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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/16/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-12 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaneko (JP2011016577) in view of Lenier et al (9,434,522).
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As to claim 1, Kaneko discloses a drinking straw structure (8) for a liquid food package (1) holding a drinkable food product (content liquid 53), the drinking straw structure (8) comprising: a U-shaped drinking straw (8) comprising a first portion (8a), a second portion (8b) and a bending portion (8c), wherein the first and second portions (8a, 8b) are connected via the bending portion (8c), and a drinking straw wrap (package bag 9) enclosing the U-shaped drinking straw (8), wherein the first and second portions of the U-shaped drinking straw (8) extend substantially parallel along a longitudinal axis (LA) of the drinking straw structure (best seem in Figure 2), the drinking straw wrap (9) comprising: a main seal (sealing portion M) being arranged along a circumference of the drinking straw wrap (9) thereby forming a first unsealed area compartment that holds the straw) of the drinking straw wrap (9). However Kaneko does not specifically disclose an additional a longitudinal seal extending in a longitudinal direction of the drinking straw structure from the main seal at a first edge of the drinking straw wrap along a longitudinal seal length. Nevertheless, Lenier discloses an applicator package (Figure 1), the package comprises a main seal being arranged along a circumferential of the applicator thereby forming a first unsealed area of the applicator compartment (160), the applicator compartment comprise a wider head 160a and narrower portion for the applicator and a longitudinal seal extending in a longitudinal direction of the drinking straw structure from the main seal at a first edge of the container along a longitudinal seal length. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wrapper of Kaneko with additional longitudinal seal below the shorter portion of the straw as taught by Lenier in order to secure the leg of the longer portion of the straw with conforming seal near the longer portion of the straw to prevent movement of the longer portion of the bend straw.
As to claim 2, Kaneko as modified further discloses the drinking straw structure (8) according to wherein the first portion (8a) of the U-shaped drinking straw (8) is longer than the second portion (8b) of the U-shaped drinking straw (8) thereby a distal end of the first portion is arranged further away from the bending portion than a distal end of the second portion (Figures 1 and 2 of Kaneko).
As to claims 3-4, Kaneko as modified does not disclose the longitudinal seal has a longitudinal seal width of 1-3 mm as seen along a transverse axis being transverse to the longitudinal axis and the longitudinal seal has the longitudinal seal length of 10-100 mm as seen along the longitudinal axis. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the package of Kaneko as modified so the longitudinal seal has a longitudinal seal width of 1-3 mm as seen along a transverse axis being transverse to the longitudinal axis and the longitudinal seal has the longitudinal seal length of 10-100 mm as seen along the longitudinal axis because the selection of the specific distance/distance such as the distance as disclosed by Kaneko as modified or as claimed would have been an obvious matter of design choice inasmuch as the resultant structures will work equally well.
As to claim 5, Kaneko as modified further discloses the longitudinal seal length is shorter than a distance between the respective distal ends of the first and second portions of the U-shaped drinking straw seen along the longitudinal axis (Kaneko as modified by Lenier, which the longitudinal seal length is below the shorter portion of the bend straw, which the longitudinal seal length is shorter than a distance between the respective distal ends of the first and second portions of the U-shaped drinking straw seen along the longitudinal axis).
As to claim 6, Kaneko as modified further discloses the drinking straw wrap (9) further comprises a transverse seal (as annotated in Figure 3 above) extending in a transverse direction of the drinking straw structure from the main seal at a second edge (as annotated in Figure 3 above) of the drinking straw wrap (9).
As to claim 7-8, Kaneko as modified does not specifically disclose the transverse seal has a transverse seal width of 1-3 mm as seen along the longitudinal axis and
transverse seal has a transverse seal length of 5-30 mm as seen along the transverse axis. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the package of Kaneko as modified so the transverse seal has a transverse seal width of 1-3 mm as seen along the longitudinal axis and transverse seal has a transverse seal length of 5-30 mm as seen along the transverse axis because the selection of the specific distance/distance such as the distance as disclosed by Kaneko as modified or as claimed would have been an obvious matter of design choice inasmuch as the resultant structures will work equally well.
As to claim 9, Kaneko as modified further discloses the transverse seal extends to the longitudinal seal (as shown in annotated Figure 3 above).
As to claim 10, Kaneko as modified further discloses a portion of the main seal at the first edge of the drinking straw wrap, a portion of the main seal at the second edge of the drinking straw wrap, the longitudinal seal and the transverse seal form a second unsealed area (150) being separate from the first unsealed area (160).
As to claim 11, Kaneko as modified further discloses the U-shape drinking straw (8) is made of synthetic-based material (thermoplastic resin material).
As to claim 12, Kaneko as modified further discloses the U-shape drinking straw wrapper (9) is made of synthetic-based material (resin film 10 and 11).
As to method claim 14, all recited structures of the package are disclosed by Kaneko (JP2011016577) and Lenier et al (9,434,522) as discussed in the rejections of claims 1-12 above. The method of making a drinking straw structure is rendered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art by the obvious method of making the package of Kaneko as modified.
As to claim 15, Kaneko as modified further discloses a liquid food package (1) for holding a liquid food product (milk, juice, liquid Q), the liquid food package (1) comprising: a main body (sidewalls 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 forming a parallelepiped main body) for holding the liquid food product (liquid Q), and a drinking straw structure (8) being attached to an outside surface (5) of the main body (1).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaneko (JP2011016577) in view of Lenier et al (9,434,522), further in view of Imamura et al (JP2009023666).
As to claim 13, Kaneko as modified further discloses all the method step except a sealing roller and an abutment device, by compressing the sealing roller toward the abutment device thereby forming the straw wrapper. Imamura discloses a method for manufacturing ladder straw package, the method comprises to provide an upper film (1) and a lower film (4) having a bulging portion (2) which the straw 3 is accommodated, and the upper film (1) and the lower film (4) are sealed around the straw (3), the horizontal seal portions (5) are provided on both sides of the straw (3), the vertical seal portion (6) is provided on the drinking mouth side of the straw (3), and the vertical seal portion (7) is provided on the tip piercing side tip of the straw (3), a sealing roller (9) and an abutment device (10) , by compressing the sealing roller toward the abutment device thereby forming the straw wrapper. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wrapper of Kaneko as modified with method including roller sealing device and abutment surface as taught by Imamura in order to provide a manufacturing process of rolling seal to increase the production of the package straw.
Conclusion
Examiner has cited particular paragraphs and/or columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested of the applicant, in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or prior art(s) disclosed by the Examiner (in the attached PTO-892 form).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUN HOI CHEUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-5702. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 9AM-5:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Orlando E Aviles can be reached at (571)270-5531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHUN HOI CHEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736