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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/20/2026 has been entered.
This Office Action acknowledges the applicant’s amendment filed on 8/20/2026. Claims 16,19 and 21-32 are pending in the application. Claims 1-15, 17-18 and 20 are cancelled. Claim 32 is new.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
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.
Claims 16,19 and 21-32 are 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 16 recites the limitation “a separate reinforcement strip is attached to the back side of the pack adjacent to the hinge line and on an inside of the pack and extends over an entire width of the back side, and wherein the reinforcement strip is fixedly attached to the back side of the pack but not to the hinge line”. It is unclear if the claim is reciting two reinforcement strips that are attached to the back side of the pack and on an inside of the pack, one reinforcement strip on the back side and the inside of the pack, one reinforcement strip on the inner side of the back side of the pack or something else. For examination purposes, it will be assumed the claim is reciting two reinforcement strips that are attached to the back side of the pack and on an inside of the pack. Claims 19 and 21-32 are rejected due to their dependency on claim 16.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 16, 19, 21-24, 27-28 and 31-32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CZERWENY US 1,895,070 in view of Kleinhaut US 3,829,002.
With regards to claim 16, CZERWENY discloses a hinge-lid pack, comprising: a body (box; 4) and a lid 2, wherein the lid is hingedly connected to the body along a hinge line 3 arranged on a back side of the pack (at 5); and a releaseable locking means 15/25 arranged on a front side of the pack to releasably lock the lid and the body, wherein a separate reinforcement strip (sleeve; 7) is attached to the back side of the pack adjacent to the hinge line and extends over an entire width of the back side, and wherein the reinforcement strip is fixedly attached to the back side of the pack but not to the hinge line 3 (Pg.1:82-90; extends only over the back side fixed portion 5).
CZERWENY does not specifically disclose the reinforcement strip is on an inside of the pack.
However, Kleinhaut teaches it was known in the art to have a hinge-lid pack with a reinforcement strip 25 is on an inside of the pack. (Col 2:19-27)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the hinge-lid pack in CZERWENY by providing the reinforcement strip on an inside of the pack as taught by Kleinhaut for the purposes of providing extra structural rigidity to the panel.
With regards to claim 19, the combination of CZERWENY in view of Kleinhaut discloses the reinforcement strip (sleeve 7; CZERWENY and 25; Kleinhaut) extends over the entire width of the pack (fixed portion 5; CZERWENY) and over at least a portion of both lateral sides (9; CZERWENY) of the pack.
With regards to claim 21, Kleinhaut further teaches a reinforcement strip 30 arranged and attached exclusively to an inner back side of the body of the pack.
With regards to claim 22, Kleinhaut further teaches the reinforcement strip 25 is arranged and attached exclusively to an inner back side of the lid 24 of the pack.
With regards to claim 23, CZERWENY and Kleinhaut disclose the reinforcement strip (sleeve 7; CZERWENY and 25; Kleinhaut) has a rectangular shape on the back side (fixed portion 5; CZERWENY) of the pack.
With regards to claim 24, CZERWENY and Kleinhaut disclose the reinforcement strip (sleeve 7; CZERWENY and 25; Kleinhaut) have an overall rectangular shape.
With regards to claim 27, CZERWENY discloses a blank (Fig. 5) of sheet material for forming a hinge-lid pack according to claim 16, the blank of sheet material comprising a body portion 4 to form a body of the pack and a lid portion 2 for forming a lid of the pack, wherein the body portion and the lid portion are connected by a hinge line 3, wherein a reinforcement strip (sleeve; 7) is provided on the blank of sheet material, wherein the reinforcement strip extends over an entire width of the blank, wherein the reinforcement strip is fixedly attached to the back side of the pack but not to the hinge line (Pg.1:82-90; extends only over the back side fixed portion 5), and wherein locking means 15/25 are embodied in the blank of sheet material to form a releaseable lock of lid and body in the formed hinge-lid pack.
With regards to claim 28, CZERWENY discloses the locking means 15/25 comprise a male connector 15 and a female connector 25, and wherein the male connector 15 of the locking means is arranged in the lid portion 2.
With regards to claim 31, CZERWENY discloses the reinforcement strip (sleeve; 7) is arranged on one side of the hinge line 3.
With regards to claim 32, CZERWENY does not specifically disclose a width of the pack is greater than 130 percent of a height of the pack.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have a width of the pack greater than 130 percent of a height of the pack, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Please note that in the instant application, page 2, lines 19-25, applicant has not disclosed any criticality for the claimed limitations.
Claim(s) 25-26 and 29-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CZERWENY US 1,895,070 in view of Kleinhaut US 3,829,002 and further in view Erdmann et al. US 4,729,508.
With regards to claim 25, CZERWENY discloses the claimed invention as stated above but it does not specifically disclose the body comprises an inner frame partially arranged within the body of the pack, and wherein the locking means are arranged between the lid and the inner frame.
However, Erdmann teaches that it was known in the art to have a hinge-lid pack having a body 14 comprises an inner frame 29 partially arranged within the body of the pack, and wherein the locking means 71/72 are arranged between the lid 16 and the inner frame 29.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pack in CZERWENY by providing an inner frame as taught by Erdmann for the purposes of keeping the lid and body in the closed configuration.
With regards to claim 26, the combination of CZERWENY in view of Erdmann discloses the inner frame (29; Erdmann) and the reinforcement strip (CZERWENY) overlap on lateral sides of the body.
With regards to claim 29, CZERWENY discloses a male connector and a female connector but it does not specifically disclose two cutting lines, one cutting line forming the male connector and another cutting line forming the female connector.
However, Erdmann teaches that it was known in the art to have two cutting lines, one cutting line forming the male connector (cut lines that form 71/72) and another cutting line forming the female connector (slits formed in lid at 22/23/24/26). (Col 6:28-56)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the male and female connectors in CZERWENY by providing two cutting lines as taught by Erdmann for the purposes of providing an alternative way of forming the connectors.
With regards to claim 30, the combination of CZERWENY in view of Erdmann further teaches two separate parts, wherein an inner frame portion (29; Erdmann) is one of the two separate parts of the blank of sheet material.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 16,19 and 21-32 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENINE SPICER whose telephone number is (313)446-4924. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday-Thursday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Orlando E. Avilés can be reached at (571) 270-5531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENINE SPICER/Examiner, Art Unit 3736
/ORLANDO E AVILES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3736
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