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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-11 and 15) in the reply filed on 1/2/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 12-14 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected Group II.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 10: it appears “detachable installable” should be “detachable and installable”.
In claim 15, line 10: it appears “detachable installable” should be “detachable and installable”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elstone et al. (US 6,032,815) in view of JPH10114334.
Regarding claim 1, Elstone discloses a foldable container (box 1 - shown in Fig. 1) for transportation and storage of objects comprising: a pallet (at 9) and a foldable sidewall (at 30 in Fig. 1 – also shown in Figs. 2 and 7); wherein the pallet forms a loading surface (upper surface), wherein the foldable sidewall is able to be folded in case of no loaded stored objects in the foldable container (as shown in Figs. 7-8), wherein the foldable sidewall is a rectangular tube with open ends (as shown in Fig. 2) formed by a first side panel (at 31 in Fig. 2), a second side panel (at 36 in Fig. 2), a third side panel (at 32/33 in Fig. 2) and a fourth side panel (at 34/35 in Fig. 2), wherein the foldable sidewall is detachable installable on the pallet (as shown in Fig. 7) in order to define a loadable volume; and a shelf (at 501 in Fig. 1) suitable to be loaded with objects. Elstone discloses the claimed invention except for the specifics of the shelf.
However, JPH10114334 teaches a foldable container (See Fig. 1) comprising a foldable sidewall formed by a first side panel (right side wall 1 in Fig. 3), a second side panel (left side wall 1 in Fig. 3), a third side panel (panel formed from wall portions 2/2 in Fig. 3) and a fourth side panel (foldable wall 3 in Fig. 3), and a shelf (at 5 in Figs. 1-3), wherein the shelf is hinged (hinge elements 5c in Figs. 1-2) to the first side panel (right side wall 1 in Figs. 1-2) and the shelf includes a first fold line (at 5b in Figs. 1-2, See Fig. 2 labeled below) parallel to the first side panel of the foldable sidewall and support means (at 5a in Figs. 1-2) to support the shelf at the second side panel, opposite to the first side panel, for the purpose of allowing the shelf to be folded with the foldable sidewall and eliminating fear for the loss of the internal shelf (See abstract and [0010]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the shelf of Elstone to be foldably attached to the first side panel as taught by JPH10114334 in order to allow for the shelf to be folded with the foldable sidewall to the compact arrangement without risk of misplacing the shelf.
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Regarding claim 2, Elstone discloses the foldable sidewall is foldable in each corner formed by two adjacent side panels of the foldable sidewall (as shown in Fig. 7 at the corners of 30) and wherein the foldable sidewall is foldable at a second fold line (at 321 in Fig. 2) comprised in the third side panel and a third fold line (at 350 in Fig. 2) comprised in the fourth side panel, wherein the second fold line and the third fold line are transverse to the loading surface of the pallet.
Regarding claim 6, JPH10114334 teaches the shelf is hinged to the first side panel at a height A measured in a direction transverse to the loading surface of the pallet, wherein the first fold line is at a distance B from the first side panel measured in a direction transverse to the first side panel, and wherein A+B is smaller than or equal to the depth of the foldable container.
Regarding claim 8, Elstone discloses the second side panel comprises a door (at 367), wherein at least a portion of the door is positioned above the shelf and further including locking means (at 370) for holding the door in a closed position.
Regarding claim 9, Elstone discloses a lid (at 40), wherein the lid has a locking means (at 49/50), wherein in an unfolded state an open top side of the foldable container is coverable by the lid (as shown in Fig. 1), wherein in a folded state, the lid is attachable with use of the locking means to the pallet (as shown in Fig. 8) and the foldable side wall is containable in a volume formed by the pallet and the lid (as shown in Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 11, Elstone discloses the foldable sidewall is foldable twice in a corner formed by the first side panel and the third side panel and in a corner formed by the first side panel and the fourth side panel.
