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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: reference character “1402” has been used to designate both the window and the vertical handle.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-9 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.
Claim 1 recites “an opening” in line 4 and “a window” in line 5. It is unclear if these are the same structures or if the opening and the window are different features.
Claim 1 recites “said slidable cover holds in multiple opening positions” in line 6. It is unclear if the cover can be held in multiple positions or if the cover holds something else in multiple open positions.
Claim 1 recites “said bowl including multiple pockets and being configured for selective rotation with said spinning tray and connected lid” and “a plunger button configured to actuate rotation of the tray”. It is unclear what features are being rotated and what the rotation is relative to.
Claim 2 recites the limitation ""the interior circumference" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 4 recites “a seal between each lunch box compartment and the lunch box compartment connected in said vertical arrangement”. It is unclear if all compartments are sealed to each other or just adjacent compartments.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the slidable lid position" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites “one or more containment compartments”. It is unclear if these are the same compartment claimed in claim 1.
Claim 8 recites the limitation " the rims of each of the lid and of the bowl" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Alexander (US-5921395-A) discloses a dispenser that includes a generally disc shaped body 4 formed with a plurality of compartments 5 on at least one face of the disc, the open tops of compartments 5 are enclosed by a cover 20 that is rotatably mountable to body 4. Rotation of cover 20 about axis 30 allows opening 28 to be aligned over compartments 5 to permit access to the contents of the compartment.
Cheng (US-5226539-A) discloses a container 10 that comprises a housing with upper and lower housing portions 12, 14 that are joined for relative rotation about a vertical axis 16. The lower housing portion 14 has internal partitions that divide its interior into eight compartments (generally indicated with reference numeral 18 in FIG. 2) in circumferentially side-by-side relationship, each compartment spanning a 45-degree sector.
Thayer (US-4164301-A) discloses a container opening 18 formed therethrough that should be taken as being essentially the size and shape of one of the compartments 12. Along one edge of that opening is shown arranged a bar 19 secured to that lower disk 16, along one side of opening 18 extending normal to lower disk 16. The bar 19, proximate to the outer edge of the disk 16, is shown as having had a notch 19a removed therefrom. Bar 19 extends upwardly from the lower disk for installation through an opening 20 that is essentially like opening 18, and includes the area of bar 19 and is formed in the upper disk 17. So installed, bar 19 can be moved across opening 20, turning lower disk 16 appropriately by an operator.
Afif et al. (US-20200407135-A1) discloses a vertically stacked container set FIG. 32, the main body is designed at its upper central area to comprise, for the three chambered version as depicted, three support towers 7, 8, and 9, that rise from a flooring 25 (FIGS. 5, 6) that spans the central core 24 (FIG. 4) of the main container body. The three support towers are situated so as to span and be aligned symmetrically with the division walls between the three separated chambers. This positioning and spacing arrangement is similar for each of the other embodiments of lesser or greater number of chambers.
Miksovsky et al. (US-20200407112-A1) discloses a stacked container set with a handle FIGS. 1-4D. The modular stacking container system 100 includes at least two stackable containers 110 and a handle 120 for carrying the container system 100. The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes four containers 110. The containers 110 can be stacked vertically.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY R ALLEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7426. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Jenness can be reached at (571)270-5055. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY R ALLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733
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