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
This is a first action on the merits for this regular application filed on 04/23/2024
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.
Claims 16-23, 25-29, and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Katsumata (US 6,012,267).
Regarding claim 16, Katsumata discloses a container processing system (Fig.1:20) for processing containers, comprising:
at least one component having a surface with a material that can be photoactivated (Fig.3A:66 and 68; col.4, lines 50-65) for the disinfecting of the surface.
Regarding claim 17, Katsumata discloses that at least one of: the material is a photocatalyst material (col.4, lines 50-65) and the material comprises titanium dioxide.
Regarding claim 18, Katsumata discloses at least one of:
the material, when irradiated with light (col.4, lines 50-65), is stimulated to transfer energy to oxygen in the surroundings of the surface, so that singlet oxygen is formed for disinfecting the surface; and
the material, when irradiated with light, forms a singlet oxygen layer for disinfecting the
surface (col.4, lines 50-65).
Regarding claim 19, Katsumata discloses that the at least one component has at least one of a user interface, an operating element, a touch-sensitive display, a keyboard, an emergency-off button, a safety switch, and a door opener (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18).
Regarding claim 20, Katsumata discloses that the surface of the at least one component is a container contact surface for contacting containers during operation of the container processing system (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18).
Regarding claim 21, Katsumata discloses that at least one component comprises: a guide element for guiding the containers (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18).
Regarding claim 22, Katsumata discloses that the guide element
includes one of:
a guide railing, a guide wall, a guide format part adapted to a geometry of the containers
to be processed, and a wear strip of a container guide (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18).
Regarding claim 23, Katsumata discloses that at least one of:
the at least one component comprises a transport element (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18) for transporting the containers;
and
the at least one component comprises a container conveyor (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18) for conveying the containers; and
the at least one component is arranged in a portion of the container processing system
(col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18) between a rinsing device of the container processing system and a filling device of the container processing system.
Regarding claim 25, Katsumata discloses that the at least one component (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18) comprises a container processing device for processing the containers.
Regarding claim 26, Katsumata discloses that the container processing device includes one of:
a heating device for heating preforms for producing the containers;
a container production device (col.4, lines 27-38) for producing the containers;
a coating device for coating the containers;
a rinsing device for rinsing the containers;
a filling device for filling the containers;
a closing device for closing the containers;
an inspection device for inspecting the containers;
a labeling device for labeling the containers;
a printing device for printing on the containers; and
a packaging device for packaging the containers.
Regarding claim 27, Katsumata discloses that the surface is formed by a spray-applied coating having the material (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18).
Regarding claim 28, Katsumata discloses that the photoactivatable material (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18) is mixed into a base material of the at least one component.
Regarding claim 29, Katsumata discloses that the base material includes plastic (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18).
Regarding claim 32, Katsumata discloses a method for treating a container processing system for disinfecting the surface of the at least one component effected by irradiating the material of the surface with light (col.4, lines 50-67 through col.5, lines 1-18).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 24, 30-31, and 33-35 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claims 24, 30-31, and 33-35, the primary reasons for indicating allowable subject matters are the following: the use of a transport starwheel and a linear conveyor; the use of an inspection device, the use of an evaluation device; the steps of requesting and applying a coating; the steps of sensing, elapsing, reaching a predefined number of containers, and elapsing of a predefined amount of time as related to the coating of the surface.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONZER R CHORBAJI whose telephone number is (571)272-1271. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-12:00 and 6:00-9:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jill J Warden can be reached at (571)272-1267. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MONZER R CHORBAJI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
Prosecution Insights