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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 08/20/2026 has been entered.
Claims 4 and 6 have been cancelled.
Claims 8-20 withdrawn from further consideration as being drawn to a nonelected invention (Group II).
Claims 1-3, 5, 7 and 21 and 22 are presented for examination.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 7 and 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koerner et al. (US 2017/0259486) in view of Shoda et al. (US 2021/0253322) and Weng et al. (US 2003/021267).
In re claim 1: Koerner et al. discloses a container 10, comprising: a body portion comprising: polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material ([0024]); one or more oxygen scavengers interspersed within the PET material ([0031]); and one or more passive oxygen barriers interspersed within the PET material ([0030]), the one or more oxygen scavengers are present at about 0.1 wt% to about 0.25 wt% of the PET material used to construct the body portion of the container 10 ([0031]), and the one or more passive oxygen barriers are present at up to 2.5 wt% of the PET material used to construct the body portion of the container 10 ([0030]) wherein a finish portion of the container comprises one or more passive oxygen barriers ({0022} and fig,3A/B) (see figures 7 and 8 of Koerner et al.).
Koerner et al. discloses the claimed invention as discussed above with the exception of the following claimed limitation that is taught by Shoda et al:
the one or more passive oxygen barriers comprising a polyamide produced from m-xylylenediamine (MXDA), such as nylon-MXD6 (see [0081] of Shoda et al).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill int the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify the passive oxygen barrier of Koerner et al. with one of the passive oxygen barrier material as taught by Shoda et al in order to provide the desired barrier for the item that is being held within the container and increase the bending resistance of the container (see [0081] of Shoda et al).
Koerner et al. in view of Shoda et al: teaches the claimed invention as discussed above with the exception of the following claimed limitation that is taught by Weng et al.:
Weng et al: teaches the provision of similar container wherein, the one or more oxygen scavengers being selected from the group consisting of: ascorbic acid, ascorbic acid salts, isoascorbic acid, tocopherol (vitamins C and E) (see [0012] and [0028] of Weng et al.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill int the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify the interspersed oxygen scavengers within the PET material of Koerner et al. in view of Shoda et al: with the interspersed oxygen scavengers as taught by Weng et al in order to provide the desired barrier for the item that is being held within the container (see [0012] and [0028] of Weng et al.).
In re claim 2: the body portion 10 comprises a sidewall, the sidewall comprising the one or more oxygen scavengers and the one or more passive oxygen barriers interspersed within the PET material (see [0030]-[0031] and figures 7 and 8 of Koerner et al.).
In re claim 3: the one or more oxygen scavengers comprise an organic agent, a metallic agent, an inorganic agent, a polymer-based agent, an enzyme-based agent, or combinations thereof (see at least [0005] of Koerner et al.).
In re claim 5: the one or more passive oxygen barriers comprise nylon-MXD6, polyethylene furanoate (PEF), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyglycolic acid (PGA), polyamide-6 (PA6), polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), or combinations thereof (see [0081] of Shoda et al).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill int the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify Koerner et al. in view of Shoda et al. and Weng et al. for the same reason as discussed above in claim 1.
In re claim 7: the body portion 10 further comprises one or more of a base (bottom most portion) a shoulder (shoulder below 12), a bell (portion that extends from the shoulder to the neck), or a neck (portion with 12 and 14), wherein the one or more oxygen scavengers and the one or more passive oxygen barriers are interspersed within the PET material of one or more of the base, the shoulder, the bell, or the neck (see [0030]-[0031] and figures 7 and 8 of Koerner et al.).
In re claim 21: the neck portion of the body further comprises one or more oxygen scavengers ({0022} and fig,3A/B) (see figures 7 and 8 of Koerner et al.).
In re claim 22: the one or more passive oxygen barriers comprise nylon-MXD6 (see [0081] of Shoda et al).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill int the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify Koerner et al. in view of Shoda et al. and Weng
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the reference combination applied in the prior rejection of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERNESTO A GRANO whose telephone number is (571)270-3927. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00-3:30 EST.
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/ERNESTO A GRANO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3735
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