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 Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 11 recites “…the guides are coupled to the cover for being temporarily biased into the cover during the snapping of the of the guides into engagement with the lips.” This is ungrammatical.
Claim 19 objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 19 recites “… the base includes a strainer is formed by a plurality of strips…” This is ungrammatical. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 3-11, 13-15, 19, 23 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sinacori (US 8919593).
Regarding Claim 1, Sinacori discloses a cup for receiving liquid ingredients (Col. 2 Lines 44-50) and a lid (10) for the cup, the lid including a base including a top wall and an opening (20) in the top wall for dispensing the liquid ingredients out of the cup and a pressure relief hole (22) in the top wall for releasing air from the cup while dispensing the liquid ingredients out of the cup through the opening (Col. 2 Lines 59-66). Sinacori also discloses a cover (12) movably coupled to the base for moving along the top wall between a first orientation in which the cover covers the opening and the pressure relief hole, and a second orientation in which the opening and the pressure relief hole are uncovered. Sinacori further discloses an elastic element (V-spring arrangement with lever assembly 38 – Col. 3 Line 62-Col. 4 Line 10 and the resiliently deformable features on the underside of the slider body discussed in Col. 3 Lines 23-45) for biasing the cover into the first orientation, the cover being movable from the first orientation into the second orientation by overcoming the biasing by the elastic element.
While Sinacori does not disclose that the cup is used as a cocktail shaker, Sinacori does disclose that the lid assembly may be used with various container types including but not limited to mugs, tumblers, glasses, or other container types. A person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that a cocktail shaker is a known container type that may be used with the lid of Sinacori.
Furthermore, while Sinacori does not explicitly disclose that the cup and lid are configured such that a user can grip the cup with one hand and move the cover from the first orientation to the second orientation with an index finger of the one hand, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that the lever assembly 38 of Sinacori may be operated with an index finger of one hand.
Regarding Claim 3, Sinacori discloses the elastic element is housed within the cover.
Regarding Claim 4, Sinacori discloses the elastic element is housed entirely within the cover.
Regarding Claim 5, Sinacori discloses an entirety of the cover is above the top wall during the movement from the first orientation into the second orientation.
Regarding Claim 6, Sinacori discloses the cover is snapped on and off the base by way of tab (36) engagement with flanges as discussed in Col. 3 Lines 53-61.
Regarding Claim 7, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that the snap engagement means disclosed in Sinacori is configured such that an upward force applied by a user's finger to a longitudinal end of the cover snaps the cover off of the base.
Regarding Claim 8, Sinacori discloses the cover includes guides on sides thereof that are configured for being snapped into engagement with lips on the base.
Regarding Claim 9, Sinacori discloses the base includes a longitudinally extending slot (18, 24) in which the cover is movable between the first orientation and the second orientation, the slot being delimited by two longitudinally extending side walls, the lips forming parts of tracks in the two longitudinally extending side walls.
Regarding Claim 10, Sinacori discloses the use of a recessed portion (26) which correspond with ramps (28) that ensure the flush seating of the cover (12) in a first position and may ramp out of the recesses in a second open position (Col. 3 Lines 4-22). This would apply pressure between the hemispherical protrusions (32) within the openings (20, 22). While Sinacori does not explicitly disclose a gasket, gaskets are commonly used in liquid handling devices to prevent leaks and the use of gaskets are obvious modifications in the art.
Regarding Claim 11, Sinacori discloses the guides are coupled to the cover for being temporarily biased into the cover during the snapping of the of the guides into engagement with the lips.
Regarding Claims 13-14, while Sinacori does not disclose the dimensions of the longitudinally extending slot and cover, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious that the dimensions of the components may be varied to suit differently sized containers or for other design parameters that would not impact the functioning of the lid.
Regarding Claim 15, while Sinacori does not disclose a finger grip of the cover, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious the use of a finger grip as a known alternate means of moving and operating a slidable cover in a drink lid.
Regarding Claim 19, the use of strainers are well known in the art and are typically used to filter and strain the contents of a fluid held within a cup from solids such as ice. Please see Howard (US 2014/0065276) Figure 11, Nyden (US 3223297) Element 7, and McCabe (US 5310081) Element 64.
Regarding Claim 23, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious the method of using the device of Sinacori as a cocktail shaker as claimed.
Regarding Claim 24, the limitations of this claim are considered in Claim 1 as discussed above.
Claims 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sinacori (US 8919593) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gladish (US 5199597).
Regarding Claim 17, Sinacori discloses the limitations of Claim 1 as discussed above. Sinacori does not disclose a stop fixed to the top wall, the elastic element being a spring held between the cover and the stop.
Gladish discloses a similar self-closing container lid comprising a sliding cover (40) comprising a stop (54) and a spring element (51) held between the cover and the stop. Sinacori and Gladish are analogous inventions in the art of spring biased self-closing lids.
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 integral construction of the resilient element in Sinacori with the separate components including the stop of Gladish as this represents the substitution of an integral spring construction with an alternate separate construction of analogous spring-biasing means.
Regarding Claim 18, both Sinacori and Gladish disclose the elastic element is configured for being in an expanded orientation in the first orientation of the cover and in a contracted orientation in the second orientation of the cover, the elastic element configured to be compressed by moving the cover from the first orientation to the second orientation and compressing the elastic element between the stop and a surface of the cover.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12, 20 and 21 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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.
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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
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