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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II (Fig 14, claims 1-8, 12-20) in the reply filed on 1/26/2026 is acknowledged. However, upon further review, claims 1-8 are directed to a non-elected embodiment and is thus hereby WITHDRAWN. Claims 12-20 are examined accordingly.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “pair of notches” in claim 14 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by US 2012/0061409 to Fioritto et al. (Fioritto).
Regarding claim 16, Fioritto discloses a drinking assembly (Fig 1) comprising a cup (22) for holding a beverage, an integral straw (36) extending along a wall of the cup, a lid (24) being connectable to the cup, the lid having a top surface (46), the top surface of the lid defining a cavity (60) extending linearly between a first end (64) and second end (62), the cavity defined by adjacent walls (94), a flexible straw (68) connected to the top surface of the lid in the cavity adjacent the first end (64) of the cavity (60) and connectable to the integral straw (36) for receiving fluid from the integral straw when lid is connected to the cup, the flexible straw (68) bendable between upright position (Fig 2) in which the flexible straw extends generally perpendicular to the top surface (46) and a stored position (Fig 5) in which the flexible straw (68) extends in linear direction of the cavity (60), the cavity (60) defining a narrow portion (at 96) along the flexible straw and a widened portion (at 90) extending away from the narrow portion, wherein the walls of the cavity are closer to one another in the narrow portion than in widened portion (90), wherein the narrow portion prevents kinking of the flexible straw while the flexible straw is in upright position (Fig 2) by squeezing the flexible straw in a lateral direction between the walls of the narrow portion while permitting kinking of the flexible straw while flexible straw is in stored position (Fig 5) since it has the structure as recited.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2012/0061409 to Fioritto et al. (Fioritto) in view of US 2011/0215107 to Lee.
Regarding claim 12, Fioritto discloses a drinking assembly (Fig 1) comprising a cup (22) for holding a beverage, an integral straw (36) extending along a wall of the cup, a lid (24) being connectable to the cup, the lid having a top surface (46), a flexible straw (68) connected to the top surface (46) of the lid and connectable to the integral straw (36) for receiving fluid from integral straw when lid is connected to cup (Fig 6). Fioritto does not teach the integral straw being larger in circumferential direction of the cup than in radial direction. However, Lee discloses a liquid container (Fig 8) with an integral straw (12) and in particular discloses the integral straw (12) larger in circumferential direction than in radial direction (Fig 8). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to change the shape of the Fioritto integral straw such that it was larger in circumferential direction than radial direction as suggested by Lee in order to facilitate dispensing.
Regarding claim 13, the modified Fioritto further discloses the integral straw (12, Lee) having an oval-shaped cross-section.
Claim(s) 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fioritto in view of US Patent No. 6,745,949 to Lee.
Regarding claim 14, Fioritto discloses a drinking assembly (Fig 1) comprising a cup (22) for holding a beverage, a lid (24) being connectable to the cup, the lid having a top surface (46) and bottom surface, an integral straw (36) extending along a wall of the cup between bottom end and top end, a flexible straw (68) connected to the lid and coupled with the integral straw for receiving fluid from the integral straw (Fig 6). Fioritto does not teach the flexible straw defining at least one rib and pair of notches on opposite sides of the rib. However, Lee discloses a drinking assembly (Fig 3) and in particular discloses a flexible straw (20) defining at least one rib (220) along a portion of the flexible straw adjacent the top surface of the lid, the rib extending perpendicularly to a longitudinal direction of the straw, a pair of notches defined on opposite sides of the rib for providing a pivot point for the flexible straw to bend into a stored position in which the flexible straw is kinked to inhibit fluid from passing through the flexible straw (Fig 9). In particular, Lee discloses the straw comprising a bellow structure (220) made of at least one rib and notches on opposite sides of the rib as shown in Fig 9. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to incorporate rib and notches to Fioritto straw as suggested by Lee in order to facilitate bending.
Regarding claim 15, the modified Fioritto further teaches an indent (groove in the bellow 220) defined between adjacent notches.
Claim(s) 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fioretto in view of US Patent No. 11,045,025 to Tseng and US 2003/0052127 to Mazzarolo.
Regarding claim 17, Fioretto discloses a drinking assembly (Fig 1) comprising a cup (22) for holding beverage, an integral straw (36) extending along a wall of the cup, a lid (24) being connectable to the cup (22), the lid (24) having a top surface (46), the top surface (46) of the lid (24) defining a cavity (60) extending linearly between a first (64) and second end (62), the cavity (60) defined by adjacent walls (94), a flexible straw (68) connected to the top surface (46) of the lid in the cavity (60) adjacent the first end (64) of the cavity (60) and connectable to the integral straw (36) for receiving fluid from the integral straw when the lid is connected to the cup (Fig 6), the flexible straw (68) bendable between upright position(Fig 6) in which flexible straw (68) extends generally perpendicularly to the top surface (46) and stored position (Fig 5) in which flexible straw extends in linear direction of the cavity (60). Fioretto does not teach a sipping tab as recited. However, Tseng discloses a drinking assembly (Fig 1) and in particular discloses sipping tab (221) located on top surface of lid (20), the top of the tab (221) in sealed position generally flush with the top surface of the lid, the tab capable of being removed from the opening to an open position to define a sipping opening (22) for a user to sip the cup without use of straw (30). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to incorporate a sip tab and opening to Fioretto as suggested by Tseng in order to have a hot drink opening that requires sipping rather than drinking from a straw (col. 3, ll. 64-67). The modified Fioretto does not teach the tab being pivotable such that it could pivot upwardly and remain attached to the top surface. However, Mazzarolo discloses a container (10) and in particular discloses incorporating a sipping tab (12) located on top surface (26) pivotable between sealed position (Fig 4) and open position (Fig 5) in which tab is pivoted upwardly relative to top surface to define a sipping opening for a user (intended use). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it further obvious to substitute the removable tab of the modified Fioretto with a functionally equivalent pivotable tab as suggested by Mazzarolo in order to keep the tab attached to the lid since it has been held that simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results would have been obvious. In re Fout, 675 F.2d 297, 213 USPQ 532 (CCPA 1982).
Regarding claim 18, the modified Fioretto further teaches sipping tab (221, Tseng) located circumferentially opposite flexible straw (68, Fioretto) on lid since Tseng discloses tab opposite straw body (30, Tseng).
Regarding claim 19, the modified Fioretto further discloses sipping tab (12, Mazzarolo) removable secured to lid (10) with a plurality of perforations (29, 30).
Regarding claim 20, the modified Fioretto further teaches sipping tab (12, Maazarolo) biased toward seal position (col. 2, ll. 55-65, requires lock to keep tab in open position).
Conclusion
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/ROBERT POON/ Examiner, Art Unit 3735