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 .
This action is in response to the documents received on August 14, 2024 and the remarks received on November 25, 2025.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-10 in the reply filed on November 25, 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on November 25, 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "crank arm" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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, 5 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by PETERMAN et al. (US 2018/0244410).
In reference to claims 1 and 5, PETERMAN et al. discloses a dispensing mechanism (figure 1) comprising: a plurality (figure 13) of pick heads 60A, 60B operably coupled to a frame 48 by a lateral movement arm 42 in a lateral movement section (figure 4; paragraph [0039]), the lateral movement section configured to provide lateral movement (paragraph [0039]) to at least one pick head 60; and wherein the pick head 60 comprises at least two arms 64, 66, 68 configured to provide force along two different axes (paragraphs [0037] & [0052-0056]) to a container A.
Regarding claim 2, figure 11 of PETERMAN et al. further discloses the pick head 60 configured to pick-up a container A from a feed transport mechanism 24 and transport the container A into an opened receptacle 32.
With respect to claims 7 and 8, figure 13 of PETERMAN et al. discloses the plurality of pick heads 60A, 60B arranged radially (figure 3) about a hub 46 by a plurality of connector arms 50A, 50B/50, 50’ ; wherein the connector arms are spaced along a rotational axis 51 such that an angle of the connector arms can be equal.
In reference to claim 9, figure 11 of PETERMAN et al. further discloses the dispensing mechanism configured to dispense a container A from either of the plurality of pick heads 60A, 60B into an opened receptacle 32.
Regarding claim 10, figure 11 of PETERMAN et al. further discloses the pick heads 60A, 60B configured to pick-up a container A from a feed transport mechanism 24.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PETERMAN et al. (US 2018/0244410).
With respect to claim 6, figure 2 of PETERMAN et al. discloses the dispensing mechanism comprising a plurality of pickheads configured to respectively transfer containers to case 32, but does not disclose specifically disclose the plurality of pick heads totaling five picking heads. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the dispensing mechanism of PETERMAN et al. to have five picking heads since it has been held that mere duplication of essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art.
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PETERMAN et al. (US 2018/0244410) in view of HUANG et al. (US 7,090458,).
In reference to claims 3 and 4, paragraphs [0038-0040] and figure 4 of PETERMAN et al. discloses the pick head 60 operably (rotably; J3) connected to a joint arm 54 by a connector arm 86; wherein the connector arm 86 is rotably supported by a joint J3 to the joint arm 54 to facilitate rotation of the pick head 60 about the lateral movement arm 42. PETERMAN et al. does not disclose the joint arm 52 as a crank arm.
Figures 3 and 5 of HUANG et al. teach a connector arm 28, 30 of a pick head 14 rotably connected to a crank arm 22, 24 by a crank assembly joint 26. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to modify the joint of PETERMAN et al. to include a crank assembly, thus establishing the joint arm as a crank arm, since column 4 lines 13-27 of HUANG et al. suggest that a crank arm would allow the rotation of the pick head as desired by PETERMAN et al., rendering a crank arm as an art recognized means for rotation of such multi-jointed arm assemblies.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to the attached PTO-892 for a notice of references cited and recommended for consideration based on their disclosure of limitations related to the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GLORIA R WEEKS whose telephone number is (571)272-4473. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-2pm & 5pm-7pm EST.
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/GLORIA R WEEKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
January 7, 2026