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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-7, 10, 12, 13, 17-19, 22,23, 25, 27, 30-33, and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koltun (US 4496054) in view of Glenn (US 2020/0308359).
Regarding Claim 1, Koltun discloses a corner protector comprising at least one base portion (10, 22) comprising at least one hole (32) and at least one housing (defined by the interior of trapezoidal walls). The housing is arranged configured to house a protruding portion of the object. Furthermore, Koltun discloses at least one plug (16) arranged in said at least one hole of said at least one base portion. While Koltun discloses that the shell is made of an inexpensive lightweight insulative and cushioning material such as expanded polystyrene (Col. 4 Lines 36-44) and the plug is made of a more durable expanded polyethylene material (Col. 4 Lines 58-68), Koltun does not disclose the product is made of a solid cellulose foam material.
Glenn discloses a cellulose fiber foam material used in impact protective applications (Paragraph 0035). Koltun and Glenn are analogous inventions in the art of expanded foam impact protective materials.
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the polymer-based foam materials of Koltun with the cellulose-based material disclosed in Glen in order to utilize biodegradable and/or sustainable materials such as plant-based expanded foams (Paragraph 0007).
Regarding Claim 2, Koltun discloses the housing has a shape corresponding to a shape of the protruding portion of the object.
Regarding Claim 3, Koltun discloses the hole is arranged to be perpendicular to said protruding portion at each end of the object when the object is arranged in the housing. In other words, every face of the hole is perpendicular to a corner edge of the object.
Regarding Claim 4, Koltun discloses the hole is arranged at a corner portion of the object protruding portion.
Regarding Claim 5, Koltun discloses the hole is arranged at a corner edge portion of said corner portion and is further arranged to have an angle to said corner edge portion.
Regarding Claim 6, while Koltun does not disclose the angle of the hole, as shown in Figure 5, the angle of the walls may be modified in dimension to suit different sizes of plug and/or corner edges of the protected object.
Regarding Claim 7, Koltun discloses the hole is arranged to be in a direct contact with the housing.
Regarding Claim 10, Koltun discloses two or more base portion fixedly arranged to each other by a fixing means (being integrally molded). The base portions therefore form a housing having a shape corresponding to the corner of the protected object.
Regarding Claim 12, Koltun discloses the plug has a shape complementary to the shape of the hole.
Regarding Claims 13 and 19, while Koltun does not explicitly disclose the base portion comprises at least one compressed region of a higher density than an uncompressed region, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that the areas in contact with the object would be compressed to a higher density at adjacent surfaces to the object or may be made to be of higher density to absorb impact at selected locations.
Regarding Claim 17, Koltun discloses the plug is of greater density than at the housing base portions.
Regarding Claim 18, while Koltun does not disclose the densities of the plug and housing, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that the densities may be varied based on the expected impacts faced by the object.
Regarding Claim 22, the plug in Koltun may be densified in order to provide a harder shock absorbing surface.
Regarding Claim 23, Koltun discloses one surface of the housing is arranged to be in a direct contact with a protruding portion.
Regarding Claim 25, Koltun discloses the plug arranged in the hole is arranged to be in a direct contact with the protruding portion inside the housing.
Regarding Claim 26, as discussed above, while Koltun discloses the housing and plug is made from foam compositions, Koltun does not disclose a cellulose foam composition. However, based on the teachings of Glenn, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious the composition claimed based on desired performance objectives for the final application of the corner protector.
Regarding Claim 30-33 and 38, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious the method of producing the corner protector of Koltun using the methods of Glenn including using pressing tools, arranging base portions, obtaining the densities as claimed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
While a foam protective corner having a fixing means is disclosed in CN 216187596 and a number of adjustably movable corner protective means are known as seen in Believeau (US 2002/0056656), there is no obvious means to utilize the plug of Koltun as the fixing means between two plate members of the corner protector.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please note that while Koltun does discuss the avoidance of paper pulp as a material in Col. 4 Lines 4-13 and Col. 6 Lines 2-5, this does not exclude the foamed cellulosic materials of Glenn which are discussed to provide impact resistance and includes binders for moisture resistance (Paragraphs 0032, 0049).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIDEON R. WEINERTH whose telephone number is (571)270-5121. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10AM-6PM EST.
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, Orlando Aviles can be reached at (571) 270-5531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GIDEON R WEINERTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736
