed position via the use of a strap, Quehl’s invention is analogous art to Wang. Quehl’s device is configured such that half of the strap is disposed between a front portion of the base and a support (referring to Quehl Figure 14A, the lower half/portion is that portion hanging below the base, 2; referring to Quehl Figure 14B, the strap is shown to be disposed between the base and support, 9; additionally refer to Paragraph [0084]) and extends along a groove (2a, refer to Figure 14A; additionally refer to Paragraph [0084]) in the base, and a second half of the strap is disposed on the front portion of the lid (refer to Quehl Figure 1A, wherein half the strap is disposed above and extends across the lid, whereas the remaining half extends along an upper inner surface of the base; it is noted that the Quehl reference is interpreted in light of Applicant’s specification, i.e. Applicant’s specification provides a band, 40, see Figure 3, wherein a first portion is disposed along a top surface of the lid and a second portion, opposite the first portion is disposed along an upper surface of the base. It is noted that the length of the portion of the band that is disposed along the lid is not actually half the band since a vertical portion of the band exists on both opposing sides of the lid, but rather a substantial half of the band is disposed about the lid and a substantially identical length/substantial half is disposed about the base; this configuration is the same as that taught by Quehl). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the paper cosmetic container of the combination of Shen, Huang, Li and Wang, to include a strap including a first half disposed between a front portion of the base and a front portion of the support, along a groove disposed in the base, and a second half disposed on the front portion of the lid when the lid is in the closed position, as taught by Quehl, since such a modification would have involved combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of providing a releasable means for retaining a lid and a base in the closed configuration.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Shen, Huang, Li, Wang, and Quehl discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 2, further comprising a groove disposed in a front portion of the inner surface of the base, the groove being configured to receive the first half of the strap (per the modification addressed in claim 2, the groove, 2a, of Quehl, was incorporated into the base of the combination of Shen, Huang, and Wang as a means for retaining the strap about a surface of the base; thus, the combination teaches all the limitations of claim 3).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Shen, Huang and Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McGrath (US2020/0047965).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 1, as applied above. The combination does not disclose the container further comprising two buttons disposed on an outer surface of the lid and an outer surface of the base respectively, and a strap wound on the buttons. Rather, the combination discloses a flap (11, see Shen Figure 3) on the lid and a corresponding groove (22, see Shen Figure 3) on the base for fastening the lid into a closed position (refer to Shen Paragraph [0020]).
McGrath discloses a paper (refer to Paragraph [0011]) cosmetic (“cosmetic-product package”, refer at least to Paragraph [0011]) container (200, Figures 1-9B) comprising a base (102) and a lid (104), wherein the base comprises a button (106) and the lid also comprises a button (108) and the container further comprises a strap (114) that is wound around the buttons in order to secure the lid to the base to close the container. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the container of the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li such to comprising two buttons disposed on an outer surface of the lid and an outer surface of the base respectively, as taught by McGrath, since such a modification would have involved simple substitution of one known element (a flap and a groove) for another known element (two buttons and a strap wound on the buttons) to obtain the predictable result of securely fastening the lid and base of a cosmetic container to prevent foreign matter from contaminating any cosmetic material stored within the container.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wang et al. (CN211882653U).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 1, as applied above. The combination does not thus far disclose wherein the at least one compartment further comprises two cavities disposed at the first end member and the first opening respectively. Rather, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses only a single cavity.
Wang discloses a similar paper cosmetic container (refer to Figure 1) comprising a base (bottom wall of 21) and a lid (11), a support (top wall of 21 + vertical side walls of 21) disposed on a top surface of the base (refer to Figure 1) and at least one compartment (26) disposed on a top surface of the base (refer to Figure 1), wherein the at least one compartment further comprises two cavities (26) disposed at a first end (left wall of 21) member and a first opening (26 disposed at a right side of 21, refer to Figure 1) respectively. Mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. (MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B)). In the present claim, duplication of the cavity such that two cavities are disposed at the first end member and the first opening respectively does not produce a new and unexpected result. Therefore It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the paper cosmetic container of the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li such that the at least one compartment further comprises two cavities disposed at the first end member and the first opening respectively, as taught by Wang, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Knight (US0489125).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li discloses the paper cosmetic container of claim 1, as applied above. Shen further discloses a mirror (5); and a storage (3) disposed on an inner surface of the lid (refer to Shen Figure 4), the storage including a space (hollow interior of 3, refer to Shen Figures 3-4) for receiving the mirror, a second end member (not labeled, refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below) at a first side (not labeled, refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below), a second opening (32) at a second side (not labeled, refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below) opposing the second end member (refer to cropped and annotated Shen Figure 4, below). The combination does not disclose two recesses at the second end member and the second opening respectively. Rather, the combination provides a mirror storage with a pull tab (51, refer to Shen Figure 4) and without any recess; however, it is common and well-known in the art to provide recesses at the ends of such storages as demonstrated by Knight (refer to Figures 1-3). The storage of Knight has a recess at an opening thereof (refer to Knight Figure 3 wherein a recess is disposed between edges b and c). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the paper cosmetic container of the combination of Shen, Huang, and Li such that a recess is disposed at the second opening, as taught by Knight, since such a modification would have involved simple substitution of one known element (a pull tab) for another known element (a recess) to achieve the predictable result of providing a means for grasping a sliding component from a container. Although Knight does not show an additional recess on the opposite side/second end member, mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. (MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B)). In the present claim, duplication of the recess on the first side/second end member does not produce a new and unexpected result. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include an additional recess on the opposite/first side on the second end member, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art.
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Response to Arguments
Claim Objections
Applicant’s amendments to the claims overcome all previous objections; thus, all previous claim objections are withdrawn.
35 USC 103
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 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.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/SARAH WOODHOUSE/Examiner, Art Unit 3772
/THOMAS C BARRETT/SPE, Art Unit 3799