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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 1 in the reply filed on 6/25/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 4 and 6-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/25/2026.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe et al. (JP 2016-3056, hereinafter ‘Watanabe’) in view of Tanaka (JP 2014-218261).
Watanabe discloses a pouch comprising: a packaging bag including a front surface sheet (22), a back surface sheet (23), and a top gusset sheet (24) and configured to accommodate contents; and a spout (3) fixed to the top gusset sheet and configured to dispense the contents from the packaging bag, wherein the packaging bag includes a left side seal portion and a right side seal portion (51s) in which an end portion of the front surface sheet and an end portion of the back surface sheet in a width direction are sealed to each other and extend in a height direction (see Fig. 3), a front side top gusset seal portion in which the front surface sheet and the top gusset sheet are sealed to each other, and a back side top gusset seal portion in which the back surface sheet and the top gusset sheet are sealed to each other (53s), so that the top gusset sheet overlaps each of a folded portion where a part of the front surface sheet closer to the top gusset sheet is folded and the back surface sheet while the front surface sheet is located on the back surface sheet in a state of including the folded portion (see Fig. 3); except does not expressly disclose the recessed portion as claimed.
However, Tanaka teaches a similar pouch wherein at least one of the left side seal portion or the right side seal portion includes a recessed portion (17) recessed toward an inner side of the packaging bag, so that an outer edge of the packaging bag is configured to be constricted in the width direction in a state in which the packaging bag is folded as claimed.
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to add the recessed portions taught by Tanaka to the pouch taught by Watanabe, in order to provide a gripping portion of the pouch as taught by Tanaka.
Watanabe as modified above further discloses a bottom portion of the recessed portion located on the innermost side of the packaging bag is located closer to the top gusset sheet than a center in the height direction in a range between a folding line along which the folded portion is folded and a lower edge of the packaging bag in the above folded state (when viewed in combination); a bottom portion of the recessed portion located on the innermost side of the packaging bag is located side by side with a lowermost portion of the front side top gusset seal portion in the height direction along a virtual straight line extending in the width direction in the above folded state (when viewed in combination).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER N. HELVEY whose telephone number is (571)270-1423. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am-7pm EST.
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/PETER N HELVEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734
August 25, 2026
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