Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026
Application No. 19/115,833

DISPENSING CONTAINER

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 27, 2025
Priority
Oct 31, 2022 — JP 2022-174896 +1 more
Examiner
CHEYNEY, CHARLES
Art Unit
3754
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
Yoshino Kogyosho Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
57%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
11m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 57% of resolved cases
57%
Career Allowance Rate
461 granted / 813 resolved
-13.3% vs TC avg
Strong +43% interview lift
Without
With
+42.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
39 currently pending
Career history
869
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
57.5%
+17.5% vs TC avg
§102
22.3%
-17.7% vs TC avg
§112
15.3%
-24.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 813 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 § 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saito et al. (US Patent No. 4,465,183). Re: Claim 1, Saito discloses the claimed subject matter including a dispensing container comprising: a container body (4) including a mouth circumferential wall (6) and an engaged portion (Fig. 1, shoulder between body and mouth); and a dispensing tool (2) including a dispensing tool body (9)and a rotation stopper (3) (Fig. 1), the rotation stopper having an engaging portion (18), wherein the dispensing tool body is removable by unscrewing from a state in which the dispensing tool body is screwed in a use position for dispensing contents of the container body with respect to the mouth circumferential wall (Fig. 1, Col. 2, lines 63-68, removable by screwing), and when the dispensing tool body is in the use position (Depicted in Fig. 5), the rotation stopper is movable in an axial direction of the mouth circumferential wall in response to an operation at least from an engaged position to a disengaged position, between the engaged position, in which the engaging portion engages with the engaged portion so that the engaging portion restricts rotation in an unscrewing direction of the dispensing tool body with respect to the mouth circumferential wall, and the disengaged position, in which the engaging portion does not engage with the engaged portion (Depicted between Figs. 4-5, Col. 3, lines 1-12, dispensing tool moved to engaged use position). Re: Claim 2, Saito discloses the claimed invention including the dispensing tool includes a cap (24) that is removable from the dispensing tool body by unscrewing in a same rotational direction as the unscrewing of the dispensing tool body from the mouth circumferential wall (Fig. 1, Col. 3, lines 10-12, unscrewed cap for using). Re: Claim 3, Saito discloses the claimed invention including the dispensing tool body includes a mounting tube (16), and the mounting tube makes the dispensing tool body removable from the use position by unscrewing (via 15) with respect to the mouth circumferential wall (Fig. 3, Col. 2, lines , and the rotation stopper is connected to the mounting tube (via 15), so that relative rotation to both sides in a circumferential direction is restricted and relative movement to both sides in the axial direction is permitted (Figs. 1-3, Col. 2, lines 29-45, relative movement is prevented once connected). Re: Claim 4, Saito discloses the claimed invention including the dispensing tool body is attachable to a temporary holding position with respect to the mouth circumferential wall (Depicted in Fig. 1), and the dispensing tool body includes an abutting portion (12) (Fig. 1), in response to an operation of moving the dispensing tool body from the temporary holding position to the use position, the abutting portion abuts against a sealing member (8) of the container body when the abutting portion moves into the container body on an inner side in a radial direction of the mouth circumferential wall, to thereby open the container body (Col. 3, lines 3-6, sealing member broken by abutting portion), and the dispensing tool includes a stopper (22) that is removable from an opening restriction position for restricting movement of the dispensing tool body from the temporary holding position to the use position (Fig. 1, Col. 2, lines 63-67, stopper removed to allow movement of the dispensing body into a use position). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. References cited on the PTO-892 provide additional examples of references with movement preventing means. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES P. CHEYNEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9971. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. 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, Paul Durand can be reached at 571-272-4459. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /CHARLES P. CHEYNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 27, 2025
Application Filed
Aug 19, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12766536
TRIGGER DISPENSING HEAD WITH NOZZLE ASSEMBLY
3y 10m to grant Granted Oct 20, 2026
Patent 12767423
ACTUATOR FOR DISPENSING A FLUENT PRODUCT
3y 2m to grant Granted Oct 20, 2026
Patent 12766538
SMALL SPRAY PUMP HEAD
2y 5m to grant Granted Oct 20, 2026
Patent 12752986
SELF-VENTING CLOSURE
4y 1m to grant Granted Oct 06, 2026
Patent 12741805
DISPENSING SYSTEMS, DISPENSERS, AND METHODS OF USE
3y 6m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
57%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+42.6%)
2y 6m (~11m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 813 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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