DETAILED ACTION
Priority
1. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
2. Applicant's election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on April 8, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground that claim 1 has been amended with claim 3 which was indicated as meeting the requirements for novelty in the PCT Written Opinion. This is not found persuasive because the PCT Written Opinion provides a non-binding recommendation to member bureaus, and is not mandatory authority within US patent examination procedure. Moreover, claim 1 is rejected below under 35 USC 102(a)(1), and thus the claim does not contain a technical feature which makes a novel contribution over the prior art.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
3. Claims 18-28 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on April 8, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
5. Claims 1, 2, 4, 6, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 5,875,907 (Lay).
Regarding claim 1, Lay teaches a dispensing closure for a container, said dispensing closure comprising:
a closure body (12) having a deck (26) and a circumferential skirt (20), wherein a dispensing orifice (32) is formed in the deck and a receiving recess (70) is formed in the circumferential skirt, which receiving recess has an open deck-sided end (the upper end is uncovered and opens upwardly as seen in Figures 1 and 2),
a lid (14) which is hingedly connected to the closure body (see hinge 16), the lid having a closed state in which it covers the dispensing orifice and at least a part of the deck (see Figures 5 and 6), and having an open state in which it is swivelled away from the deck about a hinging axis (see Figure 1 and 2), such that a product can be dispensed from the container through the dispensing orifice,
a tamper-evident push-button (54) formed in one piece with the lid, wherein the lid and the push-button are connected by frangible connections (60; Examiner notes the reference teaches this could comprise “perforations” which are known in the art to create a plurality of cuts which leave a plurality of residual connections which ultimately comprise frangible connections),
wherein the tamper-evident push-button is received in the receiving recess upon first time closing of the lid (see sequence of Figures 3-6), wherein the receiving recess is adapted to allow the tamper-evident push- button to be pushed whilst in the receiving recess so as to break the frangible connections and allow opening of the lid (see Figure 8),
wherein, while the push-button is connected to the lid by the frangible connections, the push-button is configured and oriented or orientatable such that upon first time closing of the lid and the lid is swivelled about the hinging axis from the open to the closed state, the push-button is insertable in the receiving recess from said open deck-sided end (Examiner notes the reference teaches the frangible connections 60 allow the panel 58 to be “somewhat flexible in col. 4, lines 34-35, and the push button is pivotable about the frangible connections as seen in Figures 3-6 in order to be inserted into the recess); and
wherein the coupling member provides a tilting axis allowing tilting movement of the push-button with respect to the closure body when it is pushed in (Examiner notes the instant Figure 6 whereby it is seen that the panel 58 comprising the push-button 54 is tilted relative to the lid front surface; even if these surfaces were parallel, the reference could be seen as tilting relative to the position shown in Figures 3 and 4, in effect treating the pivoting of the button from the position in Figure 4 to the position in Figure 6 as tilting).
PNG
media_image1.png
538
472
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 2, the push- button has a coupling member (64) to couple the push-button to the closure body, said coupling member being located opposite the frangible connections (located on an opposite end of the panel 58), and wherein the recess has an end (68) opposite the deck-sided end, which is adapted to receive the coupling member (68 receives 64 as seen in Figure 6).
Regarding claim 4, the coupling member is formed as an anchor pin (64; see e.g. Figure 4) having at least one transverse retaining lug (64b), and wherein the corresponding end of the recess includes an opening (68) allowing insertion of the anchor pin, and wherein upon insertion of the anchor pin in said opening, the transverse retaining lug gets caught behind an edge of said opening and prevents the anchor pin to be retracted (see Figure 6).
Regarding claim 6, retaining means are provided adapted to retain the push-button in a pushed-in state in the receiving recess after first time opening, wherein the retaining means comprise at least one clamp ridge (read as the periphery of opening 66) in a central region of the recess seen in a width direction, and wherein a protrusion (62) is formed on a central region of a rear surface of the push-button, seen in the width direction, wherein the clamp ridge and the protrusion are configured an arranged to cooperate and retain the button in a pushed-in state (see engagement in Figure 8).
Regarding claim 15, the lid has a peripheral rim (56) which in the closed state is flush with the circumferential skirt (see 56 flush with 20 in Figure 7).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,875,907 (Lay).
Regarding claim 5, Lay as applied above fails to teach that the coupling member has two transverse retaining lugs which form a tapering shape.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the coupling member of Lay, providing a second transverse retaining lug (64b), motivated by an obvious duplication of the working parts of the invention, having a predictable outcome absent a teaching of an unexpected result. It has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Alternatively, would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the lug in two separate half components that combine to form the total shape. It has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. Nerwin v. Erlichman, 168 USPQ 177, 179. See also MPEP 2144.04(V)(C): In re Dulberg, 289 F.2d 522, 523, 129 USPQ 348, 349 (CCPA 1961) (The claimed structure, a lipstick holder with a removable cap, was fully met by the prior art except that in the prior art the cap is “press fitted” and therefore not manually removable. The court held that “if it were considered desirable for any reason to obtain access to the end of [the prior art’s] holder to which the cap is applied, it would be obvious to make the cap removable for that purpose.”).
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 8-10 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.
9. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 8, from which claims 9 and 10 depend, Lay fails to teach that the clamp ridge is formed by a support rib formed in the central region of the recess. No motivation could be found to modify the reference in order to arrive at the claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES N SMALLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-4547. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
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, Nathan Jenness can be reached at (571) 270-5055. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JAMES N SMALLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3733
Prosecution Insights