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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/10/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Venkatasanthanam et al. (2002/0119292) in view of Goodman (US 1,059,452.
Regrading claim 1, Venkatasanthanam discloses a packaging structure (film construction 90) comprising: a protective film (non-adhesive material 93) comprising:
openings (open areas in non-adhesive material; paragraph [0139]); and a fixing strip (face layer 91) comprising: a bonding layer (adhesive layer 92) disposed on one side of the fixing strip and configured to attach the fixing strip to the protective film corresponding to the openings (Fig. 5); wherein a portion of the fixing strip covers the protective film, and another portion of the fixing strip covers the openings (Fig. 5); wherein the at least one fixing strip (91) is partially attached to the protective film (93), and through the at least one opening, partially attached to a product (Fig. 5A). Moreover, Venkatasanthanam discloses the film construction is formed as a strip or sheet (paragraph [0150]), wherein substantially only the adhesive contacting the lower surface of the face film in the valleys is covered with a non-adhesive material, the size of the valleys is selected to provide coverage by the non-adhesive material of from 40 to 80% of the total area of the adhesive layer, and in one particular embodiment, the valleys are hexagons at 20 per inch providing a coverage of non-adhesive material of from about 50 to about 60% of the total adhesive area (paragraph [0158]). The Venkatasanthanam film construction formed as a strip or sheet with the coverage of the total adhesive area based upon the spacing between the valleys of the face film, as discussed above, meets the recitation “wherein the at least one opening is located at one end of the protective film, and the at least one fixing strip covers the at least one opening and another end of the protective film.” Venkatasanthanam does not disclose the opening as claimed.
Goodman, which is drawn to a package, discloses at least one opening (12) that is a notch on an edge of the protective film at one of two ends. See Fig. 1. Thus, it 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 to have at least one opening of Venkatasanthanam be a notch, as disclosed by Goodman in order to secure the package in a closed position.
Regarding claim 2, Venkatasanthanam discloses a plurality of openings, wherein one fixing strip (91) covers the plurality of openings (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 4, Venkatasanthanam discloses the film construction is formed as a strip or sheet (paragraph [0150]), wherein substantially only the adhesive contacting the lower surface of the face film in the valleys is covered with a non-adhesive material, the size of the valleys is selected to provide coverage by the non-adhesive material of from 40 to 80% of the total area of the adhesive layer, and in one particular embodiment, the valleys are hexagons at 20 per inch providing a coverage of non-adhesive material of from about 50 to about 60% of the total adhesive area (paragraph [0158]). The Venkatasanthanam film construction formed as a strip or sheet with the coverage of the total adhesive area based upon the spacing between the valleys of the face film, as discussed above, encompasses the recitation “wherein a number of the at least one opening is two, the two openings are disposed respectively at two ends of the protective film, and the at least one fixing strip covers the two openings and the protective film.”
Regarding claim 5, Venkatasanthanam discloses the film construction is formed as a strip or sheet (paragraph [0150]), wherein substantially only the adhesive contacting the lower surface of the face film in the valleys is covered with a non-adhesive material, the size of the valleys is selected to provide coverage by the non-adhesive material of from 40 to 80% of the total area of the adhesive layer, and in one particular embodiment, the valleys are hexagons at 20 per inch providing a coverage of non-adhesive material of from about 50 to about 60% of the total adhesive area (paragraph [0158]). The Venkatasanthanam film construction formed as a strip or sheet with the coverage of the total adhesive area based upon the spacing between the valleys of the face film, as discussed above, meets the recitation “wherein a width of the portion of the at least one fixing strip is greater than or equal to 3 mm.”
