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 .
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
Applicant's election with traverse of species F, figures 26-31, claims 1-24 in the reply filed on
07/27/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) of burden. This is not found persuasive because, as stated in the restriction requirement, applicant must submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case, which the applicant has not provided. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 4, 6, 12, 15, 16, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Van Hest (US 5394985 A).
Van Hest discloses:
4. A packaging system (figs 1-3b) for packaging an article and maintaining the article therein (capable of performing the above intended use), the packaging system comprising: an outer container portion comprising a top, a bottom, and first, second, third and fourth sidewalls (outside of with upper portion, base portion, and side portions); wherein the top is configured to be moved between opened and closed positions (capable of performing the above intended use, as the top is a lid with a hinge); wherein in the closed position, the top, bottom, first sidewall, second sidewall, third sidewall, and fourth sidewall form an enclosed interior space and in the opened position form an open interior space (capable of performing the above intended use), as for example in fig 1b); and a cradle portion (m- shaped portion in fig 1b for example with vertical elements within along with portion adjacent 20, portion adjacent 22, portion adjacent 20, portion adjacent 20 and other 20) comprising: a first angled panel portion connected to the first sidewall foldable between into an orientation in which the first angled portion extends into the open interior space at an angle relative to the first sidewall (angled portion such as adjacent “20” and other “20” on left side); a central panel portion connected to the first angled portion and configured to be foldable into an orientation in which the central panel portion is approximately parallel to the bottom of the enclosed interior space, in use (portion adjacent “22”); a second angled portion connected to the central portion and configured to be foldable into an orientation in which the second angled portion extends at an angle relative to the central panel portion and the second sidewall of the enclosed interior space (other portion adjacent other “22”); and a first leg panel portion connected to the second angled portion and configured to be foldable into an orientation in which the first leg panel portion abuts the second sidewall of the enclosed interior space and contacts the bottom of the enclosed interior space, in use (such as vertical lef portion within device such as adjacent “20” on right side of fig 1b and below); wherein the cradle portion is configured to support an article in a position spaced from the bottom, in use (capable of performing the above intended use).
6. The packaging system of Claim 4 wherein the outer container portion and the cradle portion are made from a single monolithic piece of corrugated cardboard (as in fig 1a for example).
12. The packaging system of Claim 4 wherein the first leg panel portion and the first sidewall support the first angled panel portion, the central panel portion, and the second angled panel portion at a position spaced above the bottom of the enclosed interior space so as to support the article at a position spaced above the bottom of the enclosed interior space, in use (fig 1b).
15. A packaging system for packaging an article, the packaging system comprising: an outer container portion comprising a top, a bottom, and first, second, third and fourth sidewalls; a cradle portion comprising: a first panel portion connected to the first sidewall; a central panel portion connected to the first panel portion; a second panel portion connected to the central portion; and a first leg panel portion connected to the second panel portion and configured to be foldable into an orientation in which the first leg panel portion abuts the second sidewall and contacts the bottom, in use; wherein the first panel portion, the central panel portion and the second panel portion are configured to form a cradle and to support an article in a position spaced from the bottom, in use (same features already provided above in claim 4).
16. The packaging system of Claim 15, wherein the top is configured to be moved between opened and closed positions and wherein in the closed position, the top, bottom, first sidewall, second sidewall, third sidewall, and fourth sidewall form an enclosed interior space and in the opened position form an open interior space (already provided in claim 4).
18. The packaging system of Claim 15 wherein the outer container portion and the cradle portion are made from a single monolithic piece of corrugated cardboard (already provided in claim 6).
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) 5, 7-10, 13, 14, 17, 19-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van Hest as applied to claim 4, 15 above, and further in view of Brand (US 20070251982 A1)
Van Hest discloses the claimed invention above with the exception of the following which is disclosed by Brand:
5. The packaging system of Claim 4 wherein the top is configured to be foldable into three different configurations which limit the enclosed interior space to three different heights, respectively (as shown with features in fig 12 such as along dotted line and adjacent 33, 43).
