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 § 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) 1 -4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakajima (WO 2017026122).
Regarding claim 1, Nakajima discloses gusseted pouch comprising: a front film (4); a back film (6) opposed to the front film in a front-back direction with a content storage portion interposed between the front film and the back film; a first gusset film (9) heat-sealed to the front film and the back film at a first side seal; and a handle portion (11) for a user to hold the gusseted pouch, wherein the first gusset film includes a first front seal region (Fig. 1, at front 9) heat-sealed to the front film, a first back seal region (Fig. 2, at back 9) heat-sealed to the back film, and a first non-seal region (region between front and back 9), which is a region inside the first front seal region and the first back seal region, the first gusset film includes a first front side part (Fig. 1, at 10) positioned on a front side in a front-back direction of the first non-seal region and a first back side part (Fig. 1, at back 10) positioned on a back side in the front-back direction of the first non-seal region, and the handle portion is provided in each of the first front side part and the first back side part. See Figs. 1-7.
Regarding claim 2, the first non-seal region includes a first front outer edge, which is a boundary with the first front seal region, and a first back outer edge, which is a boundary with the first back seal region, the first front outer edge and the first back outer edge each include a first base edge portion, the first base edge portions of the first front outer edge and the first back outer edge being disposed apart from each other in a front-back direction, a first upper inclination edge portion (top of 9) extending from an upper end of the first base edge portion to a first upper end coupling portion coupling upper ends of the first front outer edge and the first back outer edge to each other, and a first lower inclination edge portion (at 18 or bottom of 9) extending from a lower end of the first base edge portion to a first lower end coupling portion coupling lower ends of the first front outer edge and the first back outer edge to each other, at least a part of the handle portion provided in the first front side part is formed in a part positioned on a front side in a front-back direction of the first base edge portion of the first front outer edge, and at least a part of the handle portion provided in the first back side part is formed in a part positioned on a back side in the front-back direction of the first base edge portion of the first back outer edge. See Fig. 1.
Regarding claim 3, the handle portion is formed as a through hole formed to extend through a corresponding one of the first front side part and the first back side part in a film thickness direction. See Fig. 1.
Regarding claim 4, the first gusset film includes a first film folded portion (middle of 9) in which the first gusset film is folded in a valley fold toward an inside of the gusseted pouch between the first front side part and the first back side part. See Figs. 1-7.
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakajima as applied above in further view of Bezek et al. (US 2007/0127853).
Regarding claim 5, Nakajima does not disclose an inner film. Bezek, which is drawn to a gusseted bag, discloses an inner film (1040) disposed in a content storage portion, wherein the content storage portion includes a first storage region (at 1020) and a second storage region (at 1018) partitioned by the inner film, a first gusset film (Fig. 10a, top or bottom) functions as a side wall constituting the first storage region, and the inner film includes a front fixation portion fixed to an inner side surface of a front film, a back fixation portion heat-sealed to an inner side surface of a back film, an inner film folded portion in which the inner film is folded in a valley fold toward the second storage region between the front fixation portion and the back fixation portion, and a film through portion (holes) formed on the inner film folded portion. See Fig. 10a. Thus, it 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 to have an inner film as disclosed by Bezek in the bag of Nakajima in order to initially separate various items.
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakajima as applied above in further view of Goto (JP 2017-210257).
Regarding claim 6, Nakajima sufficiently discloses the claimed invention except for a second gusset. Goto, which is drawn to a gusseted bag, discloses a second gusset film (5) disposed opposite to a first gusset film (4) in a back-and-forth direction with a content storage portion interposed between the second gusset film and the first gusset film, and heat-sealed to the front film and the back film at a second side seal; and a spout (3), wherein the second gusset film includes a second front seal region heat-sealed to the front film, a second back seal region heat-sealed to the back film, and a second non-seal region, which is a part inside the second front seal region and the second back seal region, and the spout is mounted on the second non-seal region. Thus, it 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 to substitute the side surface (5) of Nakajima for a second gusset as disclosed by Goto in order to facilitate the package to lay flat and aid in staking and storage.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEREK J BATTISTI whose telephone number is (571)270-5709. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm M-F.
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/DEREK J BATTISTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734
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