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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 9-20 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9 is vague and indefinite. On line 2, the phrase “assembling, at an away-from-manufacturing location” is unclear. What location constitutes “away-from-manufacturing location”? Note that the claim does not set forth the metes and bounds as to what constitutes “away-from-manufacturing location”.
Claim 20 is vague and indefinite. On line 2, the phrase “at a location away from the manufacturing site of the dispenser kit” is unclear. What constitutes “at a location away from the manufacturing site”? Note that the claim does not set forth the metes and bounds as to what constitutes “at a location away from the manufacturing site of the dispenser kit”.
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) 1-2, 5-8, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sucher (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0214048) in view of Peterson (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050199690) and Shihor (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220380114).
With respect to Claim 1, Sucher, Figures 1-16, teaches a dispenser comprising:
a dispenser support structure (See “suspended hanging bar” in Figures 14-16) configured to attach to a first roll holder configured to hold a first roll having a first sheet count;
a housing (See Figure 8-9) comprising a top side piece, a front side piece and a back side piece, wherein the top side piece, front side piece and back side piece and the dispenser support structure is configured to attach to at least one of the top side piece, front side piece and back side piece;
wherein the housing is configured to accept a second roll having a second sheet count greater than the first sheet count.
Sucher does not mention how the dispenser is assembled.
However, Peterson, Figures 2-5, teaches
wherein the top side piece, front side piece and back side piece are configured to be assembled to form the housing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Sucher the ability to be able to assemble the housing, as taught by Peterson, so that the dispenser may be folded flat for efficient storage when the dispenser is not is use. See Paragraph [0004].
Sucher in view of Peterson do not teach the dispenser being in a kit.
However, Shihor, Paragraphs [0033]-[0034] and [0046]-[0047] teaches
a dispensing package being provided as a dispenser kit.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the dispenser of Sucher in view of Peterson in the form of a dispenser kit, as taught by Shihor, for the purpose ensuring that customers get everything needed to assemble the dispenser together.
With respect to Claim 2, Sucher further teaches a spindle having a first end configured to engage the front side piece when the housing is assembled and a second end configured to engage the back side piece when the housing is assembled, and wherein the spindle is configured to engage a core of the second roll when the roll is in the housing to allow the second roll to rotate about or with the spindle.
With respect to Claim 5, Sucher further teaches wherein the housing comprises cardboard.
With respect to Claim 6, Sucher further teaches wherein the housing comprises a left side piece positioned between first ends of the front and back side pieces and a right side piece positioned between second ends of the front and back side pieces.
With respect to Claim 7, Sucher further teaches wherein at least three of the front side piece, the back side piece, the left side piece and the right side piece are substantially planar.
With respect to Claim 8, Sucher further teaches wherein each of the front side piece, the back side piece, the left side piece and the right side piece are substantially planar.
With respect to Claim 20, Sucher, Figures 1-16, teaches a dispenser comprising:
a dispenser support structure configured to attach to a first roll holder configured to hold a first roll having a first sheet capacity (See “suspended hanging bar” in Figures 14-16);
wherein the housing is configured to attach to the dispenser support structure and hold a second roll having a second sheet capacity greater than the first sheet capacity.
Sucher does not mention how the dispenser is assembled.
However, Peterson, Figures 2-5, teaches
a housing comprising multiple pieces to be assembled into the housing by an end user of the dispenser.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Sucher the ability to be able to assemble the housing, as taught by Peterson, so that the dispenser may be folded flat for efficient storage when the dispenser is not is use. See Paragraph [0004].
Sucher in view of Peterson do not teach the dispenser being in a kit.
However, Shihor, Paragraphs [0033]-[0034] and [0046]-[0047] teaches
a dispensing package being provided as a dispenser kit and being assembled at a location away from the manufacturing site of the dispenser kit.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the dispenser of Sucher in view of Peterson in the form of a dispenser kit, as taught by Shihor, for the purpose ensuring that customers get everything needed to assemble the dispenser together.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sucher in view of Peterson and Shihor as applied to Claims 1-2, 5-8, and 20 above, and further in view of Boone (U.S. Patent No. 4,106,617).
With respect to Claim 3, Sucher in view of Peterson and Shihor are advanced above.
Sucher in view of Peterson and Shihor teach all the elements of the dispenser except for
wherein the first roll holder is configured to hold the first roll in a first orientation and the spindle is configured to hold the second roll in a second orientation transverse to the first orientation.
