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 § 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.
Claims 1-8 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitations "the outer side of the first dispensing outlet" in line 4 and “the dispensing outlet” in line 8. Claim 1 does not define the first dispensing outlet in terms of any outer or inner sides prior to such recitation. Also claim 1 recites “a first dispensing outlet” and “a second dispensing outlet”. It is not clear which dispensing outlet is being referred to in line 8. Therefore, there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 2 recites the limitations “the side wall of the annular groove” in line 3 and “the outer side of the ring” in line 6. Similar to claim 1, claim 2 does not define any structure in terms of side wall for the annular groove and inner or outer sides of the ring. Therefore, there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitations “the inner wall of the annular groove” in line 4 and “the inner wall of the dispensing tray” in lines 8-9. Claim 3 or any of the preceding claims do not define any structure in terms of an inner wall of the annular groove and any inner wall of the dispensing tray. Therefore, there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 4 recites “the two ends of the recessed subsection” in lines 3-4 and “two second inclined subsections” in line 4, “the two ends of protruding subsection” in lines 6-7, and “two first inclined subsections” in line 7. Claim 4 or any of the preceding claims do not define that the recessed subsection ahs two ends, two second inclined subjections, two ends of the protruding subsection and two first inclined subsections. Therefore, there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Dependent claims 5-8 are also rejected under the same grounds for being dependent on claims 1-4, either directly or indirectly.
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.
Claims 1 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ross (US PN 7,047,758).
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Ross discloses a detachable dispensing device (item 26, figures 3 and 4) for a cold drink machine (figures 2-4, the device takes liquid ice cream and produces semi-solid frozen custard, abstract), comprising
a dispensing tray (item 34, figure 3), a housing (item 30, figure 3), and a handle (item 29, figure 5);
the housing is provided with a first dispensing outlet (outlet of cooling chamber 30, figure 3), the dispensing tray is provided with a second dispensing outlet (item 27, figure 4),
the dispensing tray is detachably mounted on the outer side of the first dispensing outlet of the housing (figures 3-4, door 34 is mounted via hinge to housing and dispensing device 20) the first dispensing outlet is connected to the second dispensing outlet, and the dispensing tray is configured to seal the first dispensing outlet (figures 3-5);
the handle is mounted on the dispensing tray and is configured to control the opening and closing of the dispensing outlet (column 7, lines 17-27).
Regarding claim 7, Ross discloses that the handle is a frustum structure that gradually tapers from bottom to top (figure 5 shows that handle 29 is tapered from one end to another end).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable (if the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections are overcome) if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following documents disclose subject matter related to removable dispensing mechanism for drink or comestible food products: US PN 3,939,667, US PN 8,297,182, and US PN 11,252,976.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VISHAL J PANCHOLI whose telephone number is (571)272-9324. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday (9 am - 7 pm).
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/Vishal Pancholi/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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