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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 June 15, 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1, 5, 6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Namba (WO 2016/163349 A1) in view of Kasai (JP 11-292158 and Translation) and Yodo (JP 2009-269640 A and Translation).
Regarding claim 1, Namba teaches a zipper-attached packaging bag, comprising:
a bag body (1) in which inner surfaces of a first packaging film and a second packaging film (11A, 11B) overlap each other and peripheral edges (12, 13, 14) of the first and second packaging films are adhered to each other; and
a zipper attached to an inside of the bag body, wherein the zipper includes:
a first zipper tape (21) including a base portion (21A) and a first fitting portion (21B); and
a second zipper tape (22) including a second fitting portion (22B), the second fitting portion being configured to fit the first fitting portion to seal the zipper (Fig. 2),
the first zipper tape is welded to the inner surface of the first packaging film (Fig. 2 and Translation-First Embodiment),
in a state in which the second zipper tape cover the first zipper tape, the second zipper tape has a (second) gap between the second zipper tape and the inner surface of the first packaging film, and a first portion of the second zipper tape, which is located on a first side of the second fitting portion, is welded to the inner surface of the first packaging film (Fig. 2 and Translation-First Embodiment),
wherein an opening of the bag body is formed by tearing part of the first packaging film between a first welded portion and a second welded portion, the first welded portion is formed between the first zipper tape and the inner surface of the first packaging film, and the second welded portion is formed between the first portion of the second zipper tape and the inner surface of the first packaging film (Fig. 2, 3A, 3B and Translation-First Embodiment) (Translation-First Embodiment and Fig. 1-4).
Namba fails to teach two parts of the base portion of the first zipper tape between which the first fitting portion is interposed being provided with a steam-passing section through which steam generated inside the bag body passes, wherein the steam-passing section comprises a pair of rifts positioned on opposite sides of the first fitting portion, each of the pair of rifts linearly penetrating the base portion of the first zipper tape in a thickness direction between the first fitting portion and a respective one of a pair of first welded portions, wherein the first zipper tape has a first gap between the first zipper tape and the inner surface of the first packaging film, wherein during microwave heating, the steam-passing section is opened by pressure of steam generated inside the bag body such that the first gap and the second gap communicate with each other, and wherein the steam-passing section releases steam generated inside the bag body from the opening of the bag body formed after opening the bag body to an outside of the bag body.
Kasai teaches an analogous zipper attached to a packaging bag and comprising a first zipper tape including a base portion (31) and a first fitting portion (33) and a second zipper tape including a second fitting portion (32), wherein the second fitting portion is configured to fit the first fitting portion to seal the zipper (Fig. 4-6). Kasai further teaches that it is known and desirable to configure the zipper and the packaging bag to be microwave oven applicable whereby two parts of the base portion of the first zipper tape between which the first fitting portion is interposed are provided with a steam-passing section (34, 35), wherein the steam-passing section comprises a pair of rifts (34) positioned on opposite sides of the first fitting portion, each of the pair of rifts linearly penetrating the base portion of the first zipper tape in a thickness direction between the first fitting portion and a respective one of a pair of first welded portions (Fig. 4-6), wherein the first zipper tape has a first gap (35) between the first zipper tape and the inner surface of the first packaging film, wherein during microwave heating, the steam-passing section is opened by pressure of steam generated inside the bag body such that the first gap and a second gap between the second zipper tape and an inner surface of a first packaging film communicate with each other, and wherein steam generated inside the packaging bag passes through the steam-passing section and the steam passing section releases the steam generated through an opening formed in the packaging bag (Translation paragraphs 9, 10 and Fig. 4-6).
Accordingly, one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to modify Namba by configuring the zipper and the packaging bag to be microwave oven applicable whereby two parts of the base portion of the first zipper tape between which the first fitting portion is interposed are provided with a steam-passing section, wherein the steam-passing section comprises a pair of rifts positioned on opposite sides of the first fitting portion, each of the pair of rifts linearly penetrating the base portion of the first zipper tape in a thickness direction between the first fitting portion and a respective one of a pair of first welded portions, wherein the first zipper tape has a first gap between the first zipper tape and the inner surface of the first packaging film, wherein during microwave heating, the steam-passing section is opened by pressure of steam generated inside the bag body such that the first gap and the second gap communicate with each other, and wherein steam generated inside the packaging bag is configured to pass through the steam-passing section and be released through the opening formed in the packaging bag, as taught by Kasai, in order to configure the packaging bag for packaging foods and for cooking the packaged foods in the packaging bag.
Namba also fails to teach a second portion of the second zipper tape, which is located on a second side of the second fitting portion opposite to the first side, being welded to the inner surface of the first packaging film through an easy peeling tape peelably adhering the second zipper tape to the inner surface of the first packaging film.