Regarding claim 15, Elstone discloses a kit (See Figs. 1 and 7) comprising: a pallet (at 9) and a folded sidewall (at 30), wherein the pallet forms a loading surface (top surface of 9), wherein the folded sidewall in unfolded state is a rectangular tube (as shown in Fig. 2) with open ends formed by a first side panel (at 31 in Fig. 2), a second side panel (at 36 in Fig. 2), a third side panel (at 32/33 in Fig. 2) and a fourth side panel (at 34/35 in Fig. 2), wherein the foldable sidewall is folded in each corner formed by two adjacent side panels of the foldable sidewall (as shown in Fig. 7) and wherein the third side panel and the fourth side panel are folded between the first side panel and the second side panel (as shown in Fig. 7), resulting in a parallel stack of the first side panel, second side panel, third side panel and fourth side panel, and including a shelf (at 501 in Fig. 1) suitable to be loaded with objects. Elstone discloses the claimed invention except for the specifics of the shelf.
However, JPH10114334 teaches a foldable container (See Fig. 1) comprising a foldable sidewall formed by a first side panel (right side wall 1 in Fig. 3), a second side panel (left side wall 1 in Fig. 3), a third side panel (panel formed from wall portions 2/2 in Fig. 3) and a fourth side panel (foldable wall 3 in Fig. 3), and a shelf (at 5 in Figs. 1-3), wherein the shelf is hinged (hinge elements 5c in Figs. 1-2) to the first side panel (right side wall 1 in Figs. 1-2) and the shelf includes a first fold line (at 5b in Figs. 1-2) parallel to the first side panel of the foldable sidewall and support means (at 5a in Figs. 1-2) to support the shelf at the second side panel, opposite to the first side panel, for the purpose of allowing the shelf to be folded with the foldable sidewall and eliminating fear for the loss of the internal shelf (See abstract and [0010]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the shelf of Elstone to be foldably attached to the first side panel as taught by JPH10114334 in order to allow for the shelf to be folded with the foldable sidewall to the compact arrangement without risk of misplacing the shelf. Furthermore, the shelf of Elstone-JPH10114334 can be folded along a first fold line parallel to the first side panel and folded against the first side panel.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elstone et al. (US 6,032,815) in view of JPH10114334 as applied to claim 2 is above, and further in view of WO2020/224870. As described above, Elstone-JPH10114334 discloses the claimed invention except for the specifics of the shelf. However, WO2020/224870 teaches a pallet container (See Fig. 1) comprising a shelf (at 4 in Fig. 2) within the internal volume of the pallet container, wherein the shelf includes a bar (at 22) and further support means (at 29/13 in Fig. 7) to support the bar at opposing side walls of the pallet container, for the purpose of reinforcing the shelf and securely supporting the shelf within the pallet container. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the shelf and opposing side panels of Elstone-JPH10114334 with a bar and further support means, respectively, as taught by WO2020/224870 in order to reinforce the shelf and ensure proper support of the shelf within the foldable container.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elstone et al. (US 6,032,815) in view of JPH10114334 as applied to claim 1 is above, and further in view of Starnes (US 8,844,753). As described above, Elstone-JPH10114334 discloses the claimed invention except for the specifics of the shelf. However, Starnes teaches a foldable container (at 10) comprising an inner panel (at 30), wherein the inner panel is provided with an attachment means (at 56) for holding the inner panel against a side panel of the container, for the purpose of engaging and locking the inner panel in place relative to the side wall of the container. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the shelf/first side panel of Elstone-JPH10114334 with an attachment means as taught by Starnes in order to securely hold the shelf in place against the first side panel when in the folded position.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elstone et al. (US 6,032,815) in view of JPH10114334 as applied to claim 1 is above, and further in view of Deng et al. (US 7,290,663). As described above, Elstone-JPH10114334 discloses the claimed invention except for the specific material of the sidewall and shelf. However, Deng teaches a foldable container (as shown in Fig. 1) being formed from polypropylene material for the purpose of its shock-proof characteristics (column 1, lines 32-33). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the elements of the container of Elstone-JPH10114334 to be formed from a polypropylene material as taught by Deng in order to ensure good shock-proof characteristics to better protect contents. Furthermore, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. Moreover, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have formed the container elements with a minimum thickness of 5mm and a minimum weight of 1000 g/m2 in order to have the desired strength, since the claimed values are merely an optimum or workable range. 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN A REYNOLDS whose telephone number is (571)272-9959. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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/STEVEN A. REYNOLDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3735