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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s).
A though hole as recited in claim 3, currently the reference number 141 is used for the through hole and is directed to the bottom panel/cover body part
No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because of the following:
Reference characters "141" and "13" have both been used to designate the cover body parts in Fig. 4.
Reference characters "14" and "143" have both been used to designate the panel in Fig. 4.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 2-18 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.
Claims 2 and 11 recite “wherein a first preset distance L1 is provided between the connecting part and the door body, a second preset distance L2 is provided between the connecting part and the first surface”, this is unclear. How is this distance measured? Is it a vertical distance? A horizontal distance? When in the open configuration? The closed configuration? The center of the connecting part to the center of the door? To the front face of the door body? Does a preset distance mean there can be more than one distance or is this the absolute distance and no other preset/setting are in the connecting structure?
Claim 3 and 12 recite “a main body part, having a through hole and the opening, the opening communicating with the through hole and the cover body parts covering the main body part and blocking at least part of the through hole”, this is unclear. Is the through hole the remaining portion of the panel that the opening is in? Is this an additional hole in the main body part? Does the main body part mean all of the side walls? Does this mean there is no bottom panel to the apparatus? Is the through hole just another way to claim the opening as items are put through it? How do the cover body parts cover the main body? Does this mean a cover body part is the top wall of the box? If so, then only one part of said parts would be a cover and the other would be a base. Are the main body parts just side walls?
Claim 3 and 12 recite “wherein at least two cover body parts in the cover body parts are provided, at least one of the cover body parts is located on a side of the main body part, at least one other of the cover body parts is located on an other side of the main body part, and the storage cavity is enclosed by the at least two cover body parts and at least part of the main body part”, this is unclear. The relationship between the main body part and cover body parts is unclear. It is unclear if the claim language is directed to the disclosed embodiment. As show the cover body parts are on the top and the bottom of the main body part and not on a side. Further it is unclear if this is a translation error. Also how is the storage cavity enclosed as there is a through hole in the main body part previously claimed? Is there something that will fully block the through hole? Is the through hole a mistranslation? Is the storage cavity partially or majority enclosed by the cover parts and main body? Is this also when the door is in a closed position? This claim is generally unclear.
Claim 4 and 13 recite “wherein, each of the cover body parts has a first clamping part, the main body part has second clamping parts, one of the first clamping part and each of the second clamping parts is a recess, the other of the first clamping part and the each of the second clamping parts is a protrusion, and the protrusion extends into the recess and is in clamping fit with the recess to connect the main body part and the cover body part”, this is unclear. How does a recess and a protrusion form a clamping fit? A clamp is a device designed to bind or constrict or to press two or more parts together so as to hold them firmly, and no such device is recited. Does the applicant mean a snap fit? Or a friction fit? It is unclear if the use of clamping is a mistranslation or if implies more than the protrusion and recess as recited.
Claim 4 and 13 recite “each of the second clamping parts is a recess…the each of the second clamping parts is a protrusion”, this is unclear. These both cannot be true at the same time.
Claim 5 and 14 recite “an internal space of the frames being the opening”, this is unclear. The opening as previously recited was for communication to the storage cavity and having the door assembly arranged in it.
Claim 5 and 14 recites “wherein the inserting assembly is arranged between two adjacent panels of the panels to connect the two adjacent panels; and/or, the inserting assembly is arranged between two adjacent frames of the frames to connect the two adjacent frames; and/or, the inserting assembly is arranged between an adjacent panel and the frame to connect the adjacent panel and the frame”, this is unclear. It is unclear if this claim limitation is directed to the disclosed embodiment. As disclosed in the figured the panels and the frames are integral and as such connecting the frames would be connecting the panels or vice versa, thusly it is unclear. Further it is unclear if the inserting assembly is a separate component or just the edge of the panel.
Claim 7 and 16 recite “at least part of the annular limiting structure and the door body are limited and stopped”, this is unclear. How is the annular limiting structure limited and stopped? Doesn’t the annular limiting structure stop the door? Does the applicant mean the annular limiting structure is configure to limit and stop the door body in the closed configuration?
Claim 8 and 17 recite “a suction assembly”, this is unclear. This again appears to be a mistranslation as nothing that would provide suction as been claimed or disclosed.
Claim 8 and 17 recite “ the first suction structure and at least part of the second suction structure are both made from ferromagnetic materials”, this is unclear. Does the applicant mean they have magnets? Ferromagnetic materials are not always magnets. Also, magnets do not create a suction force but can create a magnetic pull when in proximity, which is not the same as suction (removal of air). Thusly is it unclear what is required to meet this limitation.
Claim 10 recites “a clamping protrusion and a clamping recess, in two adjacent storage apparatuses, a clamping protrusion of one storage apparatus extending into a clamping recess of the other storage apparatus and being in clamping fit with the clamping recess”, this is unclear. As stated above it is unclear how a protrusion and recess provide a clamping relationship.
Claim 12 recites “where the storage structure comprises”, this is unclear. Does the applicant mean both of the storage structures of the at least two storages apparatuses? Or all the storage structures comprise?
Claim 12 recites “the storage cover body parts”, this is unclear. Claim 10 recites “a cover body part of each storage apparatus”, is this the same cover body part? Is this an additional cover body part?
Claim 13 recites “wherein, each of the cover body parts has a first clamping part” and “the first clamping part…is a recess”, this is unclear. Is this the same clamping protrusion as recited in claim 10? It is unclear if this is a duplicate limitation or a different clamping part.
Claims not specifically addressed are included due to their dependencies.
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) 1, 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ahmed US 2020/0385167 A1, herein after referred to as Ahmed.
Regarding claim 1 Ahmed discloses a storage apparatus (2 display kit, Fig. 1-4), comprising:
a storage structure (Figs. 2-3), having a storage cavity and an opening communicating with the storage cavity (interior of kit, Fig. 4), the storage cavity being configured to store an item to be stored (paragraph [0004]; and
a door body assembly (26 front door panel, Figs. 1-4) comprising a door body (central panel) and a connecting structure (22 first hinge fitting, Fig. 4 STEP I), the door body being flippably arranged at the opening through the connecting structure (Fig. 2-4), and the door body having a closed state flipped toward the storage structure to block at least part of the opening (Fig. 2) and an open state flipped away from the storage structure to avoid the opening (Fig. 4);
wherein the connecting structure (22) has a connecting part (34 pivot member), the connecting part is rotatably arranged on an inner wall of the opening (Fig. 4 STEP I), an outer surface of the storage structure having the opening is a first surface, and when the door body is in the closed state, the connecting part is located between the door body and the first surface (Fig. 4 STEP I and IV).
Regarding claim 7 Ahmed disclosed the storage apparatus according to claim 1 and further discloses an annular limiting structure (84 front stop member, 96 side stop member, and 18 front edge), the annular limiting structure being arranged in the opening (Figs. 1 and 4 STEP IV);
wherein, when the door body is in the closed state, at least part of the door body is limited and stopped (paragraph [0039]).
Regarding claim 9 Ahmed disclosed the storage apparatus according to claim 1 and further discloses wherein at least part of the door body is made of a transparent material; and/or, at least part of the storage structure is made of a transparent material (paragraph [0003] lines 1-6 and the apparatus is to display the contents held within it, thusly in order to function the contents must be seen otherwise it is no longer a display but merely a storage box).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lauren Kmet whose telephone number is (313)446-4834. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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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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/L KMET/ Examiner, Art Unit 3735
/Anthony D Stashick/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3735