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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 9/19/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-14 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Regarding claims 1, 8, no support for installation cavity formed by upper turning portion and connected lower turning portion by embedded groove hinge and detached bottom board and thus it constitutes new matter. It is noted that at best, the disclosure describes installation cavity form formed between the upper turning portion, lower turning portion, bottom board and front side board.
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 1-14 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.
Regarding claim 1, a package state is recited twice, once in the preamble and once again in the body of the claims. It is not clear if they are referring to the same state or to different package states. Furthermore, “the packaging state” lacks antecedent basis and it is unclear if it is referring to the already recited package state or to a different state. Regarding claim 8, the scope of the claims is unclear because the preamble recites a package state of a plastic storage box and the body of the claim recites “the packaged state of the plastic storage box”. It is unclear if these two states are the same and it is further unclear why one is recited conditionally thus rendering the scope of the claims unclear. Furthermore, “the connected lower turning portion”, “the detached bottom board”, “the front side board” lack antecedent basis and it is unclear what they are referring to. In addition, regarding claim 8, it is not clear how the plastic storage box can comprise an installation cavity wherein boards are stacked in the installation cavity because the package state is not a storage box. Regarding claims 9-14, “the plastic state” lacks antecedent basis and it is not clear what applicant is referring to.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(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(s) 1, 3-8, 10-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2022/0297882 to Su.
Regarding claim 1, Su discloses a package state (Fig 3) of a plastic storage box that can have the recited features, the package state comprising an installation cavity (Fig 3a) formed by an upper turning portion (4) and connected lower turning portion (2, Fig 2) by embedded groove hinge (5), a detached bottom board (1), front side board (12), wherein the lower turning portion (2) is installed on a rear side of bottom board (1) via a plurality of sockets (1212, Fig 7) integrally formed on bottom board (1), wherein the front side board (12), rear board (3), left board (2, Fig 3a), right board (3, Fig 3a) are stacked in the installation cavity (Figs 3a-3b).
Regarding claim 3, Su discloses package state of claim 1 and further discloses lateral limiting grooves (202, 302) provided on inner side wall of lower turning portion (2), water resisting strips (201, 301) provided on left board and right board, wherein the stripes are embedded in the limiting grooves in the box packaging state.
Regarding claim 4, Su further discloses pins (222) provided on lower turning portion (2) of the cover board, the pins configured to be inserted into sockets (1212) in the packaging state.
Regarding claim 5, Su further discloses a transverse support rod (53) installed on upper turning portion, a lock (€0128), a water resisting stripe (41), wherein the lock and stripe support the upper turning portion in packaging state.
Regarding claim 6, Su further discloses package state capable of functioning with a vertical partition board (44) as recited since it has the structure as recited.
Regarding claim 7, Su further discloses limiting ribs (1212) protruding provided on inner bottom of bottom board (1), limiting slots (221), where limiting ribs are configured to lock into limiting slots in packaged state (Fig 8a).
Regarding claim 8, as best understood, Su discloses a package state (Fig 3) of a plastic storage box that can have the recited features, during the packaged state, the box can comprise an installation cavity (Figs 3a) formed between the upper turning portion (4) and connected the lower turning portion (2, Fig 2) by embedded groove hinge (5), the detached bottom board (1), the front side board (12), wherein the lower turning portion (2, Fig 2) is installed on detached bottom board via a plurality of integral sockets (1212) formed on bottom board (1), wherein the rear board (3), left board (2, Fig 3a), and right board (3, Fig 3a) are stacked in installation cavity in the storage box packaging state (Figs 3a-3b) since it has the structure as recited.
Regarding claim 10, Su discloses package state of claim 1 and further discloses lateral limiting grooves (202, 302) provided on inner side wall of lower turning portion (2), water resisting strips (201, 301) provided on left board and right board, wherein the stripes are embedded in the limiting grooves in the box packaging state.
Regarding claim 11, Su further discloses pins (222) provided on lower turning portion (2) of the cover board, the pins configured to be inserted into sockets (1212) in the packaging state.
Regarding claim 12, Su further discloses a transverse support rod (53) installed on upper turning portion, a lock (€0128), a water resisting stripe (41), wherein the lock and stripe support the upper turning portion in packaging state.
Regarding claim 13, Su further discloses package state capable of functioning with a vertical partition board (44) as recited since it has the structure as recited.
Regarding claim 14, Su further discloses limiting ribs (1212) protruding provided on inner bottom of bottom board (1), limiting slots (221), where limiting ribs are configured to lock into limiting slots in packaged state (Fig 8a).
Claim(s) 2, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Su in view of US Patent No. 10,000,329 to Knight et al. (Knight).
Regarding claim 2, 9, Su discloses the package state of claims 1, 8 but does not teach stacking of the boards as recited. However, Knight discloses a package state of a storage box (Fig 1) and in particular discloses stacking boards within an installation cavity such that a front board (4) is stacked on a bottom board (3), rear board (5) stacked on the front board (4), left and right boards (6, 7) stacked on front board (4) in packaging state. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to stack the boards of the Su box in the arrangement as suggested by Knight in order to facilitate packaging and transport.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/19/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Initially, it is noted that applicant does not argue the rejection of the dependent claims. Applicant argues that prior art does not teach an embedded hinge groove or lower turning portion installed on detached bottom board via a plurality of sockets integrally formed on bottom board. This is not persuasive because Su discloses an embedded hinge groove (5) and also discloses lower turning portion (2) installed on bottom board (1) via a plurality of integral sockets (121).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT POON whose telephone number is (571)270-7425. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday, 8:30 am to 6:00 pm.
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/ROBERT POON/Examiner, Art Unit 3735
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