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 .
Summary
This communication is a First Office Action Non-Final Rejection on the merits.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are currently pending and considered below.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I in the reply filed on 1 September 2026 is acknowledged. Invention I encompasses claims 1-2, 4-5, and 7. Therefore, claims 1-2, 4-5, and 7 are considered and examined below.
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(s) 1-2, 4-5, and 7 is/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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, introduction of “a bottom portion folded in half into an inverted V shape” renders the claim indefinite because the metes and bounds of the claimed limitation “an inverted V shape” is unclear. For example, it is unclear whether a V shape requires a pointed end or it could have slightly rounded end; it is unclear what range of angle between the legs is considered V-shaped; and it is unclear if the legs must be straight or if they can be curved. For the purposes of examination, all of the above-mentioned examples are considered inverted V-shaped.
All dependent claims of the above claims inherit all of the limitations and thus are likewise rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sato (JP 2021-183390 A).
Regarding claim 1, Sato discloses a method for producing a self-standing packaging bag (10 Figs. 1-7) that includes a pair of flat portions (12, Fig. 1) and a bottom portion (11, Fig. 1) folded in half into an inverted V shape and disposed in a lower part of the pair of flat portions (Fig. 10), that has side seal portions (R2, Fig. 7c) and bottom seal portions (R1, Fig. 7c), and that has step portions (R3) formed due to overlapping of films between two-layer portions (“a two-layer part 20b of the laminate 20”, Abstract) in which the pair of flat portions overlap each other and four-layer portions (“a four-layer part 20a of the laminate 20”, Abstract) in which the pair of flat portions overlap the bottom portion, (Fig. 7c)
the method comprising:
in a first sealing step, performing heating and pressurization such that regions including at least parts of the step portions remain as unsealed portions and then performing cooling to form the bottom seal portions (“a first adhesion step of adhering a bottom adhesion part by heating and applying pressure to a four-layer part 20a of the laminate 20 on which the bottom face sheet is positioned”, Abstract; see also Fig. 7a, wherein R1 is sealed while R2 and R3 is not sealed); and
sealing the unsealed portions by heating, pressurization, and cooling in second and subsequent sealing steps (a second and a third adhesion steps, Abstract; see Figs. 7b and 7c, wherein R2 and R3 is subsequently sealed).
Regarding claim 2, Sato discloses the method for producing a self-standing packaging bag according to claim 1, wherein the pair of flat portions and the bottom portion are each formed of a film including a heat-sealable layer containing a polyester-based resin (“The seal layer is a layer made of a heat-welded resin material. Examples of the heat-weldable resin material constituting the seal layer include polyethylene, unstretched polypropylene, and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer”, p. 3, para 2)
Regarding claim 4, Sato discloses a self-standing packaging bag (10) produced by the method for producing a self-standing packaging bag according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Sato discloses a self-standing packaging bag (10) produced by the method for producing a self-standing packaging bag according to claim 2.
Regarding claim 7, Sato discloses method for producing a self-standing packaging bag (10) according to claim 1, wherein in each of at least the first sealing step and the second sealing step, the performance of heating and pressurization and then cooling is conducted by using a bag making machine including a plurality of sets of sealing jigs (“pressing a heated sealing die against the laminated body 20 to heat-weld the sealing layers of the pressed portions to each other”, p. 3 para 8; see also the first/second/third mold 31/32/33) wherein the step portions include regions that are sealed only by one of the sets of sealing jigs that performs a last sealing step (“FIG. 6 shows a third region R3 which is a range heated and pressurized by the third mold 33 in the laminated body 20.” P. 4 para 3).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (See PTO-892 Notice of References Cited).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Himchan Song whose telephone number is (571)272-4142. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at (571) 270-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HIMCHAN SONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
