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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 18-20 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected specie, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 18 August 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Mahajan (US 5400911).
Mahajan discloses a compression-resistant container comprising a wall at least partially enclosing a volume, where a shape of the wall comprises: a set of spheroidal surfaces having at least a first spheroidal surface and a second spheroidal surface; and a set of cylindrical surfaces having at least a first cylindrical surface, wherein the first cylindrical surface adjoins at least the first spheroidal surface and is positioned between the first spheroidal surface and the second spheroidal surface. See annotated Fig. 1.
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Re claims 2-3 the wall is made from a synthetic resin [poly(ethylene terephthalate)(aka, PET)]. See column 1, lines 53-60 and discussion of PET resin material.
Re claim 5, at least some of the set of spheroidal surfaces and the set of cylindrical surfaces are positioned in an alternating pattern along an axis. See annotated Fig. 1 from the bottommost surface and extending upwards, first spheroidal surface, first cylindrical surface, second spheroidal surface.
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(s) 1-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Benjamin, Jr. (US D121802) (Benjamin) in view of Abadinsky (US D516920).
Benjamin discloses a compression-resistant container (bottle) comprising a wall at least partially enclosing a volume, where a shape of the wall comprises: a set of spheroidal surfaces (three spherical surfaces, three stacked spheres, see annotated Fig. 1) having at least a first spheroidal surface and a second spheroidal surface; and a set of cylindrical surfaces (other than the base and neck there are three distinct cylindrical surfaces, a first between formed by the transition from the bottom sphere and the middle sphere, a second formed by the transition from the middle sphere and the top sphere and a third between the neck and the top sphere, see annotated Fig. 1) having at least a first cylindrical surface, wherein the first cylindrical surface adjoins at least the first spheroidal surface and is positioned between the first spheroidal surface and the second spheroidal surface (see annotated Fig. 1).
If it should be deemed that the cylindrical surfaces are not adequately shown, then Abadinsky teaches distinct cylinders as transitions between the five stacked 3-D shapes as best shown in Fig. 1 and 2. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the transitions between the spheres to be cylindrically shaped surfaces to reduce the sharpness of the transition to alleviate stress concentration in the bottle wall.
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Re claims 2 and 3, Official notice is taken that synthetic resin and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are well known bottle materials. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the material of the wall to be PET as a well-recognized, readily available, easily moldable and cost efficient material for bottles.
Re claim 4, Official notice is taken that bottle wall thickness between 0.05 mm and 0.5 mm is well known. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the wall thickness to be between 0.05 mm and 0.5 mm as this is an optimum thickness providing sufficient compression strength and not too thick too make the bottle prohibitively expensive or weigh too much.
Re claim 5, at least some of the set of spheroidal surfaces and the set of cylindrical surfaces are positioned in an alternating pattern along an axis as shown in Benjamin.
Re claim 6, Benjamin shows that the ratio is greater than 1:1 as the diameter of the spheres is greater than the diameter of the cylindrical surfaces. Official notice is taken that an optimum ratio is between 1.5:1 and 4:1 as the 1.5:1 ratio provides a smooth transition between the spherical surface and the cylindrical surface and the 4:1 ratio an upper limit to prevent the cylindrical surfaces from being too constrictive such as constricting fluid flow. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the ratio to be between 1.5:1 and 4:1 as this provides both smooth transition and prevent fluid flow constriction.
Applicant defines shell thickness ratio as the ratio of wall thickness to outer semimajor radius of a segment. Re claim 7, it would be expected that the ratio would be substantially large because the thickness would typically be a fraction of a millimeter and the semimajor radius would be measured in centimeters. Official notice is taken that an optimum ratio is between 1:500 and 1:200. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the ratio to be between 1:500 and 1:200 as this provides a low enough thickness that doesn’t waste material, add excessive cost or add excessive weight while allowing the capacity of the bottle to be sufficient in providing a useable volume.
Re claim 8, Official notice is taken that a transition angle of between 30 degrees and 80 degrees is expected when transitioning between the cylindrical and spherical surfaces. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the tangential surface angle between each of the set of spheroidal surfaces and each of the set of cylindrical surfaces is between 30 degrees and 80 degrees as an optimum angle to alleviate stress concentration.
Re claim 9, Official notice is taken that internal volume between 10 mL and 10 L is well known for bottles. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the bottle volume to be between 10 mL and 10 L as this range provides an optimum range for beverage consumption.
Re claim 10, Official notice is taken that optimum container mass is between 0.05 g and 2 kg. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the container mass to be between 0.05 g and 2 kg as this allows for sufficient support of the fluid inside the bottle without the bottle’s weight being too much to carry when the bottle is empty.
Re claim 11, the wall has rotational symmetry around an axis (vertical, central, longitudinal axis of Benjamin), wherein the set of spheroidal surfaces corresponds to a set of spheroidal segment shells (spheres) having at least a first spheroidal segment shell corresponding to the first spheroidal surface and a second spheroidal segment shell corresponding to the second spheroidal surface, each spheroidal segment shell of the set of spheroidal segment shells having rotational symmetry around the axis (vertical, central, longitudinal axis of Benjamin); and wherein the set of cylinder surfaces corresponds to a set of cylinder shells (cylinders of Benjamin) having at least a first cylinder shell corresponding to the first cylinder surface, each cylinder shell of the set of cylinder shells having rotational symmetry around the axis (vertical, central, longitudinal axis of Benjamin), wherein the first cylinder shell is positioned between the first spheroidal segment shell and the second spheroidal segment shell.
Re claim 12, the set of spheroidal segment shells and the set of cylinder shells define at least a portion of a body of the shape of the wall, and wherein the shape of the wall further comprises a neck and a base (see annotated Fig. 1 of Benjamin).
Re claim 13, Official notice is taken that optimum bottle base diameter is between 4 mm to 1000 mm. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the base diameter to be between 4 mm and 1000 mm as an optimum base diameter for stability of bottles for beverage consumption.
Re claim 14, Official notice is taken that optimum bottle base length is between 4 mm to 1000 mm. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the base length to be between 4 mm and 1000 mm as an optimum base length for stability of bottles for beverage consumption.
Re claim 15, Official notice is taken that optimum total container length is between 20 mm to 2000 mm. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to modify the total length to be between 20 mm and 2000 mm as an optimum length for packaging of bottles for beverage consumption.
Re claim 16, the set of spheroidal segment shells further includes a third spheroidal segment shell (3rd sphere), wherein the set of cylinder segment shells further includes a second cylinder segment shell (2nd cylinder) and a third cylinder (3rd cylinder) segment shell, wherein the second cylinder segment shell is between the first spheroidal segment shell and the second spheroidal segment shell, and wherein the third cylinder segment shell is between the second spheroidal segment shell and the third spheroidal segment shell.
Re claim 17, the set of spheroidal surfaces and the set of cylindrical surfaces define at least a portion of a body, and wherein the body defines a container
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN J CASTELLANO whose telephone number is (571)272-4535. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday.
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sjc/STEPHEN J CASTELLANO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733
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