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 .
REJECTIONS WITHDRAWN
All previous rejections have been withdrawn.
REJECTIONS REPEATED
There are no rejections repeated.
NEW REJECTIONS
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 1 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 1 is indefinite because claim 1 recites the limitation, “wherein at least some of the layers within the protective packaging product have different 2D shapes allowing to obtain a final and specific 3D shape of the protective packaging product.” The final and specific 3D shape is not defined and it’s not clear what the relationship between the 2D shapes and the 3D shape are? For purposes of examination, any reference that discloses a packaging material wherein at least some of the layers have different 2D shapes and has any final 3D shape reads on said limitation.
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) 1-6 and 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson et al. (US 6,083,586) in view of Wu et al. (US 5,757418).
Andersen discloses a protective packaging product (see inter alia column 42, lines 31-33), comprising a plurality of stacked layers (see from column 40, line 56 to column 42, line 3; see also column 42, lines 21-31), at least some layers being adhered to an adjacent layer, at least some layers are made of a polysaccharide material (starch, paper, cellophane, see column 41, lines 5-17), and that adjacent polysaccharide layers are adhered to each other by means of a polysaccharide bonding material (see column 41, lines 41-42: vegetable starch-based adhesives).
Andersen also discloses that some layers may be a foamed polysaccharide material (see column 26, lines 4-36), corrugated layers (see figure 7, see column 42, line 4 to 51), and paper layers (column 41, lines 14-15). Andersen also discloses the bonding of the polysaccharide layers by dissolving a surface area of at least one polysaccharide material layer (see column 41, lines 25-31) and wherein at least two of the layers (12) are different in density (since all of the materials disclosed have different densities, column 41, lines 5-17), wherein at least two of the layers (12) have orthotropic properties with an orthotropic axis (22), the layers (12) preferably being arranged such that the orthotropic axis (22) are parallel, at an angle of 45°, or at an angle of 90° (since fiber reinforced composites are disclosed).
Andersen does not disclose wherein at least some of the layers within the protective packaging product have different 2D shapes allowing to obtain a final and specific 3D shape of the protective packaging product.
Wu discloses wherein at least some of the layers within the protective packaging product have different 2D shapes allowing to obtain a final and specific 3D shape of the protective packaging product, since Wu discloses a packaging material wherein at least some of the layers have different 2D shapes and has any final 3D shape (Fig. 1d, column 6, lines 52-63) in a package for the purpose of providing improved shelf life (column 1, lines 10-17).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant’s invention was made to have provided wherein at least some of the layers within the protective packaging product have different 2D shapes allowing to obtain a final and specific 3D shape of the protective packaging product in Andersen in order to provide improved shelf life as taught or suggested by Wu.
Claim(s) 7 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andersen et al. (US 6,083,586) in view of Wu et al. (US 5,757418), as applied to claims 1-6 and 8-10 above, and further in view of Eitermoser et al. (US 2016/0264279).
Modified Andersen does not disclose wherein it comprises at least one solid insert made from wood.
Eitermoser discloses at least one solid insert made from wood (paragraph [0040]) in cardboard food packaging (paragraph [0001]) for the purpose of providing improved stiffening (paragraph [0040]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant’s invention was made to have provided at least one solid insert made from wood in modified Andersen in order to provide improved stiffening as taught or suggested by Eitermoser.
ANSWERS TO APPLICANT’S ARGUMENTS
Applicant’s arguments of 4/2/26 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds for rejection set forth above.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL C MIGGINS whose telephone number is (571)272-1494. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 1-9 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Aaron Austin can be reached at 571-272-8935. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL C MIGGINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1782
MCM
May 3, 2026
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