DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application
Applicant’s arguments filed on May 4, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Claim 1 has been amended. Claims 1-15 remain pending in the application with claims 2-9 and 13-15 being withdrawn from consideration.
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 § 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.
Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tuszkiewicz (WO 2017/142528 A1) in view of Burrow (GB 942080 A) and Bullivant (EP 3 919 595 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Tuszkiewicz teaches a consumer product comprising a container and a product contained therein, the container comprising:
a base (38, 73, 28, 71);
a plurality of sidewalls (35, 66, 25, 65) among which a first sidewall (35) and a second sidewall (25) opposite the first sidewall, the first and the second sidewalls having a respective top edge (40, 30); and
a cover comprising:
a lower flap (37) connected to the top edge of the first sidewall, the lower flap being provided with a tab receptor (55); and
an upper flap (27) connected to the top edge of the second sidewall, the upper flap comprising a tab (50) repeatably engageable into, and repeatably releasable from, the tab receptor (paragraphs 16-21 and FIG. 1, 2).
Tuszkiewicz fails to specifically teach the product being a detergent lying in direct contact with the plurality of sidewalls, wherein said detergent product comprises a water soluble fibrous non-woven sheet in a form of a sealed internal compartment, wherein said sealed internal compartment contains a granular laundry detergent. Burrow teaches an analogous consumer product comprising a container and a product contained therein and further teaches that analogous containers are known in the prior art to contain foodstuffs, detergents and like consumable household products (page 2 lines 95-105 and Fig. 1). Bullivant teaches an analogous detergent product and further teaches that analogous detergent products are known in the prior art to include a water soluble fibrous non-woven sheet in a form of a sealed internal compartment, wherein said sealed internal compartment contains a granular laundry detergent (paragraphs 10-142).
Accordingly, one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to modify Tuszkiewicz by alternatively providing a detergent product in direct contact with the plurality of sidewalls, as taught by Burrow, wherein the detergent product comprises a water soluble fibrous non-woven sheet in a form of a sealed internal compartment and said sealed internal compartment contains a granular laundry detergent, as taught by Bullivant, as it has been shown in the prior art to be a common and well-known alternative consumer container product and as providing an alternative and well-known consumer container product would have been obvious and would have yielded predictable results to one skilled in the art.
Regarding claim 10, Tuszkiewicz as modified by Burrow and Bullivant teaches the consumer product of claim 1 above, wherein the tab has a curved convex distal edge, and wherein the tab receptor comprises a curved slit formed in the lower flap, the curved slit separating a convex edge of the lower flap from a concave edge of the lower flap, wherein the concave edge lies below the tab and the convex edge of the lower flap lies above the tab as the tab is engaged in the slit (Tuszkiewicz: Fig. 1, 2).
Claims 1, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cartorhin (FR 1 419 392 A) in view of Burrow and Bullivant.
Regarding claim 1, Cartorhin teaches a consumer product comprising a container, the container comprising:
a base (Fig. 1-8);
a plurality of sidewalls (a) among which a first sidewall and a second sidewall opposite the first sidewall, the first and the second sidewalls having a respective top edge (Fig. 1-8); and
a cover comprising:
a lower flap (e) connected to the top edge of the first sidewall, the lower flap being provided with a tab receptor (g); and
an upper flap (d) connected to the top edge of the second sidewall, the upper flap comprising a tab (f) repeatably engageable into, and repeatably releasable from, the tab receptor (translations and Fig. 1-8).
Cartorhin fails to teach the consumer product comprising a detergent product contained in direct contact with the plurality of sidewalls, wherein said detergent product comprises a water soluble fibrous non-woven sheet in a form of a sealed internal compartment, wherein said sealed internal compartment contains a granular laundry detergent. Burrow teaches an analogous consumer product comprising a container and further teaches that analogous containers are known in the prior art to contain foodstuffs, detergents and like consumable household products (page 2 lines 95-105 and Fig. 1). Bullivant teaches an analogous detergent product and further teaches that analogous detergent products are known in the prior art to include a water soluble fibrous non-woven sheet in a form of a sealed internal compartment, wherein said sealed internal compartment contains a granular laundry detergent (paragraphs 10-142).
Accordingly, one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to modify Cartorhin by providing a detergent product in direct contact with the plurality of sidewalls, as taught by Burrow, wherein the detergent product comprises a water soluble fibrous non-woven sheet in a form of a sealed internal compartment and said sealed internal compartment contains a granular laundry detergent, as taught by Bullivant, as analogous containers are well-known in the prior art to contain consumer products such as detergents and thus, providing the container with a well-known consumer product and a well-known detergent product would have been obvious and would have yielded predictable results to one skilled in the art.
Regarding claim 11, Cartorhin as modified by Burrow and Bullivant teaches the consumer product of claim 1 above and further teaches a method of operating the consumer product of claim 1, comprising closing the container by pushing down the upper flap until the tab engages the tab receptor so as to prevent access to the detergent product (Cartorhin: translation-“the closure is ensured by a tab provided on one of the flaps, while the opposite flap has a t-shaped incision in such a way that it is sufficient to superimpose the two flaps and to press on the tab which is above so that it engages in the incision and thus achieves the assembly of the two flaps and therefore the closure”).
Regarding claim 12, Cartorhin as modified by Burrow and Bullivant teaches the consumer product of claim 1 above and further teaches a method of operating the consumer product of claim 1, comprising opening the container by pushing down the lower flap to release the tab from the tab receptor so as to access the detergent product (Cartorhin: Translation-“to reopen, simply press the tab again so that it releases from the incision”). It is noted that pressing the tab necessarily includes pressing the lower flap as the tab is located under the lower flap when the tab is engaged in the tab receptor (Fig. 2).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed May 4, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s argument that the Tuszkiewicz, Burrow and Cartorhin fail to teach a water soluble fibrous non-woven sheet in a form of a sealed internal compartment, wherein said sealed internal compartment contains a granular laundry detergent, is not persuasive.
The prior art applied in the previous rejection of record was not intended to teach the argued limitation as the argued limitation is a new limitation not presented in the previously examined claims.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NINA KAY ATTEL whose telephone number is (571)270-3972. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7AM-4PM EST.
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/NINA K ATTEL/Examiner, Art Unit 3734
/NATHAN J NEWHOUSE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3734
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