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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 9/15/25 and 4/8/24 have been considered by the examiner. It is noted one of the Foreign Patent Documents on the IDS filed 4/8/24 has been lined through since no English explanation of relevance for that document has been filed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
The various drawings which make up Figures 28B, 32A, 32B, 33A, 33B, 35A, 35B, 36A and 36B should be bracketed (or connected in some other suitable manner) in order to clarify which drawings belong with which Figure upon the printing of the patent.
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 Objections
Claims 1, 2 and 6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In regard to claim 1, on line 4, “a writing body” should be “the writing body” since the writing body has already been defined on line 3 and on line 4, “ink” should be “the ink” since the ink has already been defined on line 2.
In regard to claim 2, on line 4, “container” should be “container body”.
In regard to claim 6, on line 1, it appears “writing body” should be “writing instrument” and it is unclear as to which element the term “it” (see line 3) is referring.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In regard to claim 1, an antecedent basis for “the angle” (see line 9), “the axis of the container body” (see line 9), “the surface of the bottom part” (see line 10), “the axis of the mouth” (see lines 10-11) and “the center” (see line 11) has not been defined.
In regard to claim 2, an antecedent basis for “the spherical diameter” (see lines 2-3), “the opening diameter” (see line 3), “the inside” (see line 4) and “the writing part” (see line 4) has not been defined.
In regard to claim 5, an antecedent basis for “the smallest cross-sectional portion” (see lines 6-7).
In regard to claim 7, an antecedent basis for “the axial direction” (see line 7 and 9-10), “the writing part” (see line 8), “the axial hole” (see line 10), “the top surface” (see line 12-13) and “the other end” (see line 13) has not been defined.
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)(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.
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Guercio (US 2002/0122686).
In regard to claim 1, the Guercio reference discloses a writing instrument comprising:
a container body 12 containing ink 16 for writing (see the abstract);
a writing body 22 arranged to close a mouth 18, 30 of the container body; and
a cap member 20 detachably attached to the mouth and covering the mounting body 22;
thereby enabling writing on a writing surface by allowing the ink in the container body to exude from the writing body;
wherein the container body has a bottom part (defined by the lower surface thereof), a barrel 28, 36 (see Figures 6 and 7) that is continuous with the bottom part and rises upward, and the mouth 18, 30 that is continuous with the barrel and rises obliquely upward; and the angle of intersection between the axis of the container body, which is perpendicular to the surface of the bottom part of the container body and the axis of the mouth passing through the center of the mouth forms an obtuse angle.
In regard to claim 3, the writing body 22 attached as to close the mouth is composed of a flexible foam material (see paragraph 0011, line 12).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guercio in view of Durand (U.S. Patent 4,157,874).
In regard to claim 2, although the Guercio reference does not balls for stirring the ink are accommodated in the container body, as claimed, attention is directed to the Durand reference, which discloses another writing instrument wherein a ball 60 for stirring the ink is accommodated in the container body 12 wherein the diameter of the ball is larger than the opening diameter 30 facing the inside of the container body of the writing part 28 supporting the writing body 42 and attached to a mouth of the container body in order to enable the ink to be properly mixed prior to use. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the Guercio device can include such stirring balls (i.e., the Guercio device can obviously include any suitable number of stirring balls without effecting the overall operation of the device) in the container body wherein the diameter of the stirring balls are larger than the opening diameter facing the inside of the container of the writing part 19 supporting the writing body 22 and attached to the mouth in order to enable the ink to be properly mixed prior to use.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guercio in view of Osada et al. (US 2004/0067093, hereinafter Osada).
In regard to claim 4, although the Guercio reference does not disclose the ink includes titanium oxide, attention is directed to the Osada reference, which discloses another writing instrument wherein the ink includes titanium oxide in order to effectively add pigment to the ink (see paragraph 0036, line 11). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the ink in the Guercio device can include a titanium oxide in order to effectively add pigment to the ink.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guercio in view of Azuma (US 2017/0312174).
In regard to claim 5, although the Guercio reference does not disclose the use of a wrapping sheet, as claimed, attention is directed to the Azuma reference, which discloses another container having a cap wherein a wrapping sheet 1 (see Figures 2 and 4) covers a body 21 and cap 22 wherein the wrapping sheet has a cutting line 15a wherein a portion of the wrapping sheet covering the cap member can be peeled off by the cutting line and the cutting line is formed along the smallest cross-sectional portion of the container body 21 (see Figure 4) between the barrel and the mouth of the container body in parallel to the bottom part of the container body. Such a wrapping sheet enables the container to be sealed prior to a first use (see, for example, paragraphs 0068, 0069). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the Guercio device can include such a wrapping sheet over the container body and cap in order to enable the container to be sealed prior to a first use.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guercio in view of Dean et al. (U.S. Patent 5,685,224, hereinafter Dean).
In regard to claim 6, although the Guercio reference does not disclose the use of an extension writing unit capable of receiving ink from the writing body and detachably attached to the mouth of the container body, attention is directed to the Dean reference, which discloses another writing instrument 5 wherein an extension writing unit 20, 40 is capable of receiving ink from the writing body of the writing instrument 5 and supplying it to a writing surface wherein the extension writing unit is detachably attached to the mouth of the container body of writing instrument 5 in order to enable the ink being dispensed to cover a larger area in a short period of time (see, for example, column 1, lines 26-33). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the Guercio device can include such a detachable extension writing unit in order to enable the ink being dispensed to cover a larger area in a short period of time should a user so need to employ the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The Liu et al. and Sheffler et al. references are cited as being directed to the state of the art as teachings of other fluid dispensing instruments wherein the applicator portion is angle with respect to the body portion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID J WALCZAK whose telephone number is (571)272-4895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30-4:00.
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DJW
9/2/26
/DAVID J WALCZAK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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