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 .
Abstract
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because:
The abstract should be submitted on a separate sheet with no other verbiage thereon.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
Separate figures should not be connected with any reference lines, i.e. Figures 3 and 3a are connected with reference lines; and
Reference character 60 (see page 10, line 14 Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1, 2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Raible (U.S. Patent 2,096,686, as cited by the Applicant).
In regard to claim 1, the Raible reference discloses a dispensing device for a container 2 of liquids, wherein the dispensing device comprises:
a main body 20, 24 provided with an inner surface 30 which defines an through housing seat from a first mouth (disposed adjacent the container 2) to a second mouth (opposite the first mouth) of the main body arranged along a longitudinal axis;
an adapter 1 coupled to the main body at the first mouth of the main body and shaped to couple with a mouth of the container 2;
a tubular body 31 housed in the housing seat and internally defining a transfer duct which puts in fluid communication with the first and second mouth of the main body; and
a pressurization duct (not number, defined by the space between inner housing 24 and tubular body 31, see the sentence bridging pages 1 and 2) which puts in fluid communication the first mouth of the main body with a pressurization opening 32 obtained in the main body and jutting into an external environment to the dispensing device, wherein the pressurization duct is part of the housing seat and is defined by an outer surface of the tubular body 31 and an inner surface of the main body.
In regard to claim 5, the adapter 1 is structured for rotating with respect to the main body (via the bayonet coupling, see page 1, column 2, lines 33-37) about the longitudinal axis and wherein the dispensing device includes a stop element 40, 42 which engages the second mouth of the main body for removably fixing the tubular body to the main body.
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 2, 3, 4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Raible.
In regard to claim 2, the pressurization opening 32 has transversal development and juts into the external environment at a pressurization mouth 34 interposed between the adapter and the second mouth. Although the Raible reference does not clearly define the shape of the pressurization duct, it is the examiner’s position it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the pressurization duct can be designed to have any suitable cross-section, including a constant cross-section and can subtend any suitable angle, including that claimed, without effecting the overall operation of the device, especially since the Raible reference does not limit these particular parameters and the Applicant has not indicated these particular parameters are critical to the overall operation of the device.
In regard to claim 3, the tubular body 31 is a single body which entirely and longitudinally crosses the housing seat. Further, the tubular body and housing seat appear from the drawings to be structured as claimed. In any event, although the Raible reference does not clearly define the cross-section of the tubular body and transfer duct or the sectional shape of the inner and outer surfaces of the tubular body and housing seat, it is the examiner’s position it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the tubular body and transfer duct can be designed to have any suitable cross-section, including a constant cross-section and the inner and outer surfaces of the tubular member and the housing seat can be designed to have any suitable sectional shape, without effecting the overall operation of the device, especially since the Raible reference does not limit these particular parameters and the Applicant has not indicated these particular parameters are critical to the overall operation of the device.
In regard to claim 4, although the Raible reference does not disclose the dimensions of the distances between the outer surface of the tubular body and the inner surface of the main body at the claimed locations it is the examiner’s position it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the Rabile device can be designed to have any suitable dimensions, including those claimed, without effecting the overall operation of the device, especially since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
In regard to claim 8, the Raible reference discloses a transfer system of a liquid comprising:
the dispensing device defined above;
a vessel containing gas under pressure (not shown, see page 1, column 2, lines 51-55) connected to the pressurization opening 32. Although the Raible reference does not specifically disclose the use of a transfer line connected to the transfer duct and at a tap in the transfer line, as claimed, the examiner takes official notice that such dispensing systems commonly employ such transfer lines and tap in order to enable a user to conveniently dispense fluid from the container as needed. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made the transfer system disclosed in the Raible reference can include such a transfer line and tap in order to enable a user to conveniently dispense fluid from the container as needed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 7 9 and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The Lamb reference is cited as being directed to the state of the art as a teaching of another dispensing device having a pressurization duct between the tubular conduit through which fluid flows and a main body through which the conduit extends.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID J WALCZAK whose telephone number is (571)272-4895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30-4:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at 571-270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DJW
2/19/26
/DAVID J WALCZAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754