However, Boone, Figures 1 and 6, teaches that it is known to have a first roll holder 18 is configured to hold the first roll in a first orientation and the spindle is configured to hold the second roll 46 in a second orientation transverse to the first orientation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Sucher in view of Peterson and Shihor with dispensers at different orientations, as taught by Boone, for the purpose of making the dispenser more space efficient.
With respect to Claim 4, Sucher in view of Peterson, Shihor, and Boone do not mention wherein at least 25% of a diameter of the second roll is exposed when the second roll in the second orientation.
However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice, as determined through routine experimentation and optimization, to dimension the exposure of the roll of Sucher as specified in Claim 4 because one of ordinary skill would have been expected to have routinely experimented to determine the optimum dimensions for a particular use.
Claim(s) 9-10 and 13-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sucher (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0214048) in view of Peterson (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050199690) and Shihor (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220380114).
With respect to Claim 9, Sucher, Figures 1-16, teaches a method comprising:
a top side piece, a front side piece and a back side piece to form a housing;
attaching a first end of a flexible dispenser support cord to the top side piece (See Figure 12); attaching a second end of the flexible dispenser support cord to a first roll holder configured to hold a first roll having a first sheet count; and
inserting a second roll, having a second sheet count greater than the first sheet count, into the housing (See Figures 8 and 9).
Sucher does not mention how the dispenser is assembled.
However, Peterson, Figures 2-5, teaches
wherein the top side piece, front side piece and back side piece are configured to be assembled to form the housing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Sucher the ability to be able to assemble the housing, as taught by Peterson, so that the dispenser may be folded flat for efficient storage when the dispenser is not is use. See Paragraph [0004].
Sucher in view of Peterson do not teach the dispenser being in a kit.
However, Shihor, Paragraphs [0033]-[0034] and [0046]-[0047] teaches
a dispensing package being provided as a dispenser kit and being assembled at a location away.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the dispenser of Sucher in view of Peterson assembled at a location away-from-manufacturing location, as taught by Shihor, for the purpose ensuring that customers get everything needed to assemble the dispenser together.
With respect to Claim 10, Sucher further teaches wherein assembling a top side piece, a front side piece and a back side piece to form a housing comprises assembling a left side piece positioned between first ends of the front and back side pieces and a right side piece positioned between second ends of the front and back side pieces.
With respect to Claim 13, Sucher further teaches wherein the housing comprises cardboard.
With respect to Claim 14, Sucher further teaches wherein the housing comprises a left side piece positioned between first ends of the front and back side pieces and a right side piece positioned between second ends of the front and back side pieces.
With respect to Claim 15, Sucher further teaches wherein at least three of the front side piece, the back side piece, the left side piece and the right side piece are substantially planar.
With respect to Claim 16, Sucher further teaches wherein each of the front side piece, the back side piece, the left side piece and the right side piece are substantially planar.
With respect to Claim 17, Peterson further teaches wherein the assembling comprises assembling without tools.
With respect to Claim 18, Sucher further teaches wherein the flexible dispenser support cord is a rope.
With respect to Claim 19, Shihor further teaches wherein the away-from-manufacturing location is a residence or school.
Claim(s) 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sucher in view of Peterson and Shihor as applied to Claims 9-10 and 13-19 above, and further in view of Boone (U.S. Patent No. 4,106,617).
With respect to Claim 11, Sucher in view of Peterson and Shihor are advanced above.
Sucher in view of Peterson and Shihor teach all the elements of the dispenser except for
wherein the first roll holder is configured to hold the first roll in a first orientation and the housing is configured to hold the second roll in a second orientation transverse to the first orientation.
However, Boone, Figures 1 and 6, teaches wherein the first roll holder 18 is configured to hold the first roll in a first orientation and the housing is configured to hold the second roll 46 in a second orientation transverse to the first orientation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Sucher in view of Peterson and Shihor with dispensers at different orientations, as taught by Boone, for the purpose of making the dispenser more space efficient.
With respect to Claim 12, Sucher in view of Peterson, Shihor, and Boone do not mention wherein at least 25% of a diameter of the second roll is exposed when the second roll in the second orientation.
However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice, as determined through routine experimentation and optimization, to dimension the exposure of the roll of Sucher as specified in Claim 12 because one of ordinary skill would have been expected to have routinely experimented to determine the optimum dimensions for a particular use.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM ARAUZ RIVERA whose telephone number is (571)272-6953. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM MDT.
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/WILLIAM A. RIVERA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654