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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1, Claims 1 to 5, in the reply filed on 04/14/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/26/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 1 to 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over George (FR 1169093), in view of Planchard (US 2015/0151508), Binacchi (EP 1705122), Bartolli (US 2011/0071009) and Swoboda (US 2007/0215678).
Regarding Claims 1 to 5:
George discloses a method for manufacturing a compostable pod for products, comprising the following steps:
preparing a first and a second sheet made of biodegradable material; shaping said first sheet such as to make at least a first concave portion; shaping said second sheet such as to make at least a second concave portion (Figure 1 shows two ribbons 2, the lower one will be considered the first sheet and the top one the second sheet, both are shaped into respective first and second concave portions 5: line 5 of the translation provided on the parent case indicates that the sheets can be made of from ribbons of fibrous pulp, paper, paper is considered biodegradable and can be made compostable); filling the first concave portion with a predetermined quantity of product (Figure 1, first concave portion is filled with product 11 from dispensing device 7); joining said first concave portion to said second concave portion so that the respective concavities are opposite one another and define a casing for said product (Figure 1, both portions are joined by closing cylinders 8 and 9 forming a not numbered casing for product 11).
George does not disclose the sheet material being a biodegradable material with gas barrier properties.
Planchard teaches making similar packages for agri-food industry and in particular to the manufacturing of biodegradable molds for products that are to be cooked or heated (paragraphs 0004, 0012, 0060) and that are also resistant to damp conditions after use; the packages are made of a multilayer sheet material made of biodegradable material with gas barrier properties is a composite having a cellulosic component and a biopolymeric or bioplastic component (Paragraph 004, the containers are to be “air-tight” in the presence of moisture, so the material can be considered an air barrier, Paragraph 0010, 0022, multilayer article comprising successively a non-woven layer of fibers comprising at least 50% by weight of at least one biodegradable polymer melting point of which is below 220.degree. C., a layer of food-safe adhesive and a cellulose-fiber based support that comprises a laminate structure of successive kraft paper layer; Paragraphs 0014, 0017, the material comprises biopolymers, for example non-oil-based polymers, such as PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), PH B (poly(hydroxybutyrate)), PHB(V) (poly (hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate)), PBS (poly (butylenesuccinate)), biopolyesters and mixtures thereof).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to George the teachings of Planchard and use the biodegradable material with gas barrier properties made as a composite having a cellulosic component, such as paper, and a biopolymeric or bioplastic component as described to for both the first and the second sheets of material, to make compostable biodegradable packages for a product that is to be heated or cooked, but at the same time are also resistant to damp conditions after use.
George discloses the product being semi-solid materials such as powders, granules, tablets or a paste, but does not specifically mention the product being brewing products.
Binacchi teaches using similar pods also made from two bands of material shaped into first and second concave portions sealed to each other to be filled with a brewing powder (Figure 3, first band 6, second band 17, means 21 for depositing a dose of brewing powder into cavities on the first band).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to George the teachings of Binacchi and use the pods of George to package a brewing product since the use of pods for brewing products is a well-known practice in the art.
George does not disclose that that said shaping steps of the first and of the second sheet envisage: moistening at least a first portion of said first sheet and a second portion of said second sheet before configuring said first and said second portion so as to make said first and said second concave portion; said step of moistening the first and the second portion is carried out by directing at least one steam flow at a predetermined temperature against said first and said second portion being carried out by directing two different steam flows against the two faces of each first or second sheet.
Bartolli teaches a method for forming aseptic containers that includes sterilizing the sheet material by applying steam to both faces of the sheet material from two different steam flows (Paragraph 0046, sterilizing fluid can be steam, Paragraph 0047, numerous sprayers 68 and injectors 67, arranged in different positions above and below the sheet material 2, so as to distribute the sterilizing fluids in a uniform manner in the entire environment 59).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to George the teachings of Bartolli and for sterilizing the sheet material, apply steam from at least two different steam flows against the two faces of each first and second sheet to guarantee uniform distribution of the steam during sterilization.
The modified George discloses that the sheet material is a composite paper material does not disclose drying said first and said second concave portion or if the drying step envisages heating the first and the second concave portion, simultaneously or following said configuration.
Swoboda teaches making a tridimensional container from a composite paper and polymeric material, the blanks are moistened before molding (Paragraph 0108) and the paperboard web is pressed in the press section 62 and dried in the dryer sections 63, (Paragraph 0118, the press includes male and female die surfaces which define the shape and thickness of the container. At least one die surface may be heated so as to maintain a temperature during pressing of the blank in the range of about 200.degree. F. to about 400.degree. F) so, it can be considered that the drying step envisages heating the first and the second concave portion, simultaneously and following said configuration.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to the modified invention of George the teachings of Swoboda and moisten each first and second sheet material before configuring and dry the first and the second concave portion by applying heat, simultaneously or following said configuration since that is a common practice in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. In particular Andersen (US 5385764) teaches similar containers, with the material being preheated before forming and drying during forming on the dies; Witter (US 4533515) teaches sterilizing with steam both faces of a material before forming and drying the formed containers with hot air; Bach (DE 102008050899) teaches a device to moisten with steam both faces of a sheet material; and Cloutier (US 20140349045) teaches a compostable laminated sheet material comprising a bioplastic sealant layer.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDUARDO R FERRERO whose telephone number is (571)272-9946. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-7:00.
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/EDUARDO R FERRERO/Examiner, Art Unit 3731 /ANDREW M TECCO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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