Yodo teaches an analogous packaging bag comprising a bag body having overlapped first and second packaging films including inner surfaces and a zipper attached to an inside of the bag body, wherein the zipper includes a first zipper tape including a base portion (22) and a first fitting portion (32) and a second zipper tape including a second fitting portion (34) configured to fit the first fitting portion to seal the zipper, wherein the first zipper tape is welded to the inner surface of the first packaging film (Fig. 2 and Translation-First Embodiment), and wherein in a state in which the second zipper tape covers the first zipper tape, a first portion of the second zipper tape, which is located on a first side of the second fitting portion, is welded (43) to the inner surface of the first packaging film (Fig. 2 and Translation-First Embodiment). Yodo further teaches that it is known and desirable to configure a second portion of the second zipper tape, which is located on a second side of the second fitting portion opposite to the first side, to be welded (45) to the inner surface of the first packaging film through an easy peeling tape (45a/45b) peelably adhering the second zipper tape to the inner surface of the first packaging film in order to prevent contents of the packaging bag from contacting and/or contaminating the zipper during filling and/or prior to opening (Fig. 4, 5 and Translation-First Embodiment).
Accordingly, one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to modify Namba by configuring a second portion of the second zipper tape, which is located on a second side of the second fitting portion opposite to the first side, to be welded to the inner surface of the first packaging film through an easy peeling tape peelably adhering the second zipper tape to the inner surface of the first packaging film, as taught by Yodo, in order to prevent contents of the packaging bag from contacting and/or contaminating the zipper during filling and/or prior to opening.
Regarding claim 5, Namba as modified by Kasai and Yodo teaches the packaging bag of claim 1 above, wherein the packaging bag further comprises a cut tape (5) attached to the first inner surface of the first packaging film (Namba: Fig. 2), and wherein the opening is formed by pulling a tab (61) provided at one end of the cut tape and tearing the first packaging film along the cut tape (Namba: Translation-First Embodiment and Fig. 2-3B).
Regarding claim 6, Namba as modified by Kasai and Yodo teaches the packaging bag of claim 1 above, wherein a liquid content is stored inside the bag body (Namba: Translation-First Embodiment).
Regarding claim 8, Namba as modified by Kasai and Yodo teaches the packaging bag of claim 1 above, the easy peeling tape is separate from the first packaging film and the second zipper tape (Yodo: Translation “the material of the long base end portion of the second base 24 and the flat surface portion 11 in the easily peelable surface 45 is different or the easy peel surface 45 is configured as an easy peel film to provide easy peelability”).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Namba in view of Kasai and Yodo, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Pawloski et al. (US 8,376,614 B2, hereinafter Pawloski).
Regarding claim 7, Namba as modified by Kasai and Yodo teaches the packaging bag of claim 1 above, but fails to teach a plurality of the steam-passing sections arranged along a longitudinal direction of the first zipper tape. Pawloski teaches an analogous zipper-attached bag having at least one venting aperture (106) and further teaches that it is known in the prior art to provide a greater number of apertures (column 5 lines 43-65).
Accordingly, one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to modify Namba as modified by Kasai by providing a plurality of it steam-passing sections arranged along a longitudinal direction of the first zipper tape, as suggested by Pawloski, in order to distribute the steam-passing sections such that the steam and pressure are more evenly distributed along the first zipper tape and bag.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 15, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s argument that Kasai’s ventilation hole allows gas to passively escape and fails to teach the physical structure of linearly penetrating rifts, is not persuasive.
The claims merely require “rifts linearly penetrating the base portion of the first zipper tape in a thickness direction”. The claims do not require any structure of the rifts specifically that would prevent gas from passively escaping (such as the structure disclosed in paragraph 38 of the instant application). Additionally, the valve film (36) of Kasai prevents gas from passively escaping.
Accordingly, the steam-passing section disclosed by Kasai meets the structure claimed.
Applicant’s argument that Kasai entirely fails to teach that during microwave heating, the steam-passing section is opened by pressure of steam generated inside the bag body such that the first gap and the second gap communicate with each other, is not persuasive.
As noted above, the steam-passing section disclosed by Kasai includes a valve film (36). The valve film is configured to close and prevent gas from passively escaping when pressure inside the bag decreases and is also configured to open by pressure generated inside the bag body when the pressure inside the bag increases such that the first gap and the second gap communicate with each other.
Accordingly, the structure disclosed by Kasai comprises the structure necessary to function as claimed.
Applicant’s argument that Yodo does not teach or suggest the claimed steam-passing section, the gaps or the pressure-release mechanism, is not persuasive.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). Yodo was not intended to teach the argued limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NINA KAY ATTEL whose telephone number is (571)270-3972. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7AM-4PM EST.
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, Nathan Newhouse can be reached at 571-272-4544. 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.
/NINA K ATTEL/ Examiner, Art Unit 3734
/NATHAN J NEWHOUSE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3734
Prosecution Insights