DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending as amended on 02/04/26,
claims 19-20 being withdrawn.
Election
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Species A in the reply filed on February 4, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 19-20 are withdrawn.
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.
Claims 1-18 are 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Regarding claim 1 (and claims 2-5, 7, 10, 13-16), the repeated use of the phrase "in particular" (also “such as” e.g. claim 10) renders the claim indefinite, because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Claim 1 also recites “at least one bottom part” whereas all subsequent mentions refer to one bottom part (which may be made of two discs); it is believed that “at least one” should be deleted for clarity of scope. Claim 5 also contains the typo “disc an optionally”. With regard to claim 6, a gap is defined as “between an outer edge of the bottom part” and no other object (presumably the side wall). Claims 11 & 13-14 & 17-18 recite limitations such as "the plunger” and “the anvil" and “the constraining ring” and should be rewritten as there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations. All claims should be reviewed for clarity of scope; appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-18 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record does not teach or suggest a method of assembling a container from cellulosic veneers having a side wall and bottom, wherein a fusible connecting element is softened and then compressed by a force normal to the plane of extension of the bottom part, so as to expand the connecting element in a plane in which the bottom part extends to bond the side wall, bottom part, and connecting element together in combination with the other instantly claimed features. This limitation is present in independent claim 1, and thus renders this and all associated dependent claims allowable. The closest prior art teaches alternate ways of sealing the bottoms of containers (US 9,944,038, US 2013/0001287, US 6,264,100, US 4,349,400, US 1,823,102), but not the unique methods of the instant application.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN BLADES whose telephone number is (571)270-7661. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 PST.
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/JOHN BLADES/
Examiner
Art Unit 1746
/PHILIP C TUCKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1745
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