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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, corresponding to Claims 15 to 20. in the reply filed on 05/07/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 06/22/2026, 05/21/2026, 04/22/206, 04/15/2026, 04/07/2026, 11/10/2025, 07/01/2025, 06/20/2025, 05/09/2025, 04/102025, 01/21/2025, 10/31/2024 and 10/11/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Priority
The Application is a Continuation-in-Part of, and claims benefit and priority to, U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 17/941,544 filed September 9, 2022. U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 17/941,544 is a Continuation-in-Part of, and claims benefit to, U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 17/514,005, filed October 29, 2021. U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 17/941,544 also claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 63/255,535 filed on October 14, 2021, and U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 63/261,297 filed on September 17, 2021. U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 17/514,005 filed October 29, 2021, claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 63/153,918 filed on February 25, 2021, and U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 63/111,544 filed on November 9, 2020; but the disclosure of the prior-filed applications, fail to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. Therefore, the effective filing date of the claims will be considered 10/11/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 to 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 1:
The Claim includes the limitations:
providing the web set to a package section and
expanding the expandable packaging material of the web set in a form zone of the package section
The limitations are unclear since even though the underlined texts could be interpreted broadly that could be considered a “package section” or a “form zone”, the specification provide support for a package section 30 including a form zone 30g of a system for custom packaging 10. For prosecution the limitations will be read as – a package section of a system of packaging--.
The Claim includes the limitation “the expandable packaging material is configured to have a first layer that increases in length and a second layer that increases in thickness”. This limitation is unclear because it merely states a function, the first layer increases in length and a second layer increases in thickness, without providing any indication about how the function is performed. The recited function does not follow from the structure recited in the claim so it is unclear whether the function requires some other structure, if the first and second layers increase sizes spontaneously, during an undisclosed step or is simply a result of operating the system of packaging on a certain way.
For prosecution it will be considered that the claimed configuration is the one disclosed in the specification, namely that the first layer of the expandable packaging material comprises a crepe paper, a crinkled paper, a crimped paper, or a corrugated paper, and the second layer the second layer of the expandable packaging material comprises a paper having a plurality of slits formed therein, that that increases in thickness when expanded on a “first direction” perpendicular to the orientation of the slits and the first and second layers of the expandable packaging material are expanded in that same “first direction”.
Regarding Claims 10 and 11:
The Claim reads “moving the gripping of the upper portion”. This is indefinite since a step of gripping is disclosed, but a step is not a physical entity that can be “moved”.
Regarding Claim 12:
The Claim recites the limitation " the web above the sealing of the upper portion of the web set" in the last line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The sealing is a step, so the Examiner considers that maybe the claim refers to a seal that was created in the process, but anyway no web is disclosed above the upper portion of the web set.
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.
Claims 1 to 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reynolds (US 3411698 in view of Starks (WO 2022182691).
Regarding Claims 1 to 6:
Reynolds discloses a method of making a packaging enclosure for an article, said method comprising:
providing a pair of rolls of an expandable packaging material (Figures 1 and 3, rolls 22 and 23 are used to make pouches 17, the material can be unwind and extended, that broadly will be considered as expandable);
unrolling a section of the expandable packaging material per each of the pair of rolls into webs; aligning the webs; matching the webs into a web set (Figure 1 shows the rolls providing sections of material that is being matched and aligned on rolls 35, 36);
providing the web set to a package section; expanding the expandable packaging material of the web set in a form zone of the package section (Figure 1, the section after rolls 35, 36 will be considered a form zone of a package section, the web materials are being straightened and tensioned by the rollers 35, 36 and stabilizing rolls 44 and 45);
forming the packaging enclosure from the web set after the expanding (Figure 3 shows the pouch being pulled and Figure 5D the complete pouch being filled after the expanding).
Reynolds does not disclose the packaging material comprising layers at all:
Stark teaches making an expandable packaging material from protective package paper or other fiber-based material, that is ecologically friendly, to replace bulkier preformed cushioned bags made from a polymer film, the expandable packaging material is configured to have a first layer that increases in length and a second layer that increases in thickness (Figures 5A, 5B, layers 208 and 206)
wherein: at least the first layer of the expandable packaging material comprises a crepe paper, a crinkled paper, a crimped paper, or a corrugated paper; and at least the second layer of the expandable packaging material comprises a paper having a plurality of slits formed therein (Figure 5B, interior sheet material 208 include pleats 224 and can be considered a corrugated or crimped paper and sheet material 206 is an expandable slit sheet material 206;
wherein tensioning expands the first layer of the expandable packaging material in a first direction and expands the second layer of the expandable packaging material in the first direction and in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second layer of the expandable packaging material decreases in width when expanding in the first direction and increases in thickness when expanding in the second direction.
