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 .
This is the First Office action on the Merits from the examiner in charge of this application.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 4, 9, 18, and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “a door comprised of: … a rear surface comprised of a fastener” which suggests the entire rear surface is made up of a fastener. The examiner suggests revision of the claim language to recite “a door comprised of: … a rear surface comprising a fastener”.
Similarly, claim 4 recites “wherein the door is comprised of a handle” which suggest the entire door is made up of a handle.
Similarly, claim 9 recites “a trash receptacle comprised of a first fastener; and a door comprised of: … a rear surface comprised of a second fastener, the second fastener comprised of a third fastener.” This further causes issues with claim 11 which recites “wherein the second fastener is comprised of a mounting bracket.” It is unclear whether the “mounting bracket” is equivalent to the second fastener or the third fastener.
Similarly, claim 18 recites “a rear surface comprised of a fastener” which suggests the entire rear surface is made up of a fastener
Similarly, claim 20 recites “wherein the trash receptacle is comprised of a female lip” which suggests the entire trash receptacle is made up of a female lip.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-4, 8-13, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weiner (U.S. Pat. No. 5076458) in view of Jarrett (U.S. Pat. No. 6616109).
With respect to claim 1, Weiner discloses a concealed trash can system (Fig. 1, trash collection station 20) comprising: a trash receptacle (collection box 10); and a door (Fig. 2, front wall 42) comprised of: an opening (Fig. 1 shows opening in front wall 42); a secondary door (front access door 36) attached to the door (front wall 42) via a hinge (Col. 3, lines 16-17, “front access door 36 is hingedly supported at its top edge from the solid wall section 43”); and a rear surface (Fig. 2 shows rear/inner surface of front wall 42).
Weiner fails to disclose the rear surface of the door comprises a fastener.
Jarrett discloses the rear surface of a door (Abstract, “the upper bracket includes a flanged device that can be mounted to the interior of any door and support the upper lip or upper edge of a waste basket or container in position” as shown in Figs. 2 and 6) comprises a fastener (Fig. 2, upper bracket 5).
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 trash collection station of Weiner to such that the collection bin is a waste backet mounted to the door via an upper bracket, such as taught by Jarrett, with a reasonable expectation of success in order to easily and quickly withdraw the waste basket from the inside of the cabinet body upon opening the door, and to further easily remove and replace the waste basket during usage (Col. 3, lines 9-11) such as when emptying the contents of the waste basket.
With respect to claim 2, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Jarrett) further discloses wherein the fastener is comprised of a mounting bracket (upper bracket 5 is a mounting bracket).
With respect to claim 3, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination further discloses wherein the fastener (Jarrett, upper bracket 5) is positioned below the opening (Weiner, Fig. 2, collection box 10, modified to be the waste basket of Jarrett, is positioned below the opening of front wall 42, and the front access door 36 opens inward into the cabinet body, therefore the upper bracket 5 of Jarrett would be positioned below the opening in order for the front access door 36 to open inward and the wastebasket to be usable).
With respect to claim 4, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Weiner) further discloses wherein the door (front wall 42) is comprised of a handle (hand grip 40).
With respect to claim 8, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Weiner) further discloses wherein the door (front wall 42) is comprised of a cabinet door or a pantry door (trash collection station 20 has a cabinet body structure, therefore front wall 42 is a cabinet door).
With respect to claim 9, Weiner discloses a concealed trash can system (Fig. 1, trash collection station 20) comprising: a trash receptacle (collection box 10); and a door (front wall 42) comprised of: an opening (Fig. 1 shows opening in front wall 42); a secondary door (front access door 36) attached to the door (42) via a hinge (Col. 3, lines 16-17, “front access door 36 is hingedly supported at its top edge from the solid wall section 43”); and a rear surface (Fig. 2 shows rear/inner surface of front wall 42).
Weiner fails to disclose the trash receptacle comprises a first fastener, and a rear surface comprises a second fastener, the second fastener comprised of a third fastener.
Jarrett discloses a trash receptacle (Figs. 1 and 2, waste basket B) comprises a first fastener (see modified Fig. 6 below, waste basket lip), and a rear surface of a door (Abstract, “the upper bracket includes a flanged device that can be mounted to the interior of any door and support the upper lip or upper edge of a waste basket or container in position” as shown in Figs. 2 and 6) comprises a second fastener (Fig. 2, upper bracket 5) the second fastener comprised of a third fastener (Fig. 7, upper bracket 5 comprises a lip made up of flange 12, upper edge 15, and outer tab 14).
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Modified Fig. 6
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 trash collection station of Weiner such that the collection box is a waste basket mounted to the door’s rear surface via brackets and a lip of the receptacle, such as taught by Jarrett, with a reasonable expectation of success in order to easily and quickly withdraw the waste basket from the inside of the cabinet body upon opening the door, and to further easily remove and replace the waste basket during usage (Col. 3, lines 9-11) such as when emptying the contents of the waste basket.
With respect to claim 10, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Jarrett) further discloses wherein the first fastener (see modified Fig. 6 above, waste basket lip) is comprised of a female lip (the waste basket lip has a channel for inserting the upper bracket 5).
With respect to claim 11, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Jarrett) further discloses wherein the second fastener is comprised of a mounting bracket (upper bracket 5 is a mounting bracket)
With respect to claim 12, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Jarrett) further discloses wherein the third fastener is comprised of a male lip (Fig. 7, upper bracket 5 comprises a lip made up of flange 12, upper edge 15, and outer tab 14 which are all inserted into a female channel of the waste basket lip).
