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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114/ Response to Amendment/Election
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/22/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1 and 3-8 remain pending.
During a telephone conversation with Melissa Schwaller on 4/1/2025 an election was previously made without traverse of Invention I, Claims 1-7. Affirmation of this election was made by applicant in the reply filed 9/8/2025.
Claim 8 is withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/22/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. 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 and 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shavit (US Patent 4,394,936), in view of Posey (US Patent 4,710,157), and in further view of Schneider (US Patent 3,552,087) and Vettorato (US Patent 6,226,964).
Regarding Claim 1, Shavit discloses a method of producing a pouch (1; Figure 1), comprising:
pulling a single continuous sheet of packaging material (band 53; Figure 13 also shown as 21; Figures 6-12);
sealing a cap fitment (socket and collar 7a, 7b; Figures 1-2 and 23a, 23b; Figure 5) to the packaging material (53; abstract; Col 4, lines 53-55; Col 7, lines 48-51 discloses sealing second work piece 59 which is the same fitment as 7 and 23);
folding the packaging material (53) to form a folded edge (formed by center segment 3d (Figure 3) and 21c (Figure 4)), the cap fitment (23a, 23b) positioned on a top surface (of 3d, 21c) of the folded edge (3d, 21c), wherein the top surface is wider than the cap fitment (of 7b, 23b) at a center of the top surface (of 3d, 21c), and wherein the top surface is narrower than the cap fitment (of 7b, 23b) at each of two ends of the top surface (of 3d, 21c a shown; specifically see Figure 3 wherein the flange 7b is clearly wider than the ends of 3d but smaller in width than the center of 3d; folding of the material 53 is carried out as outlined in the abstract as well as Col 6, lines 4-6, 15-20, 52-65, Col 7, lines 51-54);
sealing the folded material (of 53) along a first sealed side (at station 65; Figure 13; forming 3b of Figure 1; Col 7, lines 54-56);
sealing the folded material (of 53) along a second sealed side (at station 65; Figure 13; forming 3b of Figure 1; Col 7, lines 54-56); and
sealing the folded material (of 53) along a third side (at station 69; Col 7, lines 57-61 to form 3c of Figure 1; abstract).
However, Shavit does not readily disclose producing a standing pouch and does not readily disclose the continuous sheet is pulled through a forming collar, wherein the first sealed side, the second sealed side, or the third sealed side is a standing side and the method further comprises:
compressing a first corner of the standing pouch into a first triangular shape;
compressing a second corner of the standing pouch into a second triangular shape, wherein the second corner is adjacent to the first corner; and
folding the first triangular shape and the second triangular shape inward along the standing side to form a base of the standing pouch, wherein vertices of the first triangular shape and the second triangular shape are against the standing side.
First, attention can be brought to Posey which teaches another method of producing pouches which includes attaching a fitment (13; Figure 1) to a continuous sheet material (11) which is pulled through a forming collar (formed by V-shaped member 30 and member 36 of former 12) to form and maintain a tubular shape (Col 4, lines 1-26, 46-49).
Use of forming collars are well known in the art of packaging. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have utilized the forming collar structures taught by Posey in the system/method of Shavit such that the material can be consistently shaped and opposite portions can be brought into a readily aligned relationship as taught by Posey (Col 2, lines 15-25).
Secondly, attention is brought to the teachings of Schneider which includes a method of producing a standing pouch (10b; Figure 14) wherein the method includes:
compressing (via 36 and 38; Figure 12) a first corner (37b; Figure 14) of the standing pouch (10b) into a first triangular shape (Col 5, lines 43-55, 63-70 and Col 6, lines 2-7);
compressing (via 36 and 38; Figure 12) a second corner (37b) of the standing pouch into a second triangular shape (Col 5, lines 43-55, 63-70 and Col 6, lines 2-7), wherein the second corner (37b) is adjacent to the first corner (37b as shown); and
folding the first triangular shape (37b) and the second triangular shape (37b) inward along a standing side to form a base (16) of the standing pouch (10b), wherein vertices of the first triangular shape (37b) and the second triangular shape (37b) are against the standing side (base 16; Col 7, lines 63-72; Figures 14,18-20).
Even further attention can be brought to Vettorato which includes another method for producing a standing pouch (20; Figure 13) wherein a triangular shaped flaps (14; Figures 7-9) are formed and folded against and sealed against a standing side (bottom 16) of the pouch (Col 3, lines 9-22) in order to improve the overall strength of the pouch (Col 3, lines 53-57).