Regarding claim 8, Venkatasanthanam discloses a packaged product comprising: a product (paragraph [0043]; target 105); and a packaging structure (90) comprising: a protective film (93), configured to wrap the product and comprising:
a plurality of openings (open areas; paragraph [0139]) corresponding to at least one region of the product (Fig. 5A); and a fixing strip (91) comprising: a bonding layer (92) disposed on one side of the fixing strip (Fig. 5) and configured to attach the fixing strip to the protective film (Fig. 5) and the product (105) corresponding to the openings (Fig. 5A); wherein a portion of fixing strip (91) covers the protective film (93), and another portion of the fixing strip (91) covers the openings of the protective film and the at least one region of the product (Fig. 5A); wherein the at least one fixing strip (91) is partially attached to the protective film (93), and through the at least one opening, partially attached to the product (Fig. 5A). Moreover, Venkatasanthanam discloses the film construction is formed as a strip or sheet (paragraph [0150]), wherein substantially only the adhesive contacting the lower surface of the face film in the valleys is covered with a non-adhesive material, the size of the valleys is selected to provide coverage by the non-adhesive material of from 40 to 80% of the total area of the adhesive layer, and in one particular embodiment, the valleys are hexagons at 20 per inch providing a coverage of non-adhesive material of from about 50 to about 60% of the total adhesive area (paragraph [0158]). The Venkatasanthanam film construction formed as a strip or sheet with the coverage of the total adhesive area based upon the spacing between the valleys of the face film, as discussed above, meets the recitation “wherein the at least one opening is located at one end of the protective film, and the at least one fixing strip covers the at least one opening and another end of the protective film.” Venkatasanthanam does not disclose the opening as claimed.
Goodman, which is drawn to a package, discloses at least one opening (12) that is a notch on an edge of the protective film at one of two ends. See Fig. 1. Thus, it 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 to have at least one opening of Venkatasanthanam be a notch, as disclosed by Goodman in order to secure the package in a closed position.
Regarding claim 9, Venkatasanthanam discloses a plurality of openings, the at least one region of the product is plural, wherein one fixing strip (91) covers the plurality of openings and the plurality of regions (Fig. 5A).
Regarding claim 12, Venkatasanthanam discloses the film construction is formed as a strip or sheet (paragraph [0150]), wherein substantially only the adhesive contacting the lower surface of the face film in the valleys is covered with a non-adhesive material, the size of the valleys is selected to provide coverage by the non-adhesive material of from 40 to 80% of the total area of the adhesive layer, and in one particular embodiment, the valleys are hexagons at 20 per inch providing a coverage of non-adhesive material of from about 50 to about 60% of the total adhesive area (paragraph [0158]). The Venkatasanthanam film construction formed as a strip or sheet with the coverage of the total adhesive area based upon the spacing between the valleys of the face film, as discussed above, meets the recitation “wherein a width of the portion of the at least one fixing strip is greater than or equal to 3 mm.”
Second Rejection
Claims 1, 2, 4-9 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nygard et al. (US 5,458,938) in view of Goodman (US 1,059,452).
Regrading claim 1, Nygard discloses a structure (mounting laminate/sheet/strip) comprising: a protective film (masking layer) comprising: openings (13, 23, 33, and 43); and a fixing strip (back layer) comprising: a bonding layer (pressure-sensitive adhesive layer) disposed on one side of the fixing strip and configured to attach the fixing strip to the protective film corresponding to the openings (Figs. 2, 4, 6, and 8); wherein a portion of the fixing strip covers the protective film, and another portion of the fixing strip covers the openings (Fig. 2, 4, 6, and 8); wherein the at least one fixing strip is partially attached to the protective film, and through the at least one opening, partially attached to a product (19; Fig. 3); wherein the at least one opening is located at one end of the protective film, and the at least one fixing strip covers the at least one opening and another end of the protective film (Figs. 1, 4, 5, and 7). Nygard does not disclose the opening as claimed.
Goodman, which is drawn to a package, discloses at least one opening (12) that is a notch on an edge of the protective film at one of two ends. See Fig. 1. Thus, it 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 to have at least one opening of Venkatasanthanam be a notch, as disclosed by Goodman in order to secure the package in a closed position.
Regarding claim 2, Nygard discloses a plurality of openings (13, 23, 33, and 43), wherein one fixing strip (back layer) covers the plurality of openings (Figs. 1, 4, 5, and 7).
