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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (Claims 1-16) in the reply filed on 9/19/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 17-20 are withdrawn from consideration.
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.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rusnak et al. (US 2011/0180543).
Regarding claim 13, Rusnak discloses a storage container (See Figs. 1 and 15) comprising: a storage container base (at 104); a storage container lid (at 102), the storage container lid being operably and removably coupled with the storage container base when in an assembled configuration (as shown in Fig. 1); a plurality of venting holes (at 1404 in Fig. 15) present on the storage container lid, each of the plurality of venting holes being adapted and configured to allow air to flow into and out of the storage container in the assembled configuration.
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 1-8 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furlong (US 2010/0176022) in view of Rusnak et al. (US 2011/0180543) and Harris et al. (US 8,955,353).
Regarding claims 1-3, Furlong discloses a storage container (See Fig. 1) comprising: a storage container base (at 22); a storage container lid (at 24), wherein the storage container lid is adapted to couple with the storage container base to create an assembled configuration of a storage container. Furlong discloses the claimed invention except fort the storage container lid having a plurality of venting holes through a lid surface and adapted and configured to allow for air to flow into and out of the storage container and the assembly comprising a tray having a tray interior, and a plurality of storage containers within the tray interior.
Regarding the storage container lid, Rusnak teaches a storage container (See Figs. 1 and 15) comprising: a storage container base (at 104); a storage container lid (at 102), the storage container lid being operably and removably coupled with the storage container base when in an assembled configuration (as shown in Fig. 1); and a plurality of venting holes (at 1404 in Fig. 15) present on the storage container lid, each of the plurality of venting holes being adapted and configured to allow air to flow into and out of the storage container in the assembled configuration, and the storage container lid has a vent slider (at 1410), the vent slider being moveable in a first direction and a second direction to control airflow into and out of the storage container, for the purpose of adjustably controlling ventilation and moisture transmission within the container. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the container lid of Furlong with venting holes as taught by Rusnak in order to controlling ventilation and moisture transmission within the container.
Regarding the tray assembly, Harris teaches a storage container assembly (See Fig. 2) comprising: a tray (at 20) having a tray interior; a plurality of storage containers (at 40/40), plurality of cooling inserts (at 30/30) being removably positioned within the tray interior, and wherein the tray being is adapted and configured configurated to hold the storage containers within the tray interior, for the purpose of storing contents together at a cool temperature. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided storage containers of Furlong-Rusnak within a tray having cooling inserts as taught by Harris in order to conveniently store contents together at a cool temperature.
Regarding claim 4, Harris teaches the tray interior has a first tray interior (below bottom wall of 40 in Fig. 3) and a second tray interior (above bottom wall of 40 in Fig. 3), and wherein the plurality of cooling inserts are removably positioned in the first tray interior.
Regarding claim 5, Furlong discloses a drainage shelf (at 26 – See Fig. 2), the drainage shelf being removably insertable within the storage container base.
Regarding claim 6, Furlong discloses the drainage shelf comprises and rests upon a plurality of drainage shelf legs (at 52).
Regarding claim 7, Furlong discloses each of the plurality of lids are adapted and configured to nest within and stack upon another of the plurality of lids when the storage container assembly is in a disassembled configuration.
Regarding claim 8, Furlong discloses each of the plurality of storage container bases are adapted and configured to nest within and stack upon another of the plurality of storage container bases when the storage container assembly is in a disassembled configuration.
Regarding claim 10, Furlong discloses each of the plurality of storage container bases comprise a at least one surface leg (at 142 in Fig. 2), the at least one surface leg being adapted and configured to space each of the plurality of storage container bases from the tray.
Regarding claim 11, Furlong discloses the at least one surface leg comprises a plurality of surface legs (at 142 on either side of Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 12, The tray of Furlong-Rusnak-Harris is capable of containing at least three storage containers in the assembled configuration.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furlong (US 2010/0176022) in view of Rusnak et al. (US 2011/0180543) and Harris et al. (US 8,955,353) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Clair (US 2022/0106100). As described above, Furlong-Rusnak-Harris discloses the claimed invention except for the sealing mechanism. However, Clair teaches it is well known in the art for a container lid to be coupled to a container base by a sealing mechanism being adapted and configured to facilitate the creation of a vacuum seal between the assembled configuration of the storage container and ambient air, for the purpose of ensuring a sufficient seal within the storage container. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the storage containers of Furlong-Rusnak-Harris with sealing mechanism as taught by Clair in order to ensure a tight seal within the storage containers.
Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furlong (US 2010/0176022) in view of Rusnak et al. (US 2011/0180543).
Regarding claim 13, Furlong discloses a storage container (See Fig. 1) comprising: a storage container base (at 22); a storage container lid (at 24), the storage container lid being operably and removably coupled with the storage container base when in an assembled configuration. Furlong discloses the claimed invention except for the venting holes. However, Rusnak teaches a storage container (See Figs. 1 and 15) comprising: a storage container base (at 104); a storage container lid (at 102), the storage container lid being operably and removably coupled with the storage container base when in an assembled configuration (as shown in Fig. 1); and a plurality of venting holes (at 1404 in Fig. 15) present on the storage container lid, each of the plurality of venting holes being adapted and configured to allow air to flow into and out of the storage container in the assembled configuration, for the purpose of adjustably controlling ventilation and moisture transmission within the container. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the container lid of Furlong with venting holes as taught by Rusnak in order to controlling ventilation and moisture transmission within the container.
Regarding claim 14, Furlong discloses the storage container base further comprises at least one surface leg (at 142 in Fig. 2), the at least one surface leg adapted and configured to space the storage container base from a surface.
Regarding claim 15, Furlong discloses a drainage shelf (at 26 – See Fig. 2), the drainage shelf being removably insertable within the storage container base.
Regarding claim 16, Furlong discloses the drainage shelf comprises and rests upon a plurality of drainage shelf legs (at 52).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN A REYNOLDS whose telephone number is (571)272-9959. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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/STEVEN A. REYNOLDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3735