As outlined by Vettorato, it is known to form the triangular shaped flaps and fold such flaps to a bottom of a package to increase the stability thereof (Col 3, lines 53-57). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have further modified the method of Shavit to include a bottom forming and triangular flap forming and folding as taught by Schneider. By modifying Shavit in this manner, a package formed of a thin material can comprise a definite base upon which the package can stand without separate forming or additional materials as outlined by Schneider (Col 2, lines 3-10). Further, it is known that stand up type packaging is more efficient for storage and display purposes.
Regarding Claim 3, Shavit, as modified, specifically Schneider discloses applying heat to the first corner (37b) and the second corner (37b) during compression (via sealing heads 38; Col 5, lines 63-70)
Regarding Claim 4, Shavit, as modified, specifically Schneider discloses applying heat (via sealing head 51) to set the first corner (37b) and the second corner (37b) in place against the standing side (Col 7, line 71 through Col 8, line 3).
Regarding Claim 5, Shavit, as modified, discloses several features of the claimed invention but does not readily disclose applying glue to set the first corner and the second corner against the standing side.
Attention can again be brought to the teachings of Vettorato which include formation of standing pouch (Figures 8-9) wherein corners (14) are formed in a bottom (16) of the pouch and are folded and set in place against the bottom (16) by applying glue (17; Col 3, lines 20-22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have applied glue to set the corners in place against the bottom of the pouch as taught by Vettorato in the method of Shavit. By modifying Shavit in this manner, the corners can be sufficiently attached to the bottom to form a flat bottom. It is noted that use of adhesive/glue and heat sealing are well known alternatives to achieve the same result of sealing/attachment/seam forming of packaging material. See KSR Int’l v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S. Ct. 1727, 1740-41, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007).
Regarding Claim 6, Shavit, as modified, discloses creating a hole (21a; Figures 4 and 7 and see “opening” in Figure 13 as outlined in Col 7, lines 47-48 and Col 5, lines 57-59) in the sheet of packaging material, and sealing a flange (7b, 23b) of the cap fitment (7a, 7b, 23a, 23b) into the hole (21a; Col 5, lines 5-8 via fusing tool 33 in Figure 8; Col 6, lines 45-48).
Regarding Claim 7, Shavit, as modified, discloses the sealing of the flange (7b, 23b) of the cap fitment is accomplished by heat (Col 6, lines 45-48).
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker (US PGPUB 2011/0083402), in view of Shavit (US Patent 4,394,936), and in further view of Schneider (US Patent 3,552,087).
Regarding Claim 1, Walker discloses a method of producing a standing pouch (10; Figure 4) comprising:
pulling a single continuous sheet of packaging material (2; Figure 1) through a forming collar (3; Para. 0016);
sealing a cap fitment (14) to the packaging material (2; Para. 0019; note although Para. 0019 does not explicitly disclose the “fitting 14” being “sealed” it can be readily assumed that the fitting is sealed to the material in order to avoid leakage of the package);
folding the packaging material (2) to form a folded edge (Para. 0042; note several folded edges are formed as depicted in Figure 1 as well as Figure 2),
sealing the folded material (2) along a sealed first side (“sealing an open vertical end or side around a filing tube”; step “44” in Figure 5; Para. 0019);
sealing the folded material (2) along a second sealed side (side with bottom seal 22; Para. 0019; Figure 5-step “46”); and
sealing the folded material (2) along a third sealed side (top seal 12; Para. 0019; Figure 5-step “50”),
wherein the second sealed side (with seal 22) is a standing side (see Figures 2, 4).
However, Walker does not disclose the cap fitment positioned on a top surface of the folded edge, wherein the top surface is wider than the cap fitment at a center of the top surface, and wherein the top surface is narrower than the cap fitment at each of two ends of the top surface.
Further although Walker discloses forming a standing side by gripping and folding bottom corners to form a base (Para. 0019), Walker does not explicitly recite the specific steps of compressing a first corner of the standing pouch into a first triangular shape, compressing a second corner of the standing pouch into a second triangular shape, wherein the second corner is adjacent to the first corner and folding the first triangular shape and the second triangular shape inward along the standing side to form a base of the standing pouch, wherein vertices of the first triangular shape and the second triangular shape are against the standing side.
