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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1, 4-6, 11, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vulpitta et al., US 2016/0114998 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Vulpitta ‘998 discloses a cartridge stabilization system comprising: a cartridge housing 10 including a first extension member (i.e., portions of 14, 16) and a spool (22, 24), a roll of material 12 retained on the spool and configured to be dispensed from the cartridge housing via the first extension member, and a nipper 70 positioned on the first extension member, wherein the roll of material 66 passed between the nipper and the fist extension member as the roll of material is dispensed from the cartridge housing; the nipper 70 (i.e., 70 has a front end and a rear end, a cross member 72, a front brace 82) is an elastically deformable hinge biased toward the tab 60 (claims 6 and 11, see paragraph [0027]) and able to movable between a closed position and an open position to engage and disengage from the material (claims 4-5 and 14, see figures 3-4), see figures 1-10.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vulpitta et al., US 2016/0114998 A1, in view of Carriere et al., US20050036816 A1.
Regarding claims 2-3, as stated above, Vulpitta ‘998 discloses the cartridge housing with a first cartridge housing portion 14 and a second cartridge housing portion 16 configured to be releasably coupled to each other with a spool coupling (22, 24), but does not explicitly show one or more protrusions and one or more receiving members, see figures 1-10.
Carriere ‘816 discloses a first cartridge housing 118 with one or more protrusions 103 and a second cartridge housing portion 120 with one or more receiving members 124, see figures 11-12.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the apparatus of Vulpitta ‘998 to include a protrusion and a receiving member for the housing as suggested by Carriere ‘816, to ensure that two separate housings are properly secured during the assembly. Furthermore, since all of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is allowed.
Claims 7-10, 12-13, and 15-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claims 7-10, 12-13, and 15-20 are patentable over the prior art of record because the teachings of the references taken as a whole do not show or render obvious the combination set forth in claim 20, including every structural element recited in the claim, especially providing a lock member including an insert portion and a cover portion, and installing the lock member on the cartridge housing such that the insert portion is at least partially received within the spool and the cover portion at least partially encloses the nipper and the portion of the roll of material.
None of the references of the prior art teach or suggest the elements of the device as advanced above and such do not provide the necessary motivation, absent applicant's specification, for modifying the device in the manner required by the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANG K KIM whose telephone number is 571-272-6947. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M or Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 7 P.M.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Robert Hodge, can be reached on (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SK
8/28/26
/SANG K KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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