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 .
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Lin et al. (US 20200047949 A1).
As per claim 1, Lin discloses a bucket (10) for chilling bottles (40) with ice-water mixture (42), comprising:
(a) a vessel (11) that comprises a substantially1 upright peripheral wall (see at least fig. 9), a bottom (17, 18, etc.), and an upper opening (15); and
(b) a right stopper (thin portion on the right of 17) and a left stopper (portion of 18) that form part of the bottom of the vessel (see fig. 9);
wherein the right stopper (thin portion to the right of 17) is located between a center (17, per se) of the bottom of the vessel (11) and the right side of the vessel (see fig. 9), and the left stopper (portion of 18) is located between the center (17, per se) of the bottom of the vessel (11) and the left side of the vessel (see fig. 9);
wherein the vessel (11) is designed to receive2 (e.g., by removing or changing the position of 20 and/or 30) a bottle (40) placed in the vessel (11) in a first position (of 40’; see First Annotated Fig. 9 below), a second position (of 40’’; see First Annotated Fig. 9), and a third position (e.g., of 40 as shown in original fig. 9);
wherein when the bottle (with axis represented by line 40’) is in the first position (of First Annotated Fig. 9), a bottom of the bottle (left bottom) is placed between the left stopper (of 18) and the peripheral wall on the left side of the vessel (11), the bottle leans on the right side of the vessel (11) and stands at a first angle (e.g., an angle between the horizontal plane and the longitudinal axis of 40’; see First Annotated fig. 9 below);
wherein when the bottle (with axis represented by line 40’’) is in the second position (see First Annotated fig. 9 below) the bottom of the bottle (40’’) is placed on the left stopper (of 18), the bottle (40’’) leans on the right side of the vessel (11) and stands at a second angle (e.g., an angle between the horizontal plane and the longitudinal axis of 40’’), wherein the second angle is greater than the first angle (i.e., the longitudinal axis of 40’’ is further from the horizontal than 40’);
wherein when the bottle (40) is in the third position (see First Annotated Fig. 9) the bottom of the bottle is placed on the right stopper (the portion to the right of 17), the bottle leans on the right side of the vessel and stands at a third angle (e.g., an angle between the horizontal plane and the longitudinal axis of 40), wherein the third angle is greater than the second angle (evident from at least the First Annotated Fig. 9); and
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First Annotated Fig. 9
wherein the vessel (11) is designed to receive3 at same time (e.g., side by side) a first bottle (40’’) in the second position and a second bottle (40) in the third position (evident from at least the First Annotated Fig. 9).
As per claim 2, Lin discloses a central stopper (concave portion of 17) that form a part of said bottom of said vessel (11), wherein the central stopper is located on said center of said vessel (see at least fig. 9); wherein the vessel (11) is further designed to receive said bottle in a fourth position (see dotted line in Second Annotated Fig. 9 below), in which said bottom of the bottle (represented by the dotted line) is placed on the central stopper (concave portion of 17), the bottle leans on said right side of the vessel (11) and stands at a fourth angle (e.g., an angle between the horizontal plane and the dotted line); wherein the fourth angle (of the dotted line) is greater than said second angle (of 40’’) and smaller than said third angle (of 40); and wherein the vessel (11) is designed to receive4 at same time (e.g., side by side) said first bottle (40’’) in said second position (as shown in the Second Annotated Fig. 9), said second bottle (40) in said third position (id.), and a third bottle in the fourth position (represented by the dotted lines).
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Second Annotated Fig. 9
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIGUEL A DIAZ whose telephone number is (313)446-6587. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jianying C. Atkisson can be reached at (571) 270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MIGUEL A DIAZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
1 The term “substantially” is being construed as “broad” rather than indefinite. See MPEP § 2173.05(b) (III) (D).
2 The manner of operating a device does not differentiate an apparatus claim from the prior art, since apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does. MPEP § 2114 (II).
3 Id.
4 Id.
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