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 .
The amendment filed 1/9/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1 through 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 7 both recite that the drainage channels are for “complete lateral drainage of liquid from the container”. However, no support for this new limitation is found in the application as originally filed. The original specification teaches at page 3 “Advantageously, the drainage channels are limited at the bottom by a surface of the base. This makes it possible for example for the liquid to flow almost completely out of the container through the drainage channels on the sides of the container”. Therefore the originally filed application does not support the newly amended limitation of “complete lateral drainage” only partial and/or “almost” complete drainage of liquid, and the limitation cannot be further treated on the merits.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Patent No. 11,713,178 (Beckerman et al. hereinafter).
In re claim 1, with reference to Figs. 4, 5, and 10, Beckerman et al. discloses: A container (10) for storing and transporting objects, comprising: a base (18), which delimits a lower part of the container, and at least one first pair of side walls (15a, 15b) arranged opposite one another and extending upwards from the base, wherein at least the side walls of the first pair of side walls each have drainage channels (“draining openings 50”, paragraph 0044) for lateral drainage of liquid from the container and the drainage channels within the side walls are each separated from one another by partition walls (54a, see Fig. 4), wherein the partition walls, in a cross-sectional plane extending parallel to the base, are inclined at an angle to an upright of the respective side wall, which in the cross-sectional plane is perpendicular to a respective outer surface of the respective side wall (see Figs. 4 and 10), wherein the first pair of side walls comprise a first side wall (15a) and a second side wall (15b), wherein the drainage channels comprise a first drainage channel on the first side wall and a second drainage channel on the second side wall (column 6, lines 15-23), and wherein the drainage channels are configured to prevent a light beam from simultaneously passing through the first drainage channel and the second drainage channel (column 7, lines 5-10).
Please note that the claims are directed to apparatus which must be distinguished from the prior art in term of structure rather function [MPEP 2144]. Hence, the functional limitations “for a lateral draining of liquid” which are narrative in form have not been given any patentable weight. In order to be given patentable weight, a functional recitation must be supported by recitation in the claim of sufficient structure to warrant the presence of the functional language. In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477-78, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431-32 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
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In re claim 2, with reference to the Figs. noted above, Beckerman et al. discloses the claimed invention including wherein the partition walls each have an angle of at least 30 degrees to the respective upright within the cross-sectional plane (see Fig. 10, approx. 45 degree angle).
In re claim 3, with reference to the Figs. noted above, Beckerman et al. discloses the claimed invention including wherein the partition walls each have an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the respective upright within the cross-sectional plane (see fig. 10, approx. 45 degree angle).
In re claim 4, with reference to the Figs. noted above, Beckerman et al. discloses the claimed invention including wherein the first side wall comprises first partition walls and the second side wall comprises second partition walls and within the cross-sectional plane the first partition walls are arranged at a right angle or an acute angle to each other in relation to the second partition walls (See figs. 4 and 5, walls 54a of first side and 54b of second side are approx.. 90 degrees).
In re claim 5, with reference to the Figs. noted above, Beckerman et al. discloses the claimed invention including wherein the first side wall comprises first partition walls and the second side wall comprises second partition walls and within the cross-sectional plane at least the first partition walls have different angles to the upright, which is perpendicular to the outer surface of the first side wall (as in re claim 4 above).
In re claim 6, with reference to the Figs. noted above, Beckerman et al. discloses the claimed invention including wherein the base and the side walls delimit a loading space of the container and ends of the partition wall aligned with the loading space extend partially parallel to the side walls (at joint of 54a with sidewall 15b for example, in Fig. 4).
In re claim 7, with reference to the Figs. noted above, Beckerman et al. discloses the claimed invention including wherein the container has a second pair of side walls arranged opposite one another and extending upwards from the base (15c and 15d), wherein the side walls of the first pair are arranged perpendicular to the side walls of the second pair, and at least one side wall of the second pair has further drainage channels (column 6, lines 8-11) for the lateral drainage of liquid from the container and the further drainage channels are each separated from one another by further partition walls and the further partition walls extend parallel to the partition walls of at least one of the side walls of the first pair [i.e. 45 degrees, when channels are formed identical to that of walls 15a and 15b, except on walls 15c and 15d, as would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in providing the further channels to the second pair of side walls as taught by Beckerman et al. in column 6, lines 8-11: “One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the drainage openings 50 could be defined on other regions of the container 10, including sidewalls 15c, 15d (i.e. the lateral sidewalls)”].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/9/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Beckerman does not teach “complete lateral drainage” from the container via the drainage openings/channels 50. However, as noted above, this limitation is not supported by the application as originally filed. Further, it is noted that the functional limitation “for a lateral draining of liquid” depends upon the amount and location of liquid in the container to determine whether or not lateral drainage can be achieved as well as the relative amount of that draining. For example, liquid only in the cavity/cavities adjacent the drainage channels 50 would be completely drained from the container laterally through the channel.
No further arguments are presented.
Conclusion
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/ANDREW T KIRSCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733