DETAILED ACTION
Claims 43-63 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 14, 2026.
Claims 37-42 and 64-78 are currently pending.
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
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) 37, 38, 40-42, 64-69, and 71-78 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lake et al. (US 5,260,556) (hereinafter referred to ‘Lake’).
Lake teaches
Regarding claim 37,
a plastic container having a surface portion marked with a plurality of elongated markings that collectively represent a 2D machine-readable code (see Figure 1), each marking being characterized by an orientation angle defined by a straight line passing through end points thereof, wherein said markings are characterized by five or more different orientation angles (see Column 8, lines 34-39);
regarding claim 38, the plastic container of claim 37 wherein said markings are characterized by nine or more different orientation angles (see Figures 1 and 2);
regarding claim 40, the plastic container of claim 37 in which said markings fall on nodes of a regular lattice, and in which nodes of said lattice are spaced by a distance d, and each of said plurality of markings has a longest dimension of between 0.5d and 3d (see Column 10, lines 48-54);
regarding claim 41, the plastic container of claim 37 in which said markings fall on nodes of a regular lattice, and in which nodes of said lattice are spaced by a distance d, and each of said plurality of markings has a smallest dimension of between 0.2d and 2d (see Column 10, lines 48-54);
regarding claim 42, the plastic container of claim 37 in which said markings fall on nodes of a regular lattice (see Figures 1 and 2)
regarding claim 64, a method of marking a plastic container with a 2D machine-readable code, the method comprising: directing laser energy to each of a plurality of locations on a surface portion of the plastic container to form, at each location of the plurality of locations, a respective one of a plurality of elongated markings, the elongated markings collectively representing the 2D machine-readable code, and controlling the directed laser energy such that (a) each of the elongated markings is characterized by an orientation angle defined by a straight line passing through end points of said marking, and (b) the elongated markings are characterized by five or more different orientation angles (see Figures 1 and 2);
regarding claim 65, the method of claim 64 wherein the elongated markings are characterized by nine or more different orientation angles (see Figures 1 and 2);
regarding claim 66, the method of claim 64 further comprising determining a path among said plurality of locations and, for at least one location of said plurality of locations, setting the orientation angle of the elongated marking at said at least one location of said plurality of locations based on an angle defined by (i) a path excerpt leading to said at least one location of said plurality of locations from a preceding location and (ii) a path excerpt leading from said at least one location of said plurality of locations to a following location (see Column 8, lines 34-39);
regarding claim 67, the method of claim 66 wherein, for said at least one location of said plurality of locations, the orientation angle of the elongated marking is set perpendicular to a bisector of said angle defined by said path excerpts;
regarding claim 68, the method of claim 64 wherein at least one of the elongated markings comprises a first tail and a second tail meeting at an apex, the first tail being formed by an upward ramp of directed laser intensity as a laser approaches the apex, and the second tail being formed by a downward ramp of intensity of the directed laser energy as the laser is moved away from the apex;
regarding claim 69, the method of claim 64 wherein the plastic container is a cylindrical bottle, and said directing laser energy comprises directing the laser energy to a plurality of locations along a circumferential band of the cylindrical bottle;
regarding claim 71, the method of claim 64 wherein the plastic container is formed of polyethylene terephthalate;
regarding claim 72,
a mold for forming a plastic container, the mold comprising a surface region having a plurality of elongated surface features configured to impart, on a plastic container formed by said mold, a plurality of elongated markings collectively representing a 2D machine- readable code, wherein each elongated marking on the plastic container so formed is characterized by an orientation angle defined by a straight line passing through end points of said marking, and wherein the elongated markings on the plastic container so formed are characterized by five or more different orientation angles;
regarding claim 73, the mold of claim 72 wherein the elongated markings on the plastic container so formed are characterized by nine or more different orientation angles;
regarding claim 74, the mold of claim 72 wherein the mold comprises metal;
regarding claim 75, the mold of claim 72 wherein the surface region is defined by a removable insert formed of a material selected from the group consisting of ceramic and reinforced resin;
regarding claim 76, the mold of claim 72 wherein the elongated surface features have been formed in the surface region by laser energy;
regarding claim 77, the mold of claim 76 wherein the surface region has been smoothed by at least one of (i) anodization, (ii) treatment with an acid bath, and (iii) laser polishing using ultrashort ultraviolet pulses;
regarding claim 78, the mold of claim 72 wherein the mold is configured for thermoforming or injection molding of the plastic container.
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.
Claim(s) 39 and 70 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lake in view of Esch et al. (US 2007/0050000) (hereinafter referred to as ‘Esch’).
The teachings of Lake have been discussed above.
Lake lacks the teaching of micro-bubbles.
Esch teaches
markings comprise regions of surface micro-bubbles (see Paragraph 0289).
One of ordinary art would have readily recognized that providing the lake invention with micro-bubbles would have been beneficial considering micro-bubbles are just one or a multitude of manners by which information may be presented on a surface for purposes of space consideration, aesthetics, or price of manufacture. Therefore it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to modify the teachings of Lake with the aforementioned teaching of Esch.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMARA ALZAIDA FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-2389. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
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, Thomas Pham can be reached at 571-272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
July 03, 2026
/JAMARA A FRANKLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
Prosecution Insights