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 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 49-58,60 and 62-65 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kauffeld (US 3,029,997) in view of Mitchell (US 6,997,345).
Referring to claims 1 and 15. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4), comprising:
a base wall (bottom of dispenser of Figure 4);
a top wall (54) having a rear edge (rear edge 53 as seen in Figure 5) and a front edge (front edge 33 as seen in Figure 4);
at least one side expansion wall (wall including wall 24 and 21; Figure 4) extending between said base wall (bottom of dispenser of Figure 4) and said top wall (54), the at least one side expansion wall (wall 24) expandable between a compacted state (as in Figure 8) and an expanded state (as in Figure 4);
a dispensing location (top opening of dispenser; Figure 3) configured to dispense sheet material (product) therethrough, said dispensing location (top opening of dispenser; Figure 3) being disposed at a top front edge portion (top portion of dispenser at the edge portion of wall 54) the dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4);
wherein the dispensing location (top opening of dispenser; Figure 3) is configured to be disposed adjacent to an uppermost edge of the Zig- Zag folded strip of the sheet material (product stored in the dispenser container) when the sheet material (product) is positioned within the storage space (when product is stored in dispenser container);
Kauffeld does not disclose a hanging arrangement for hanging of the hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package and is configured to facilitate dispensing of sheet material,
and further Kauffeld does not disclose a hanging arrangement wherein, at the hanging position, a front wall of the dispensing package is disposed at an angle smaller than 90 degrees with respect to a horizon.
Mitchell discloses a dispenser (710; Figure 22) for a sheet material (12) comprising a hanging arrangement (750; Figure 22 and 24) for hanging of the hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (710), said hanging arrangement (750) having a hanging portion (sling portion 750) which at a hanging position (as shown in Figure 22) is disposed closer to said rear edge than said front edge (see connecting edge of sling 750 disposed at a rear edge of the dispenser), and furthermore
wherein, at the hanging position (hanging position as shown in Figure 22), a front wall (wall 799; Figure 22) of the dispensing package (62) is disposed at an angle smaller than 90 degrees with respect to a horizon (see angle between a horizontal plane and the plane of front wall 799 is less than 90 degrees as shown in Figure 22).
Mitchell further discloses the product to dispense as being a sheet material (12; Figure 2) wherein the sheet material (12) is positioned within a storage space (interior of dispenser 710) of the dispensing package in the form of a Zig-Zag folded strip (interfolded sheets),
wherein the dispensing location (dispensing position of the product) is configured to be disposed adjacent to an uppermost edge of the Zig- Zag folded strip (top edge portion of the folded product) of the sheet material when the sheet material is positioned within the storage space (interior of dispenser 710).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the teachings of Kauffeld to have included a hanging arrangement to allow the dispenser to be hanged and wherein a front wall of the dispensing package is disposed at an angle smaller than 90 degrees with respect to a horizon as taught by Mitchell because the dispenser can be hanged or placed on a support surface thus allowing the dispenser to be placed in multiple configurations required by a user furthermore the inclined front wall of the dispensing package disposed at an angle smaller than 90 degrees with respect to a horizon would allow the dispensing opening of the dispenser to be tilted towards a user thus allowing easier visibility of the dispenser opening and easier dispensing access to the opening.
It would have been further obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the teachings of Kauffeld to have included the dispenser as being configured to be dispense sheet material as taught by Mitchell because the dispenser would be further compatible with dispensing sheet products thus expanding the usefulness of the dispenser.
It would have been further obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the teachings of Kauffeld to have included the dispensing location configured to be disposed adjacent to an uppermost edge of the Zig- Zag folded strip as taught by Mitchell because the sheet product can be more readily extracted from the dispensing opening by the user.
Referring to claim 2. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4), comprising:
wherein said at least one expansion wall (wall 24; Figure 4) comprises a folded portion (24a-24c; Figure 4) configured to unfold so as to facilitate said expansion of the at least one expansion wall (wall 24; Figure 4) from the compacted state (as in Figure 5) to the expanded state (as in Figure 4).
Referring to claim 3. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4),
wherein said folded portion (24a-24c; Figure 4) is adjacent to the top wall (54; Figure 2).
Referring to claim 4. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4),
wherein said folded portion (24a-24c; Figure 4) is narrower (as shown in Figure 4) at an area thereof disposed proximal to the rear edge of the top wall (rear edge 53 as seen in Figure 5), than at an area thereof disposed proximal to the front edge of the top wall (front edge 33 as seen in Figure 4).
Referring to claim 5. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4),
wherein said at least one expansion wall (wall 24; Figure 4) include two expansion walls (24a and 24c).
Referring to claim 6. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4),
wherein said prism is a cuboid (see shape in Figure 4).
Referring to claim 7. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4),
wherein said hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4) is made of sheet material (die-cut blank).
Referring to claim 8. Mitchell discloses a dispenser (710; Figure 22) for a sheet material (12) wherein said hanging arrangement (750; Figure 22 and 24) is in the form of a tubular loop (see Figure 20).
Referring to claim 9. Mitchell discloses a dispenser (710; Figure 22) for a sheet material (12) wherein
wherein the hanging arrangement (750; Figure 22 and 24) is connected at a rear portion of the dispensing package (see Figure 20).
Referring to claim 10. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4),
said at least one expansion wall (wall 24; Figure 4) is configured to be positioned upright when the dispensing package is suspended from said hanging arrangement (as in Figure 20 of Mitchell).
Referring to claim 11. Mitchell discloses a dispenser (710; Figure 22) for a sheet material (12) wherein
the angle is in a range of 10 degrees to 90 degrees (see angle of the bottom wall of dispenser 710 in comparison with a horizontal plane; Figure 22).
Referring to claims 12 and 14. Mitchell discloses a dispenser (710; Figure 22) for a sheet material (12) wherein
when the sheet material (12) is positioned within the storage space (interior of dispenser) a limb of the Zig Zag folded strip (bottom most portion of the folded sheet product 12) is adjacent to the base wall (bottom wall of 710 as seen in Figure 22), and a hinge axes side of the Zig Zag folded strip (fold axis of the contained sheet 12) is adjacent to a front wall (799) of the hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (710).
Referring to claim 13. Kauffeld discloses a hangable and expandable prism-shaped dispensing package (dispenser of Figure 4),
wherein the dispensing location (top opening of dispenser; Figure 3) is positioned on the front edge (55) of the top wall (54; Figure 5).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Also see reference Ayats (WO 2006/003387 A1) wherein Figure 1 discloses applicant’s claimed dispenser.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAKESH KUMAR whose telephone number is (571)272-8314. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH from 8AM-6:30PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford can be reached at (571) 272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAKESH KUMAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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