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 .
Applicants are respectfully reminded that they and other individuals, as set forth in 37 CFR 1.56, have a duty to bring to the attention of the Office any material prior art or other information cited or brought to their attention in any related foreign application. See MPEP 2001.06(a).
The individuals covered by 37 CFR 1.56 have a duty to bring to the attention of the examiner, or other Office official involved with the examination of a particular application, information within their knowledge as to other copending United States applications which are “material to patentability” of the application in question. The individuals covered by 37 CFR 1.56 cannot assume that the examiner of a particular application is necessarily aware of other applications which are “material to patentability” of the application in question, but must instead bring such other applications to the attention of the examiner. See Dayco Prod., Inc. v. Total Containment, Inc., 329 F.3d 1358, 1365-69, 66 USPQ2d 1801, 1806-08 (Fed. Cir. 2003). For example, if a particular inventor has different applications pending in which similar subject matter but patentably indistinct claims are present that fact must be disclosed to the examiner of each of the involved applications. Similarly, the prior art references from one application must be made of record in another subsequent application if such prior art references are “material to patentability” of the subsequent application. See Dayco Prod., 329 F.3d at 1369, 66 USPQ2d at 1808. See MPEP 2001.06(b).
Election/Restrictions
It is noted that the claims as presented are directed to a product and method of forming the product. As currently presented, the method is the assembly of the product and its examination in conjunction with the product does not represent a serious burden at this time; therefore, no restriction is required. However, if subsequent amendments to the claims result in diverging subject matter and searches between the claimed inventions, the examiner reserves the right to restrict at that time. The Office also notes that when the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method it can be assumed the device will inherently perform the claimed process, In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 231 USPQ 136 (Fed. Cir. 1986). The Office further specifically notes the following in the event that a restriction is required in the future: “All claims directed to a nonelected process invention must include all the limitations of an allowable product/apparatus claim for that process invention to be rejoined.”
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.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taglini (US 20210053736 A1) in view of Chen (US 20070138204 A1).
Taglini discloses:
1. A sealed single-dose package with a break opening (figs 1-11), comprising a multi-layer semi-rigid sheet (2) having comprising a rear face and an opposite front face (bottom and top surface), and comprising a carrier layer having said rear face (layer adjacent 13),; a flexible sheet (3), having comprising an inner face and an outer face (inside and outside portion), superimposed on the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet so that the inner face faces the front face (paragraph 19), and welded to the front face of the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet (paragraph 19) so as to form an inner pocket (4) for containing one dose of a product (capable of performing the above intended use); an outer incision extending along an incision direction made in the rear face of the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet (9), adapted to guide upon a bending of the sealed single-dose package a breakage of the first multi-layer semi-rigid sheet to form an opening for the product contained in the inner pocket to escape (capable of performing the above intended use); and an inner incision extending along the incision direction, made in the front face of the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet (adjacent 11);
With the exception of the following which is disclosed by Chen: wherein the inner pocket has a narrow portion aligned with said outer incision (paragraph 44). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Taglini in view of Chen (by including a narrow portion in the above manner) in order to promote efficient expulsion. Further, Chen discloses paper, cardboard or other predominantly cellulose-based material (paragraphs 41, 60). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the Taglini in view of Chen (by providing the above materials) in order to provide a known material that is capable of being recycled while also supporting desired contents in a flexible manner.
The Combined Reference discloses:
2. wherein the inner incision is aligned, superimposed, with the outer incision (paragraphs 35-37 Taglini).
3. wherein the flexible sheet comprises a crease, namely a fold, at the narrow portion (Taglini paragraph 37).
4. wherein the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet (2) has comprises a pair of weakened portions at the narrow portion of the inner pocket, aligned with the outer incision, on both sides of the outer incision (Taglini adjacent 16).
5. wherein each weakened portion consists of at least one incision (Taglini paragraphs 37-40).
6. wherein each weakened portion consists of a recess obtained along a peripheral edge of the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet, and wherein said weakened portions are arranged centrally with respect to the sealed single-dose package, which takes an hourglass shape (the Office notes that the device includes narrow portions of which would provide recessed and an hourglass shape).
7. wherein the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet comprises a pair of weakened portions in a form of recesses followed by a pair of weakened portions in a form of incisions both the incisions and the recesses being aligned with the outer incision, on both sides of the outer incision (Taglini adjacent 16, paragraphs 37-40).
8. wherein said recesses are triangular in shape with a tip pointing toward the outer incision (the Office notes that the device includes narrow portions of which would provide the above shape with a tip).
9. wherein the flexible sheet is welded to the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet by a weld comprising a peripheral portion which follows a peripheral edge of the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet and a pair of protruding portions, and wherein said protruding portions are arranged facing each other, are aligned with said outer incision made in the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet, and extend towards the inner pocket which takes an hourglass shape (the Office notes that the device includes narrow portions of which would provide recesses, protruding portions and an hourglass shape, and further discloses welds paragraph 19 Taglini).
10. wherein the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet comprises a pair of weakened portions at the narrow portion of the inner pocket, aligned with the outer incision, on both sides of the outer incision, and wherein said weakened portions are made at the protruding portions of the weld (Taglini adjacent 16, paragraphs 37-40).
11. wherein the multi-layer semi-rigid sheet comprises a barrier layer suited for forming a barrier to passage of gas and/or vapor (Taglini 15).
12. wherein the barrier layer has a micro-hole separated from an external environment by an interposition of a portion of the barrier carrier layer (Chen adjacent 23).
13. wherein said flexible sheet comprises an outer layer having said outer face (Taglini 14), and wherein said outer layer, which is single-layer or multi-layer, comprises paper, cardboard or other predominantly cellulose-based material (Chen paragraphs 41, 60).
14. wherein the inner pocket has a maximum width (width of pocket), and the narrow portion has a width between 20% and 95% of the maximum width. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the Combined Reference (by providing the above) in order to provide a desired expulsion rate depending on the desired contents. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to provide a specific range because it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges was an obvious extension of the prior teachings. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Re claim 15, As discussed above, the applied prior art teaches the product as claimed. To the extent that the claimed product performs the claimed method, the prior art product performs the method steps, as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW D PERREAULT whose telephone number is (571)270-5427. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:00am-5:30pm. 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, Anthony Stashick can be reached at (571)272-4561. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW D PERREAULT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3735