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 .
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.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 22 April 2026 has been entered.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Loftin (US 8701889).
Regarding claim 17, Loftin discloses, fig. 10 and 14, a folded sleeve (blank of folded sleeve at 610) for containing a plurality of consumer product containers (blisters at 621 contain consumer products), the folded sleeve comprising:
(referencing the blank seen in fig. 10)
a. a first wall 642;
b. a second wall 673 opposite the first wall; and
c. a pair of side walls 641 and 643 opposite each other and connecting the first and second walls, wherein the first wall, the second wall, and the side walls define a sleeve cavity of the folded sleeve configured to (as seen in fig. 11 and 14) slidably receive, retain, and slidably dispense the plurality of consumer product containers, and
wherein one or more of the first or second walls of the folded sleeve comprises a window 646 and one or more pliable tabs 647 associated with the window that protrude partially into the sleeve cavity (col. 11: 25-40) and wherein at least one of said one or more pliable tabs has a surface area that is less than a surface area of the window, fig. 10.
Regarding claim 19, in col. 11: 20-45 and the entirety of col. 12, Loftin discloses a method for assembling a consumer product dispensing system, the method comprising:
providing a sleeve blank comprising a plurality of fold lines that define at least a first wall portion, a second wall portion, and a pair of side wall portions, wherein at least one of the side wall portions is positioned between the first wall portion and the second wall portion;
forming one or more windows in one or more of the first wall portion and the second wall portion of the sleeve blank;
forming one or more pliable tab portions in the sleeve blank, wherein each of the one or more pliable tab portions is associated with one of the one or more windows and has a surface area that is less than a surface area of its associated window; folding the sleeve blank along the plurality of the fold lines to form a folded sleeve configured to dispense one or more consumer products, the sleeve comprising a sleeve cavity defined by a first wall corresponding to the first wall portion, a second wall corresponding to the second wall portion, and a pair of side walls corresponding to the pair of side wall portions;
folding at least one of the one or more pliable tab portions to form one or more pliable tabs that protrude into the sleeve cavity of the folded sleeve; and
inserting a plurality of consumer product containers containing one or more consumer products into the sleeve cavity of the folded sleeve, wherein at least one of the one or more pliable tabs engages at least one of the plurality of consumer product containers.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, and 16-20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loftin (US 8701889) in view of Petricca et al. (US 2011/0139647).
Regarding claims 1, 2, 14, 17-20:
Loftin discloses, fig. 10 and 14, a folded sleeve (blank of folded sleeve at 610) for controlled dispensing of one or more articles from the sleeve (container), col. 1: 37-45, the folded sleeve comprising:
(referencing the blank seen in fig. 10)
a. a first wall 642;
b. a second wall 673 opposite the first wall; and
c. a pair of side walls 641 and 643 opposite each other and connecting the first and second walls, wherein the first wall, the second wall, and the side walls define a sleeve cavity of the folded sleeve configured to (as seen in fig. 11 and 14) slidably receive, retain, and slidably dispense the plurality of consumer product containers, and
wherein one or more of the first or second walls of the folded sleeve comprises a window 646 and one or more pliable tabs 647 associated with the window that protrude partially into the sleeve cavity from wall 642 (first wall, col. 11: 25-40, fig. 14) and at least one pliable tab of the one or more pliable tabs engages a container wall (claim 14) at least one of the plurality of the cartridge containers, (the indexing tab 647, flexes to interfere with the edges of the rows of blisters, fig. col. 11: 25-40, best seen in relation to the container walls in fig. 14 and 2A),
and wherein at least one of said one or more pliable tabs has a surface area that is less than a surface area of the window, fig. 10.
Loftin does not disclose a plurality of shaving razor cartridges in containers, each containing at least one of the plurality of shaving razor cartridges.
Petricca, fig. 3 and 4 teaches a plurality of shaving razor cartridge containers each containing at least one of the plurality of shaving razor cartridges, [0036-0037]. Petricca does not disclose that the containers are held within any point of sale packaging.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Petricca and Loftin to house the plurality of shaving razor cartridge containers each containing at least one of the plurality of shaving razor
cartridges of Petricca within a point of sale dispensing carton with the windows and indexing tab as taught by Loftin in order to present the plurality of razor cartridge containers in a slim sturdy container for convenient dispensing as per the teaching of Loftin, col. 1: 40-50.
Regarding claim 4, Loftin discloses that the sleeve further comprises a second window formed in one or more of the first and second walls, col. 15: 30-35: “the cutout area may comprise more than one opening.”
Regarding claim 8, Loftin discloses that the first wall, the second wall, and the side walls of the sleeve further define at least one end opening (shell outlet 644, fig. 14) configured for at least one of receiving into or dispensing from the sleeve cavity at least one of the plurality of articles that as modified above by Petricca are shaving razor cartridge containers.
