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 . 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 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.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim objection
Claim 3, line 4 a “,” should be added between “another receptacle” and “ the rim”.
Appropriate action is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 3-6, 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by LUBURIC1, WO2020010327A1.
Claim 1
LUBURIC in e.g., figs. 1-2 teaches:
A receptacle 100 having a base portion 304 and at least one wall extending from and surrounding said base portion 304, said at least one wall terminating in a rim 105, wherein said at least one wall is formed with stepped gradations (104a,104b) between said base portion 304 and said rim 105.
Claim 3
LUBURIC discloses the receptacle of claim 1, LUBURIC in fig. 6 further teaches wherein an abutment surface (160,104,118) is formed extending from a surface of said at least one wall below said rim 105, wherein when said receptacle 101 is stacked with another receptacle 100 the rim 105 of one receptacle 101 abuts the abutment surface(160,104,118 ) thereby providing a clearance (106,160) between the walls of the stacked receptacles 100,101 which prevents the stacked receptacles 100,101 from being wedged together (page 18, L.26 and page 19 L.5).
Claim 4
LUBURIC discloses the receptacle of claim 3, wherein said abutment surface 118, 160,104 is formed as part of an upper one of (page 16 line 29 to page 17 line 2) said stepped gradations 104.
Claim 5
LUBURIC discloses the receptacle of claim 3, wherein said receptacle 100 is provided with a plurality of abutment surfaces (118,160,104).
Claim 6
LUBURIC discloses the receptacle of claim 5, wherein each of said plurality of abutment surfaces 118,160,106 is arranged at a respective corner part of said receptacle 101,100.
Claim 8
LUBURIC discloses the receptacle of claim 1, wherein said receptacle is formed of polypropylene material (page 11, L.21-25).
Claim 9
LUBURIC discloses the receptacle of claim 1, and also teach wherein said receptacle is manufactured by thermoforming (this claim limitation is claiming a product by a process (PBP), and For a PBP claim to be valid and distinct from prior art, the process limitation must impart a unique, structural characteristic to the final product. Simply stating the intended use or a standard process isn't enough if the prior art product has the same structure see MPEP 2113)2.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Henry, US 20090255333 A1.
Claim 1
Henry in figs.1-4 teaches:
A receptacle 100 having a base portion 1(bottom portion 124,120) and at least one wall (260) extending from and surrounding said base portion (120,124), said at least one wall 260 terminating in a rim (280), wherein said at least one wall 260 is formed with stepped gradations (262 to 266) between said base portion and said rim 280.
Claim 2
Henry teaches the receptacle of claim 1, wherein said stepped gradations (262 to 266) are selectively positioned to provide fluid volume indicators (e.g., ¶0033¶0048) for contents of said receptacle 100.
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 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LUBURIC , WO2020010327A1 in view of Pittman , US 6053314 A.
Claim 7
LUBURIC discloses the receptacle of claim 1, but does not teach wherein said receptacle is formed of recycled plastic material.
In the similar field of endeavor, Pittman teaches a receptacle is formed of recycled plastic material (e.g., col.2 L.32-33).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Pittman‘s recycled plastic material for LUBRIC‘s plastic. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to use the advantages of recycling, and based on MPEP 2143 (B), courts have ruled that Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is within the purview of a skilled artisan. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421,82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Huston, US3442435A
Huston in figs. 4-5 and 7 teaches wherein an abutment surface 30 ,46 is formed extending from a surface of said at least one wall 31 below said rim 30 , wherein when said receptacle is stacked with another receptacle the rim of one receptacle abuts the abutment surface 46 thereby providing a clearance between the walls of the stacked receptacles which prevents the stacked receptacles from being wedged together, wherein said receptacle is provided with a plurality (fig.7) of abutment surfaces 46.
Paino, US 20180257686 A1
Paino in figs.7-8 teaches:
wherein an abutment surface 46 is formed extending from a surface of said at least one wall 44 below said rim 48 , wherein when said receptacle 18 is stacked with another receptacle 18 the rim of 48 one receptacle 18 abuts the abutment surface 46 thereby providing a clearance between the walls 44of the stacked receptacles 18 which prevents the stacked receptacles 18 from being wedged together (as seen in fig.8 ¶0092).
Messier , US 8701919 B2.
Messier teaches a receptacle is manufactured by thermoforming (Col.2 L.35-36).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fatemeh E. Nia whose telephone number is (469)295-9187. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
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/FATEMEH ESFANDIARI NIA/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
1 Prior art of record
2 See also Messier , US 8701919 B2 in conclusion.