First, attention is brought to the teachings of Shavit (see previous 103 rejection) which includes a method of producing a pouch (1; Figure 1), comprising pulling a single continuous sheet of packaging material (band 53; Figure 13 also shown as 21; Figures 6-12), sealing a cap fitment (socket and collar 7a, 7b; Figures 1-2 and 23a, 23b; Figure 5) to the packaging material (53; abstract; Col 4, lines 53-55; Col 7, lines 48-51 discloses sealing second work piece 59 which is the same fitment as 7 and 23) and folding the packaging material (53) to form a folded edge (formed by center segment 3d (Figure 3) and 21c (Figure 4)), the cap fitment (23a, 23b) positioned on a top surface (of 3d, 21c) of the folded edge (3d, 21c), wherein the top surface is wider than the cap fitment (of 7b, 23b) at a center of the top surface (of 3d, 21c), and wherein the top surface is narrower than the cap fitment (of 7b, 23b) at each of two ends of the top surface (of 3d, 21c a shown; specifically see Figure 3 wherein the flange 7b is clearly wider than the ends of 3d but smaller in width than the center of 3d; folding of the material 53 is carried out as outlined in the abstract as well as Col 6, lines 4-6, 15-20, 52-65, Col 7, lines 51-54).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have arranged the cap fitment of Walker to be positioned on a top surface of the folded edge (i.e. longitudinal edge of Walker) such that the top surface is wider than the cap fitment at a center of the top surface and narrower than the cap fitment at each of two ends of the top surface as taught by Shavit. By incorporating the cap fitment in the manner as taught by Shavit, the resultant pouch will be compressible to dispense while also comprising sufficient rigidity to prevent the walls from collapsing on each other as taught by Shavit (Col 3, lines 24-30).
Secondly, attention is brought to the teachings of Schneider which includes a method of producing a standing pouch (10b; Figure 14) wherein the method includes:
compressing (via 36 and 38; Figure 12) a first corner (37b; Figure 14) of the standing pouch (10b) into a first triangular shape (Col 5, lines 43-55, 63-70 and Col 6, lines 2-7);
compressing (via 36 and 38; Figure 12) a second corner (37b) of the standing pouch into a second triangular shape (Col 5, lines 43-55, 63-70 and Col 6, lines 2-7), wherein the second corner (37b) is adjacent to the first corner (37b as shown); and
folding the first triangular shape (37b) and the second triangular shape (37b) inward along a standing side to form a base (16) of the standing pouch (10b), wherein vertices of the first triangular shape (37b) and the second triangular shape (37b) are against the standing side (base 16; Col 7, lines 63-72; Figures 14,18-20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have further modified the method of Walker to include a bottom forming and triangular flap forming and folding steps as taught by Schneider to form the bottom/standing side of Walker. By modifying Walker in this manner, a package formed of a thin material can comprise a definite base upon which the package can stand without separate forming or additional materials as outlined by Schneider (Col 2, lines 3-10).
Regarding Claim 3, Walker, as modified, specifically Schneider discloses applying heat to the first corner (37b) and the second corner (37b) during compression (via sealing heads 38; Col 5, lines 63-70)
Regarding Claim 4, Walker, as modified, specifically Schneider discloses applying heat (via sealing head 51) to set the first corner (37b) and the second corner (37b) in place against the standing side (Col 7, line 71 through Col 8, line 3).
Regarding Claim 6, Walker, as modified, specifically Shavit discloses creating a hole (21a; Figures 4 and 7 and see “opening” in Figure 13 as outlined in Col 7, lines 47-48 and Col 5, lines 57-59) in the sheet of packaging material, and sealing a flange (7b, 23b) of the cap fitment (7a, 7b, 23a, 23b) into the hole (21a; Col 5, lines 5-8 via fusing tool 33 in Figure 8; Col 6, lines 45-48).
Regarding Claim 7, Walker, as modified, specifically Shavit discloses the sealing of the flange (7b, 23b) of the cap fitment is accomplished by heat (Col 6, lines 45-48).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker (US PGPUB 2011/0083402), in view of Shavit (US Patent 4,394,936) and Schneider (US Patent 3,552,087), as applied to Claim 1, and in further view of Vettorato (US Patent 6,226,964).
Regarding Claim 5, Walker, as modified, discloses sealing the corners in place against the bottom/standing side of the pouch (10; step “56” in Figure 5 and Para. 0019 disclose “sealing” the corners to the bottom) but does not readily disclose applying glue to set the corners in place against the bottom (20).
Attention can be brought to the teachings of Vettorato which include formation of standing pouch (Figures 8-9) wherein corners (14) are formed in a bottom (16) of the pouch and are folded and set in place against the bottom (16) by applying glue (17; Col 3, lines 20-22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have applied glue to set the corners in place against the bottom of the pouch as taught by Vettorato in the method of Walker. By modifying Walker in this manner, the corners can be sufficiently attached to the bottom to form a flat bottom. It is noted that use of adhesive or glue instead of heat sealing is well known alternative to achieve the same result of attachment/seam forming of packaging material. See KSR Int’l v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S. Ct. 1727, 1740-41, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection relies on a combination of references not previously applied.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. see “Notice of References Cited”.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHUA G KOTIS whose telephone number is (571)270-0165. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 6am-430pm.
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/JOSHUA G KOTIS/Examiner, Art Unit 3731 2/23/2026