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 office action replaces the previously provided office action. The following action now includes the secondary reference.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of species A, figures 1-4, claims 1-10, 14-23 in the reply filed on 12/10/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 11-13, 14-41 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species/invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on the above date.
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) 1-10, 14-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Perrin (US 3815801 A) in view of Nichiban (JP05072726).
Perrin discloses:
1/14. A carton/blank for holding an article/for forming a carton (figs 1-15), the carton/blank comprising: a plurality of panels extending at least partially around an interior of the carton (adjacent 66, 65, 74-77 with inside), the plurality of panels comprising a front panel (adjacent 66), a back panel (adjacent 67), and at least one bottom panel (adjacent 65); a plurality of end flaps foldably connected to a respective panel of the plurality of panels (74, 75, 76, 77), the plurality of end flaps at least partially overlapped to form at least one closed end of the carton (as in fig 10, 11 for example); a dispenser comprising a dispenser opening at least partially defined along the plurality of panels for accessing the article in the interior of the carton (potion as shown in fig 4, 5, 10, 11, 13 such as where intended contents is presented across opening, such as adjacent “57” in fig 4); and an article separating member at least partially received for at least partially separating a selected portion of the article from a remainder thereof (adjacent 87 capable of performing the above intended use); with the exception of the following which is disclosed by Nichiban: separating member in the interior of the carton (adjacent 27 in figs 1-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Perrin in view of Nichiban (by moving the member internally or providing another member internally) in order to provide that the above element is contained internally in order to protect the element from potential damage of which will assist in unintentional loss or removal of the element
The Combined Reference discloses:
2/15. The carton/blank of claim 1, wherein the plurality of panels and the plurality of end flaps comprise paperboard (Perrin col. 1: 7-15).
3/16. The carton/blank of claim 2, wherein the article separating member comprises a body at least partially defining a cutting edge (Perrin Edge of 87 as shown in fig 7).
4/17. The carton/blank of claim 2, wherein the plurality of panels further comprises at least one top panel foldably connected to the front panel (adjacent 68 such as with 87 where the edge protrude past in fig 7, 4).
5/18. The carton/blank of claim 3, wherein the article separating member is attached to the at least one top panel such that the cutting edge protrudes past the at least one top panel (Perrin figs 1-15, Nichiban figs 1-5, where the edge protrude past in fig 7, 4 of Perrin).
6/19. The carton/blank of claim 3, wherein the article separating member is attached to an end flap of the plurality of end flaps such that the cutting edge protrudes past the end flap (Perrin figs 1-15, Nichiban figs 1-5, where the edge protrude past in fig 7, 4 of Perrin).
7/20. The carton/blank of claim 4, wherein the plurality of panels further comprises a handle panel foldably connected to the at least one top panel (Perrin adjacent 82).
8/21. The carton/blank of claim 7, wherein the handle panel comprises an upper portion and a lower portion, the lower portion separated from the front panel and the at least one top panel to at least partially define the dispenser opening (Perrin such as area above 71 in fig 11 and area below 71 in fig 11 being lower, as shown in fig 11 the lower portion is separated from front 66 and top 68 as shown between fig 10, 11).
9/22. The carton/blank of claim 8, wherein the carton comprises package supporting features comprising a hanger opening at least partially defined in the upper portion of the handle panel (perrin opening in panel as in fig 10, 11).
10/23. The carton/blank of claim 3, wherein the carton further comprises article positioning features, the article positioning features comprising an article positioning flap foldably connected to the back panel and positioned extending into the interior of the carton for at least partially extending through an article (Adjacent 85, 86).
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