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
Regarding Claim 7, the claim, as currently amended, has the following verbiage:
7. (Currently Amended) The transfer adapter of claim 5, wherein the adapter unit comprises one or more sealing elements said sealing elements being arranged to provide a sealed connection between the inner wall of the adapter unit and the retaining unit and to maintain the sealed connection between the inner wall of the adapter unit and the retaining unit when the retaining unit is moved from the first position P1 to the second position P2.
As written, Claim 7 contains several run-on phrases. For the sake of clarity and grammar, Examiner recommends amending the claim with commas (,), to read:
7. (Currently Amended) The transfer adapter of claim 5, wherein the adapter unit comprises one or more sealing elements, said sealing elements being arranged to provide a sealed connection between the inner wall of the adapter unit and the retaining unit, and to maintain the sealed connection between the inner wall of the adapter unit and the retaining unit when the retaining unit is moved from the first position P1 to the second position P2.
Examiner notes that several other claims (notably Claims 8-9, 13) share similar grammatical deficiencies, and/or appear to be a literal, idiomatic translation into American English (see also Claims 11-12), and as such contain phrases that are confusing.
For example, Claim 11 contains the phrase, “wherein the transfer bag and the tubular liner are provided with two openings which are arranged on opposite ends of the bag respectively the tubular liner and wherein each of said opposite openings is suitable to be fitted to the retaining unit of the transfer adapter”.
Applicant is requested to thoroughly review all of the claims of the current claim set for grammatical and other minor errors, and correct as necessary.
Regarding Claim 8, the claim contains the phrase “a elastically deformable or pivotable sealing lip”. Examiner recommends amending the word “a” to “an” to make the phrase grammatically correct.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
- “retaining unit” and “retaining element”, both introduced at Claim 1, and interpreted as “any component capable of holding, restraining, and/or affixing a bag or liner”,
- “sealing elements”, introduced at Claim 7, and interpreted as “any component capable of providing a seal for a bag or liner”
- “fitting tool”, introduced at Claim 9, and interpreted as “any component capable of adjusting another component”
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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 4, 14, and 16 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.
Regarding Claim 4, the claim contains the phrase, “a removal member, for example an appendix such as a lug…”. The phrases “for example” and “such as” each render the scope of the claim indefinite, as it is unknown to one of ordinary skill in the art if an “appendix” or a “lug” is actually required for the claimed apparatus.
Examiner recommends amendment of the phrase to read, “a removal member,
Regarding Claim 14, the claim introduces the phrase/component “first retention retaining unit” and “second retention retaining unit”, which appear to refer to the “retaining unit” of antecedent Claims 13 and 1. However, the terms “first” and “second retention retaining unit” lack antecedent basis, as it is not explicitly clear if these components are the same “retaining units” established elsewhere in the claim set, or if they are different components.
Regarding Claim 16, the claim contains a method step “(iv) passing bulk material through the transfer passage established the between the containers.” However, neither Claim 16 nor its antecedent Claim 13 mention method steps i – iii.
Examiner acknowledges method Claim 15, which does establish method steps i – iii. However, Claim 15 is of a different Claim branch than the offending Claim 16. As such, the scope of Claim 16 is indefinite, as it is unclear if Applicant intends for a) the steps i-iii as presented in Claim 15 to be accomplished with or before step iv as presented in Claim 16, or b) a separate list of steps i-iii are to be accomplished for the Claim 16 branch.
Allowable Subject Matter
Examiner reserves full comment on the patentability of the claims pending resolution of the objections and rejections of the claims as raised above. However, Claim 1 appears to be allowable over the prior art, as the prior art fails to disclose or render obvious:
(Claim 1) “A transfer adapter for connecting a bag or a tubular liner to a container for filling or emptying said bag or said tubular liner, said transfer adapter comprising
- an adapter unit for connecting to an aperture of a container, said adapter unit having an inner wall delimiting a transfer opening, and
- a retaining unit comprising
- a retaining fixture for receiving a circumferential strip of a bag or of a tubular liner, and
- a retaining element being configured to hold said circumferential strip in the retaining fixture such as to maintain the bag or the tubular liner in an open state,
- wherein the retaining unit is dimensioned to be removably positioned inside transfer opening such that the transfer opening together with the open bag or together with the open tubular liner form a transfer passage”.
Multer et al. (US 2008/0145198 A1) is the closest prior art of record. However, the Multer reference is silent on these above recited features. Furthermore, it would not have been obvious to modify the Multer reference to arrive at these above recited features without improper hindsight reasoning. In addition, amending the Multer reference to include the above recited features would improperly change the principle of operation of the Multer reference.
Specifically, Multer et al. teaches a transfer adapter (sealing flange 2) for connecting a bag or a tubular liner (liners 15/18) to a container (cylindrical base body 1a) for filling or emptying said bag or said tubular liner (see at least Fig 2), said transfer adapter comprising
- an adapter unit for connecting to an aperture of a container, said adapter unit having an inner wall delimiting a transfer opening (shown at Fig 2), and
- a retaining unit (the upper section of item 1a, as annotated by Examiner below) comprising
- a retaining fixture (Examiner’s annotations, and at least para 22, “the lower of the two grooves 3”) for receiving a circumferential strip of a bag or of a tubular liner (15/18), and
- a retaining element (an “O-ring” per at least para 22) being configured to hold said circumferential strip in the retaining fixture such as to maintain the bag or the tubular liner in an open state.
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However, the Multer reference explicitly teaches the retaining unit as being outside of the circumference of the adapter unit, and is therefore silent on “the retaining unit (being) dimensioned to be removably positioned inside transfer opening such that the transfer opening together with the open bag or together with the open tubular liner form a transfer passage”, as required by Applicant’s Claim 1. Examiner concludes that it would amount to impermissible hindsight to modify the apparatus of the Multer reference to arrive at the presently claimed invention, there being no motivation to do so, and doing so would likely “break” the workings of the Multer apparatus.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
- US 4988411 A, US 5523519 A, and US 6321513 B1 each teach transfer adapters, but each reference features designs similar to the Multer reference as explained above, wherein the retaining unit is positioned outside of the circumference of the adapter unit. The references therefore do not anticipate the novel subject matter of Applicant’s Claim 1.
- US 2026/0097875 A1 teaches an apparatus with similar structure to the presently claimed invention, but is ineligible as prior art as it has an effective filing date later to that of the present application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER M AFFUL whose telephone number is (571)272-8421. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday: 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Craig Schneider can be reached at 5712723607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER M AFFUL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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