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
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/29/25 has been entered.
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.
Claim 1 line 13: it is unclear whether “the antenna” is meant to be an entire antenna since “a portion of the antenna” is recited before this line. For examination purposes, it is interpreted as an entire antenna. Clarifications are respectfully requested.
Dependent claim(s) is/are also rejected for inheriting the flaws from the parent claim(s).
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) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Ogata (US 20100051701)
Ogata discloses
12. An RFID container assembly comprising:
a container 10; an antenna 2, 6; an IC chip 3 fixed to a surface of the antenna;
an adhesive layer (i.e. adhesive 340) attaching the surface of the antenna to a surface of the container such that the surface of the antenna to which the IC chip is fixed faces the surface of the container (Fig. 1-9); and
a protective base material 31 covering a region of the antenna at which the IC chip is located (i.e. Fig. 6)
wherein at least a portion of the antenna is not covered by the protective base material (Fig. 6).
13. 12, wherein the protective base material and the antenna are covered with a protective film layer (9, see Fig. 6 when tag is upside down)
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.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over West (US 20170193776) in view of JP784 (JP 4802784 B2) and Atherton (US 20030075608)
Re claim 14.12, Ogata is silent to further comprising: a printed portion formed of a same material as the protective base material, wherein the protective base material and the printed portion have transparency, and the protective base material has transparency such that information printed on a front surface thereof of the printed portion is recognizable from a rear surface side
JP784 discloses In the two-dimensional code with a container 10 according to claim 2, is reversed to the surface of the transparent attached code label 112 by printing a QR code Q, and print an opaque white ink 114 so as to cover the surface of the QR code Q It is. As a result, the transparent container 110 and the transparent code label 112 are transmitted through the transparent container 110 and the transparent code label 112 from the back surface (opposite surface to which the transparent code label 112 printed with the QR code is attached) side, and the front and back surfaces are printed. by imaging the QR code Q inverted, allowing read as QR code Q that is not reversed. At this time, the opaque white ink 114 acts as the background contrast of the QR code Q. On the other hand, the QR code Q cannot be read in a state where the contents are stored in the container 110. In other words, does not read the QR code in a state in which the contents are accommodated, because so QR code can be read in an empty state that have not been accommodated, QR code by mobile phone or the like by a third party prior to purchase of goods It can be prevented from being seen. Further, information unnecessary for the purchaser, such as container collection information, can be hidden before purchase
Atherton discloses a top protective layer and RFDI base layer can be transparent in various embodiments (Fig. 6, 19, 26, 29, 31-34)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of JP784 and Atherton to enable components including tag and/or reversed printed matter to be visible as a design choice.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
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/THIEN T MAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876