With respect to claim 13, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Jarrett) further discloses wherein the first fastener (waste basket lip) and the second fastener (upper bracket 5) are comprised of a tongue and groove fastener, a hook fastener and a loop fastener, a pair of magnetic fasteners, or a male and a female fastener (the waste basket lip has a channel for inserting the upper bracket 5, therefore it is a female fastener, and the upper bracket 5 comprises a lip made up of flange 12, upper edge 15, and outer tab 14 which are all inserted into a female channel of the waste basket lip).
With respect to claim 18, Weiner discloses a method of using a concealed trash can system (Fig. 1, trash collection station 20), the method comprising of the following steps: providing a concealed trash can system (trash collection station 20) comprised of a door (Fig. 2, front wall 42) comprised of an opening (Fig. 1 shows opening in front wall 42), a secondary door (front access door 36) attached to the door (front wall 42), and a rear surface (Fig. 2 shows rear/inner surface of front wall 42); opening the secondary door and placing a piece of trash into the trash receptacle (Col. 3, lines 19-22, “The front access door may be opened by hand, by pushing its bottom edge inwardly, for depositing cans or bottles therethrough and through the open space 34 into the standard collection box 10”); and closing the secondary door (Col. 3, lines 23-24, “The front access door 36 is closable by gravity, and if desired an appropriate spring”).
Weiner fails to disclose the door’s rear surface comprises a fastener that receives a trash receptacle; and further securing the trash receptacle to the fastener.
Jarrett discloses door’s rear surface (Abstract, “the upper bracket includes a flanged device that can be mounted to the interior of any door and support the upper lip or upper edge of a waste basket or container in position” as shown in Figs. 2 and 6) comprises a fastener (Fig. 2, upper bracket 5) that receives a trash receptacle (waste basket B); and further securing the trash receptacle to the fastener (Col. 4, lines 53-55, “all that the user need do is to simply rest the waste basket, at its upper lip, over the curve 15 of the flange 12 of the upper bracket 5”).
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 trash collection station of Weiner such that the collection bin is a waste basket attached to the door via brackets/lips, such as taught by Jarrett, with a reasonable expectation of success in order to easily and quickly withdraw the bin from the inside of the cabinet body upon opening the door, and to further easily remove and replace the receptacle during usage (Col. 3, lines 9-11) such as when emptying the contents of the receptacle.
With respect to claim 19, Weiner in view of Jarret discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Jarrett) further discloses wherein the fastener (upper bracket 5) is comprised of a mounting bracket comprised of a male lip (upper bracket 5 is a mounting bracket that comprises a lip made up of flange 12, upper edge 15, and outer tab 14 which are all inserted into a female channel of the waste basket lip).
With respect to claim 20, Weiner in view of Jarret discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Jarrett) further discloses wherein the trash receptacle is comprised of a female lip (Fig. 6, the waste basket lip has a channel for inserting the upper bracket 5).
Claims 7, 14, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weiner (U.S. Pat. No. 5076458) in view of Jarrett (U.S. Pat. No. 6616109) in further view of Thompson (U.S. Pat. No. 5172630).
With respect to claims 7 and 14, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above except wherein the secondary door is positioned in front of the opening.
Thompson discloses wherein a secondary door (Fig. 3, chute door 116) is positioned in front of the opening (Fig. 2 shows chute door 116 pulled outward and positioned in front of an opening).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the front access door of Weiner with an outwardly-opening chute door, such as taught by Thompson, with a reasonable expectation of success in order to provide a grip/handle for quickly and easily opening the door while further preventing unwanted access to the contents of the waste basket. For example, a pet would not be able to easily open the chute door and access the waste basket.
With respect to claim 15, Weiner in view of Jarrett in further view of Thompson discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination further discloses wherein the trash receptacle (Weiner, collection box 10 as modified by Jarrett to be a waste basket mounted onto the rear surface of front panel 42 via upper bracket 5 and the waste basket lip) is positioned behind the secondary door (Weiner, front access door 36 as modified by Thompson to be a chute door 116).
Claims 5, 6, 16, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weiner (U.S. Pat. No. 5076458) in view of Jarrett (U.S. Pat. No. 6616109) in further view of Smith (U.S. Pat. No. 9796526).
With respect to claim 5, Weiner in view of Jarrett discloses the limitation set forth above except a locking mechanism.
Smith discloses an access door (Fig. 1, chute door 22) having a locking mechanism (keyhole 32 with lock 24).
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 front access door of Weiner to include a lock, such as taught by Smith, in order to prevent unauthorized access of the waste basket via the front access door and to further securing the contents of the wastebasket.
With respect to claims 6 and 16, Weiner in view of Jarrett in further view of Smith discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination further discloses wherein the locking mechanism (Smith, keyhole 32 with lock 24) secures the secondary door (Weiner, front access door 36) to the door (Weiner, front wall 42).
With respect to claim 17, Weiner in view of Jarrett in further view of Smith discloses the limitation set forth above. The combination (Smith) further discloses wherein the locking mechanism (keyhole 32 with lock 24) is comprised of a cam lock, a key lock, a latch lock, a barrel bolt lock, a biometric lock, a digital lock, a keypad lock, an RFID lock, or a magnetic lock (Col. 5, lines 24-26, “when an authorized individual uses a matching key within keyhole 32, the bolt of lock 24 can be withdrawn”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH IRENE ARTALEJO whose telephone number is (571)272-4292. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-6.
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/E.I.A./Examiner, Art Unit 3637 /DANIEL J TROY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3637