Regarding claim 9, although not described in writing, fig. 7A of Loftin discloses a curved finger cutout at the opening of the packaging for permitting access to the containers (in fig. 7A the item slid is a blister card at 520) such that the containers can be accessed and engaged by a finger (reference col. 9: 5-12). The embodiment seen in figs. 10 and 14 do not show a finger cutout. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify any of the embodiments of the folded packaging of Loftin to provide a finger cutout as seen in the embodiment of fig. 7a in order to better grip the package that is to be slid from the sleeve as known in the art.
Regarding claim 13, Loftin further discloses, col. 11:20-55 that the at least one pliable tab 647 is in a first position, the at least one pliable tab is spaced apart from the plurality of shaving razor cartridge containers for receiving the plurality of shaving razor cartridge containers into the sleeve cavity, and wherein when the at least one pliable tab is in a second position, the at least one pliable tab engages the at least one of the containers for retaining the plurality of containers in the sleeve cavity.
The containers of Loftin as modified above house shaving razor cartridges.
Regarding claim 16, Loftin discloses that the sleeve is formed from a single sheet of paperboard col. 10: 39-45.
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loftin and Petricca as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Trauschke (US 4895296).
Regarding claim 7, the references applied above teach all of claim 4, as applied above.
The references applied above do not teach that the first wall of the sleeve comprises the first window and the second wall of the sleeve comprises the second window.
Trauschke is analogous art in regard to sleeve packaging for dispensing a plurality of blister packs, fig. 1 and retaining the blister packs within the sleeve via a plurality of tabs 22. The sleeve taught by Trauschke has a first and second wall (top and bottom) each having open windows, fig. 1 and 2.
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 container of Loftin to have a second window and indexing feature to view both sides in order to view both sides of the packaging retained in the sleeve.
Claim(s) 5, 6, 11, 12, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loftin and Petricca as applied to claims 1 and 4 above, and further in view of Coffin (US 5265759).
Regarding claims 5, 6, 11, 12, and 15, the references applied above teach all of claims 1 and 4, as applied above. The references applied above teach a single compartment for holding shaving razor cartridge containers, not two or more compartments, and no second window with a second tab.
Coffin is analogous art in regard to a dispensing packaging, fig. 2, and teaches a packaging 14 that dispenses a plurality of containers at 12, fig. 5. and has a divider 20 for dispensing two side-by-side rows of containers, col. 5: 60-end.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enlarge the dispenser of Loftin to have a partition in order to have the benefit of dispensing twice the number of containers or for dispensing two different types of razors.
Further regarding claims 5, 6, 11, and 12 the references applied above teach all of claim 4, as applied above. The references applied above do not teach a second window of the sleeve with a second pliable tab. However, as applied above, the sleeve cavity is divided into two compartments. As such, the second row of containers should also be retained and indexed as desired by Loftin.
With this in mind, 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 container of Loftin as modified above to have side-by-side compartments to duplicate the indexing feature on the first wall such that a second window and indexing feature is provided for the second container so that a first one of the shaving razor cartridges is engaged by the first tab/indexing feature and a second one of the shaving razor cartridges in the second column is engaged by the second tab/indexing feature.
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loftin and Petricca as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Beardsley (US 2410923).
Regarding claim 10, the references applied above teach all of claim 8, as applied above. One sleeve end of Loftin is closed.
Beardsley is analogous art in regard to sleeves at 6 housing a plurality of containers at within the sleeve, fig. 2. Both ends of the sleeve of Beardsley are open in order to allow different kinds of items to be dispensed from opposed openings, col. 1: 5-15.
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 sleeve of Loftin to be open at opposite ends in order to dispense one type of item from one end and a second type of items, different from the first, from the other end as per the teaching of Beardsley.
Claim(s) 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loftin and Petricca as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Mundt et al. (US 10696443).
Regarding claim 21, the references applied above teach all of claim 1, as applied above.
The references applied above further teach that the pliable indexing tab 647 is resilient such that it flexes and returns to an original position to index the containers (releasably retain) within the sleeve cavity, col. 11:20-50. However, the extent that the movement of the tab creates a tactile or audible effect is not disclosed by the applied art.
Mundt is analogous art in regard to a sleeve at 106 with a container at 200 held in the sleeve, fig. 1 and teaches a pliable tab 108 configured to flex during the passage of the container that provides an audible and tactile indication of when the container has been moved into or out of the sleeve, col. 6: 36-50.
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 tab of Loftin to be rigid or stiff enough to engage with the containers in order provide a tactile and audible indication of the container’s movement with respect to the sleeve as per the teaching of Mundt.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOLLIE L IMPINK whose telephone number is (571)270-1705. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (7:30-3:30).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Stashick can be reached at (571) 272-4561. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MOLLIE LLEWELLYN IMPINK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3799
/MOLLIE IMPINK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