Regarding claim 4, Nygard discloses a number of the at least one opening is two, the two openings are disposed respectively at two ends of the protective film, and the at least one fixing strip covers the two openings and the protective film (Figs. 1, 4, 5, and 7).
Regarding claim 5, Nygard discloses an imperforate border portion (12) of the masking layer has a width of at least 13 millimeters (column 3, lines 18-35). The portion of the fixing strip (back layer) covering the imperforate bordering portion (12) of the masking layer in Nygard meets the recitation “wherein a width of the portion of the at least one fixing strip is greater than or equal to 3 mm.”
Regarding claim 6, Nygard discloses discrete openings in the masking layer each have an area generally in the range of 0.316 to 3.88 square centimeters (column 2, lines 57-67 through column 3, lines 1-17). Therefore, the portions of the back layer covering openings in Nygard meet the recitation “wherein an area of the another portion of the at least one fixing strip is greater than or equal to 25 mm2.”
Regarding claim 7, Nygard discloses an imperforate border portion (12) of the masking layer has a width of at least 13 millimeters (column 3, lines 18-35), which meets the recitation “wherein a distance between an edge of the at least one opening and an edge of the protective film is greater than or equal to 3 mm.”
Regarding claim 8, Nygard discloses a packaged product comprising: a product (19); and a packaging structure (mounting laminate/sheet/strip) comprising: a protective film (masking layer), configured to wrap the product and comprising: a plurality of openings (13, 23, 33, and 43) corresponding to at least one region of the product (19; Fig. 3); and a fixing strip (back layer) comprising: a bonding layer (pressure-sensitive adhesive layer) disposed on one side of the fixing strip (Figs. 2, 6, and 8) and configured to attach the fixing strip to the protective film (Figs. 2, 6, and 8) and the product (19) corresponding to the openings (Fig. 3); wherein a portion of fixing strip (back layer) covers the protective film (masking layer), and another portion of the fixing strip (back layer) covers the openings of the protective film and the at least one region of the product (Fig. 3); wherein the at least one fixing strip (back layer) is partially attached to the protective film (masking layer), and through the at least one opening, partially attached to the product (Fig. 3); wherein the at least one opening is located at one end of the protective film, and the at least one fixing strip covers the at least one opening and another end of the protective film (Figs. 1, 4, 5, and 7). Nygard does not disclose the opening as claimed.
Goodman, which is drawn to a package, discloses at least one opening (12) that is a notch on an edge of the protective film at one of two ends. See Fig. 1. Thus, it 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 to have at least one opening of Venkatasanthanam be a notch, as disclosed by Goodman in order to secure the package in a closed position.
Regarding claim 9, Nygard discloses a plurality of openings (13, 23, 33, and 43), wherein one fixing strip (back layer) covers the plurality of openings and the plurality of regions.
Regarding claim 12, Nygard discloses an imperforate border portion (12) of the masking layer has a width of at least 13 millimeters (column 3, lines 18-35). The portion of the fixing strip (back layer) covering the imperforate bordering portion (12) of the masking layer in Nygard meets the recitation “wherein a width of the portion of the at least one fixing strip is greater than or equal to 3 mm.”
Regarding claim 13, Nygard discloses discrete openings in the masking layer each have an area generally in the range of 0.316 to 3.88 square centimeters (column 2, lines 57-67 through column 3, lines 1-17). Therefore, the portions of the back layer covering openings in Nygard meet the recitation “wherein an area of the another portion of the at least one fixing strip is greater than or equal to 25 mm2.”
Regarding claim 14, Nygard discloses an imperforate border portion (12) of the masking layer has a width of at least 13 millimeters (column 3, lines 18-35), which meets the recitation “wherein a distance between an edge of the at least one opening and an edge of the protective film is greater than or equal to 3 mm.”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 15 and 16 are allowable.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEREK J BATTISTI whose telephone number is (571)270-5709. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm M-F.
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/DEREK J BATTISTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734
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