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 .
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.
Claim 8 is 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. In line 2, “raised square ledge” lacks antecedent basis. The claim is indefinite because it is unclear if applicant is referring to the “raised ledge” recited in line 1 of the claim, or if it is introducing an additional “raised squared ledge”.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Combs (US 6,571,945) in view of James (US 2014/0231289).
Claims 1 and 2
Combs discloses a method of sealing a disc within a display case, comprising providing a disc case (10) having a base plate (14) and a disc plate (12), wherein the base plate is configured to mount to the disc plate; inserting a disc (16) between the base plate and the disc plate; connecting an entire perimeter edge of the base plate with the disc plate, wherein the entire perimeter edges (20) is configured to enclose the disc (see figures 1 and 2); sealing the disc plate to the base plate using an heat seal, such as radio frequency sealing, along at least one perimeter edge (see column 2 lines 11-13 and lines 42-47), such that the seal prevents separation of the disc plate from the base plate along the entire perimeter edge and is configured to prevent separation of the disc plate from the base plate. Combs does not specifically disclose the seal formed by ultrasonic sealing. However, James discloses a pouch (10) having portions, such as top, bottom, perimeter, and peripheral areas can be sealed by any of heat seal, ultrasonic seal, radio frequency seal, adhesive seal, or combinations (see [0041]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the base plate and disc plate sealed to each other by ultrasonic sealing as taught by James as an alternative sealing method between the base and disc plate since it is recognized that ultrasonic, radio frequency, adhesive, and/or heat sealing are equivalents methods of sealing in the art.
Claim 3
Combs further discloses the disc is permanently enclosed within the disc case. Until the disc case is not cut, the disc will be permanently enclosed within the disc case (see column 2 lines 36-40).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Combs (US 6,571,945) and James (US 2014/0231289) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ulrich (US 2005/0011784).
Combs further discloses the disk is a CD-ROM/optical disc (see [0039]). Combs does not disclose the disk comprising a vinyl disk. However, Ulrich discloses a disc case that could be used to store either an optical disk or a vinyl record (see [0002]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the CD-ROM/optical disk for a vinyl disk since both types of disks are equivalent articles to be stored within the case.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Combs (US 6,571,945) and James (US 2014/0231289) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sankey (US 6,698,586).
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Combs does not disclose a raised circular ledge extending from an interior surface of the disc plate, wherein the raised circular ledge comprises a same thickness as the disc and is adapted to receive the disc therein. However, Sankey discloses a container (10) for storing a disc (22), the container comprising a disc plate (12) with a raised circular ledge (defined by raised portion extending around outer periphery of the disc plate) forming a cavity for receiving the disc (see figure above). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Combs having a raised ledge forming a cavity in the disc plate to prevent movement of the disc held within the disc case.
Claims 6, 7 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Combs (US 6,571,945) and James (US 2014/0231289) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Udwin (6,106,015).
Claims 6, 7 and 9
Combs does not disclose an album case secured to the disc case, wherein the album case comprises a second base plate and a second disc case linearly aligned to allow multiple vinyl records to be displayed. However, Udwin discloses an album case (10) comprising first and second cases (12), wherein the first case is capable of holding a disc and the second case is capable of holding an album, wherein each of the first and second cases formed by a base plate/sheet and a disc plate/sheet are linearly aligned, and wherein the first and second cases are pivotally connected to the album case forming a side-by-side arrangement (see figure 1b), and wherein the album case is configured to house an album cover (see figures 1b-1d). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Combs having multiple cases pivotally attached and enclosed within an album case as taught by Udwin for enclosing, displaying, transporting and/or protecting plurality of discs within a single arrangement. After Combs is further modified by Udwin, multiple vinyl records and/or other items would be capable to be displayed in a single disc display case.
Claim 10
Combs as modified does not disclose applying an ultrasonic seal to the album case, such that the album cover is permanently enclosed within the album case. However, Udwin discloses the first and second album cases comprising the album covers are attached to the album case by ultrasonic sealing along seal (64) (see figure 8, abstract and column 7 lines 29-33), so that the album cover are permanently enclosed within the album case. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Combs and Udwin having the album cover attached to the album case by ultrasonic sealing for simply attaching the album cover to the album case.
Claims 11 and 12
After Combs is modified by Udwin, the disc case will be pivotally secured to the album case, wherein the disc case and the album case are movable/foldable between a folded configuration and an unfolded configuration, along fold lines (40 and 41) and a spine (46) and configured to rotate towards each other and stack above one another such that exterior sides of the disc plate and the album plate contact each other (see column 6 lines 16-29).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAFAEL A. ORTIZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5240. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am - 6pm.
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, Orlando E. Aviles can be reached at 571-270-5531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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RAFAEL A. ORTIZ
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3736
/RAFAEL A ORTIZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736