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 Status
This Office action is in response to the filing of 2/7/2025. Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
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)(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.
Claims 1-5, 7-12 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ruger (WO 2025/103563 A1). Note that for convenience, any citations to the written description of Ruger refer to the attached translation.
Regarding claim 1, Ruger discloses a method of press-forming a construct, the method comprising: obtaining a forming tool (100b – Fig. 3a; note that further citations will refer to the embodiment of Fig. 3a) comprising at least a punch (140 – Fig. 3a) and a cavity part (122a – Fig. 3a), wherein the cavity part at least partially defines a cavity (124 – Fig. 3a) and comprises a plurality of ports (154a – Fig. 3a) in fluid communication with the cavity (pg. 16, second full paragraph and see Fig. 3a where the 154a is clearly in communication with 124); positioning a moisturized paperboard packaging material (1 – Fig. 6a and pg. 3, last full paragraph) between the punch and the cavity (see Fig. 6a where 1 is disposed between 120 and 140); press-forming the moisturized paperboard packaging material into the construct by moving the punch and the cavity part together (pg. 17, lines 38-39) so that the punch is at least partially received in the cavity (see Fig. 6d where the lower section of 140 is disposed in 124) with the moisturized paperboard packaging material pressed therebetween (see Fig. 6d where 1 is clearly pressed since the shape is deformed between 120 and 140); and removing moisturizing fluid in the cavity released by the moisturized paperboard packaging material during press-forming via the plurality of ports in the cavity part (pg. 16, first full paragraph; pg. 16, lines 1-3 of the second full paragraph; and pg. 18, fourth full paragraph).
Ruger further discloses:
Claim 2, the forming tool further comprises a bottom assembly (120 – Fig. 3a), the bottom assembly comprises the cavity part (122a – Fig. 3a) and a bottom mounting plate (122b – Fig. 3a), wherein the bottom mounting plate comprises one or more output passageways (156 – Fig. 3a) that are in fluid communication with one or more of the ports (154a – Fig. 3a) of the plurality of ports (pg. 16, first 3 lines of the second full paragraph), and wherein the removing the moisturizing fluid comprises moving the moisturizing fluid through the one or more output passageways away from the cavity part (pg. 16, first 5 lines of the second full paragraph).
Claim 3, the cavity part (122a – Fig. 3a) defines a bottom recess (at the bottom of 122c – Fig. 3a there are two openings interpreted to be recesses) extending along the bottom mounting plate (122b – Fig. 3a), the bottom recess being in fluid communication with the ports (154a – Fig. 3a) of the plurality of ports (pg. 16, first full paragraph).
Claim 4, the bottom recess (at the bottom of 122c – Fig. 3a there are two openings interpreted to be recesses) of the cavity part (122a – Fig. 3a) is in fluid communication with the one or more output passageways (156 – Fig. 3a) via a plurality of openings (154 – Fig. 3a) in the bottom mounting plate (see Fig. 3a).
Claim 5, the moisturized paperboard packaging material includes more than 10% by weight of a moisturizing liquid prior to the press-forming the moisturized paperboard packaging material (pg. 3, last full paragraph).
Claim 7, the moisturized paperboard packaging material (1 – Fig. 6a) is uncoated (pg. 3 discusses the material and is disclosed as a layer, since there is only one layer, it is interpreted to be uncoated), the punch (140 – Fig. 3a) comprises a plurality of top ports (152 – Fig. 3a; pg. 14 first full paragraph; pg. 15, last full paragraph), and the removing moisturizing fluid in the cavity (124 – Fig. 3a) further comprises removing moisturizing fluid via the plurality of top ports in the punch (pg. 18, fourth full paragraph).
Claims 8-12 and 14, these are apparatus claims that are materially the same as claims 1-5 and 7, hence they are rejected in the same manner.
Claim 15, the cavity part (122a – Fig. 3a) comprises a pocket (the depression formed in 122a – Fig. 3a) and an insert (122c – Fig. 3a is interpreted to be an insert since it can be removed with the entirety of 122a) is at least partially received in the pocket (see Fig. 3a, 122c is partially disposed in the pocket of 122a), and wherein the cavity extends along at least a portion of the insert when the insert is at least partially received in the pocket (see Fig. 3a).
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 6 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ruger (Wo 2025/103563 A1) in view of Shen (CN 201292485 Y).
Regarding claim 6, Ruger discloses essentially all of the elements of the claimed invention in claim 6 and further discloses the forming tool further comprises a top assembly (the assembly of 140 and 180 – Fig. 3a) comprising the punch (140 – Fig. 3a) and the moisturized paperboard packaging material comprises a barrier layer facing the punch (the upper half of 1 – Fig. 6a is interpreted to be the claimed barrier layer since a layer is simply a thickness of material and the material is capable of providing resistance to items impinging it).
However, Ruger does not disclose that the top assembly is free from exhaust features.
Shen discloses a similar forming tool (the assembly of 1 and 2 – Fig. 1) comprising a top assembly (2 – Fig. 1) comprising a punch (22 – Fig. 1), wherein the top assembly is free from exhaust features (see Fig. 1, there are only exhaust features 12 in 1). One of ordinary skill in the art, upon reading the teaching of Shen, would have recognized that modifying Ruger such that the top assembly is free from exhaust features as taught by Shen would not impact the intended operation of the forming tool.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention, to have modified the top assembly of Ruger to be free of exhaust features as taught by Shen. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to simplify construction of the top assembly and reduce construction time and costs.
Assuming that applicant argues that the packaging material of Ruger does not contain a barrier layer, the examiner further takes Official Notice that providing a barrier layer on a packaging material intended for pressware is old and well-known in the art.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention, to have modified the moisturized paperboard packaging material to comprise a barrier layer. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve the ability of final pressware products to prevent leaks.
Regarding claim 13, this claim is materially the same as claim 6 and is rejected in the same manner. It is further noted though that the moisturized paperboard packaging material of claim 13 is not a part of the claimed invention. Hence, regardless of whether Ruger discloses a barrier layer, the forming tool of Ruger is fully capable of being used with a moisturized paperboard packaging material having a barrier layer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS M WITTENSCHLAEGER whose telephone number is (571)272-7012. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI: 9:00-5:00.
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/THOMAS M WITTENSCHLAEGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
12/22/2025