7. The packaging system of Claim 4 wherein the top comprises a first foldable top panel portion connected to the third sidewall, the first foldable top panel having at least two first spacer folds configured to allow the first foldable top panel to be folded into a first spacer having a first thickness, wherein the first spacer is spaced at a first spacing from the central panel portion by a first height, in use (as shown with features in fig 12 such as along dotted line and adjacent 33, 43).
8. The packaging system of Claim 7 wherein the top further comprises a second foldable top panel portion connected to the fourth sidewall, the second foldable top panel having at least two second spacer folds configured to allow the second foldable top panel to be folded into a second spacer having a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness, wherein the second spacer is spaced at a second spacing from the central panel portion by a second height that is shorter than the first height, in use (as shown with features in fig 12 such as along dotted line and adjacent 33, 43).
9. The packaging system of Claim 8 wherein the first and second foldable top panels, when they are not folded into the first and second spacers, are spaced from the central panel portion by a third height that is greater than the first and second height, in use (such as in fig 12).
10. The packaging system of Claim 9 wherein the at least two first spacer folds and the at least two second spacer folds are configured to cradle articles having three different heights by using the first and second foldable top panels in an unfolded state to cradle a first article having the first height, using the first foldable top panel folded to form the first spacer for cradling the second article having the second height that is less than the first height, and using the second top panel folded to form the second spacer for cradling the third article having the third height that is less than the first and second heights (as shown with features in fig 12 such as along dotted line and adjacent 33, 43).
13. The packaging system of Claim 4 wherein the top comprises at least one handle engaging panel connected to the third sidewall and including at least one aperture configured to engage a handle of a mug, in use (Adjacent 140 with aperture).
14. The packaging system of Claim 13 wherein the at least one handle engaging panel is configured to engage an upper end and a lower end of the handle of a mug, in use (capable of performing the above intended use).
17. The packaging system of Claim 15 wherein the top is configured to be foldable into three different configurations which limit an interior space of the outer container portion to three different heights, respectively (as already provided above in claim 5).
19. The packaging system of Claim 15 wherein the top comprises a first foldable top panel portion connected to the third sidewall, the first foldable top panel having at least two first spacer folds configured to allow the first foldable top panel to be folded into a first spacer having a first thickness, wherein the first spacer is spaced at a first spacing from the central panel portion by a first height, in use (as already provided above in claim 7).
20. The packaging system of Claim 19 wherein the top further comprises a second foldable top panel portion connected to the fourth sidewall, the second foldable top panel having at least two second spacer folds configured to allow the second foldable top panel to be folded into a second spacer having a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness, wherein the second spacer is spaced at a second spacing from the central panel portion by a second height that is shorter than the first height, in use (as already provided above in claim 8).
21. The packaging system of Claim 20 wherein the first and second foldable top panels, when they are not folded into the first and second spacers, are spaced from the central panel portion by a third height that is greater than the first and second height, in use (as already provided above in claim 9).
22. The packaging system of Claim 21 wherein the at least two first spacer folds and the at least two second spacer folds are configured to cradle articles having three different heights by using the first and second foldable top panels in an unfolded state to cradle a first article having the first height, using the first foldable top panel folded to form the first spacer for cradling the second article having the second height that is less than the first height, and using the second top panel folded to form the second spacer for cradling the third article having the third height that is less than the first and second heights (as already provided above in claim 10).
23. The packaging system of Claim 15 wherein the top comprises at least one handle engaging panel connected to the third sidewall and including at least one aperture configured to engage a handle of a mug, in use (as already provided above in claim 13)..
24. The packaging system of Claim 23 wherein the at least one handle engaging panel is configured to engage an upper end and a lower end of the handle of a mug, in use (capable of performing the above intended use).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 are allowed. Claim 11 is 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 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
Prosecution Insights