(Figure 6b shows how tensioning expands the both layers of the expandable packaging material in a first direction, while Figures 2A and 2B, paragraph 0049, show how expansion of the slits 14 into the open cells 18 causes the sheet material 12 to buckle and take a three-dimensional shape, as seen in Fig. 2B. The expansion of the slits 14 into the open cells 18 also causes the length of the sheet material 12 to expand in the length direction and the width of the sheet material 12 to shrink in the slit direction);
the first layer of the expandable packaging material decreases in thickness when expanding in the first direction (Figure 6B, pleats 224 are minimized); the expansion of the expandable slit sheet material 206 produces a protective cushion to protect an object (Paragraph 0050) while the first layer of corrugated material 208 allows for expansion of the expandable slit sheet material while at the same time providing support for object against the expanded sheet material once an object is inserted.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Reynolds the teachings of Stark and use the above described expandable packaging material to prevent damage on objects during shipping, the layer of expandable slit sheet material providing cushioning while the layer of corrugated material allows for expansion of the expandable slit sheet material while at the same time providing support for the object in the expanded sheet material once the object is inserted, since the packaging material is made of paper it can be considered ecologically friendly and avoids the use of bulkier preformed cushioned bags made from a polymer film.
Regarding Claim 7:
Reynolds discloses that forming the packaging enclosure comprises: sealing a posterior edge of the web set (Figure 6, transverse seam 64A seals the posterior end of the pouch); gripping a lower portion of the web set; gripping an upper portion of the web set (Figure 5d, Column 5, lines 58 to 65, The spaced apart projections 20 in wall 51 hold such wall away 60 from wall 52 enabling easy grasping of the terminal edges of such walls); and maintaining a separation between webs of the web set at an anterior edge of the web set (Figure 5D shows the separation maintained).
Claims 10 to 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reynolds (US 3411698 in view of Starks (WO 2022182691) as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Palumbo (US 2004/0040262).
Regarding Claims 10 to 12:
As discussed for Claim 7 above, the modified invention of Reynolds discloses the invention as claimed, including spreading an entrance to the pouch and sealing the upper and lower portions.
The modified invention of Reynolds does not disclose spreading the webs of the web set apart from each other, widening the separation thereby creating an entrance to the pouch; wherein spreading comprises: inserting a spreader set between the separated webs of the web set; and inserting a loading chute between the separated webs of the web set and further comprising: inserting the article into the pouch; withdrawing the loading chute; withdrawing the spreader set; and moving the gripping of the upper portion away from the lower portion; wherein the moving away from assists in securing the anterior edge of the web set such that the packaging enclosure surrounds the article..
Palumbo teaches inserting an article into a similar pouch by spreading the opening by inserting a spreader set between the separated webs of the web set; and inserting a loading chute (Paragraph 0068, Figure 1, end member 8 with fingers 9 will be considered a spreader and end 20 of packaging bracket end portion 2b will be considered the chute) once the product is inserted the loading chute; the spreader set are withdrawn (Figures 5 and 6) the anterior end of the bag is not gripped anymore and it is transported to be sealed (Paragraph 0072).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Reynolds the teachings of Palumbo and use a spreader set between the separated webs of the web set; and a loading chute to load the article into the pouch and to send the pouch to be sealed in another position since that is a well-known practice in the art.
Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reynolds (US 3411698 in view of Starks (WO 2022182691) as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Getty (US 2019/0062028).
Regarding Claims 13 and 14:
As discussed for Claim 7 above, the modified invention of Reynolds discloses the invention as claimed, including sealing an entrance to the pouch after inserting the article.
The modified invention of Reynolds does not disclose the step of sealing comprises providing an adhesive coating on a surface of one of the first layer of the expandable packaging material and the second layer of the expandable packaging material; activating the adhesive coating after expanding the web set; and bonding the webs of the web set to one another with the activated adhesive coating wherein activating the adhesive coating comprises subjecting the section of the packaging material to one of heat, pressure, moisture, or combinations of the same after expanding the section of the packaging material.
Getty teaches sealing a pouch by applying an adhesive coating activated by heat (Paragraph 0042, a continuous and/or discontinuous layer of heat-expandable adhesive).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Reynolds the teachings of Getty and use an adhesive coating after expanding the web set for sealing the ends of the pouch, since the use of them is a well-known practice in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
The claims were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as they were written, but in the opinion of the Examiner, Claim 1 in particular could be made allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claim 8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The prior art disclose the first layer being an interior surface of the packaging enclosure.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. In particular Goodrich (US 2020/0039720) teach a pouch made for an expanded packaging material, same as Talda (US 10773839) and Kuchar (US 2017/0107017). Cheich (US 2017/0313017) teaches a two layer expandable packaging material, Stark (US 2023/0399144) teach relevant cushioned bags. Pape (US 2010/00011710) teach filling a relevant bag from a funnel and Schrager (US 10112734) teach filling a bag from a funnel that comprise a spreader.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDUARDO R FERRERO whose telephone number is (571)272-9946. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-7:00.
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, SHELLEY SELF can be reached at 571-272-4524. 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.
/EDUARDO R FERRERO/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
/ROBERT F LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
Prosecution Insights