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
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 1-13 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.
Regarding claims 1 and 3, the phrase "or the like" (in line 2) renders the claim(s) indefinite because the claim(s) include(s) elements not actually disclosed (those encompassed by "or the like"), thereby rendering the scope of the claim(s) unascertainable. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claims 2 and 4-13 remain rejected under the same grounds for being dependent on claim 1.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 2 comprises recitations regarding how a user might grasp the hollow body with their thumbs and fingers and does not contain any structure that further limits claim 1. Rather, it describes a process of using the cup. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claims 1-5, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brewer (US PN 2,805,808).
Regarding claim 1, Brewer discloses a hollow hand-held storage device (cup, figure 8) for storing items, comprising at least:
a hollow body (figure 8) formed by wrapping a sheet (see figures 1-3) to form like a cylindrical body having a chamber, wherein a cross-section of a central portion of the hollow body is defined as a central plane;
a first end being an opening located at one end of the hollow body and communicating with the chamber (figure 8); and
a second end being a closed end located at the other end of the hollow body (figure 8);
wherein a portion of the hollow body between the first end and the central plane is defined as an upper body (see annotated figure below), a portion of the hollow body between the second end and the central plane is defined as a lower body (see annotated figure below), and the sheet has different thicknesses wherein the two side surfaces of the sheet in the lower body having different thicknesses (see annotated figure below), so that when the central portion or the lower body of the hollow body receives a gripping force, a deformation of the two side surfaces of the lower body having different deformations (because of the varying thickness of the lower body due to overlap of wrapped paper, inherently, the lower body will have different deformation amount).
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Figure 1: Annotated Fig. 8 of Brewer
Regarding claim 2, It is inherent that a user may grasp a cup with his thumb and four fingers and thus apply a grasping force on the hollow body.
Regarding claim 3, Brewer discloses an outer layer, the outer layer being a sheet-like body, and being attached to an outer wall surface of the hollow body by a central portion of the outer layer corresponding to the second end of the hollow body (the paper cup comprises a single sheet of paper wrapped multiple times and thus creates an outer layer in portions of the cup, see figures 1-8).
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Brewer discloses that a cross-sectional area gradually decreases from the first end toward the second end (the cup cross-sectional area gradually decreases from top to bottom, figure 8).
Regarding claims 10 and 11, Brewer discloses that the first end extends outwardly in transverse direction to form an annular rim with an appropriate width around its periphery (see annotated figure above).
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.
Claims 6 and 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brewer in view of Lin (US PG PUB 2013/0001288).
Regarding claims 6 and 7, Brewer teaches that the hollow body is formed by wrapping and bonding a sheet of paper but does not explicitly teach that it is formed by fusion bonding of plastic pellets (injection molding).
Lin teaches manufacturing a paper cup and applying a plastic layer with the paper cup via injection molding to increase the strength of the paper cup (paragraph [0008]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Brewer as taught by Lin by providing a plastic layer injection molded with the paper cup to increase the cup’s strength. Injection molding inherently comprise melting plastic pellets and bonding them together in the mold to form a desired shape and such techniques are common in the art to form dispensers.
Claims 8, 9, 12, and 13 are under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brewer in view of Fritz (US PG PUB 2024/0367867).
Regarding claims 8, 9, 12, and 13, Brewer teaches an annular rim but does not explicitly teach that its central portion comprises an annular protrusion and a lid for covering the first end.
Fritz teaches a paper cup (item 12, figure 1, paragraph [0019])) with a lid (item 10, figure 1, paragraph [0018]) wherein the paper cup comprises an annular rim (item 16, figure 2) at a first open end and a central portion of the annular rim comprises an annular protrusion (top curled portion of rim 16, figure 5) to better mate with the lid for a secure closed paper cup assembly (paragraphs [0020-0023]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Brewer as taught by Fritz to provide an annular protrusion in a central portion of the annular rim of Brewer to attach a paper lid to the rim to form a secure closed assembly as taught by Fritz. Doing so involves merely modifying the paper cup manufacturing process and it is in within the range of one of ordinary skill in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following documents disclose subject matter related to hollow hand-held storage device formed of single sheet of plastic and/or paper: US PN 1,053,272, US PN 2,224,129, US PN 2,316,150, US PG PUB 2018/0214230, US PG PUB 2020/0262615, US PN 10,875,699, US PN 10,899,494.
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/Vishal Pancholi/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754