Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 19/231,407

INTERLOCKING STACKABLE STORAGE CONTAINERS

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jun 06, 2025
Priority
Jun 06, 2024 — provisional 63/656,973
Examiner
GEHMAN, BRYON P
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Shining Sea Trading Company
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allowance Rate
1453 granted / 1971 resolved
+13.7% vs TC avg
Strong +31% interview lift
Without
With
+30.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 11m
Avg Prosecution
39 currently pending
Career history
2006
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
55.5%
+15.5% vs TC avg
§102
5.9%
-34.1% vs TC avg
§112
25.3%
-14.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1971 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Claims 7, 10, 17 and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities: In the last line of each indicated claim, “the one or more tray” is ungrammatical, and should be –the one or more trays--. Appropriate correction is required. 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. Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. In claims 3 and 13, lines 1-2, “the pair of lower handle locks orthogonal to the uniform direction” is ungrammatical and indefinite in its meaning. Claims 1-2, 4-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14-16 and 8-9 are allowed. Claims 3 and 13 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action. Claims 7, 10, 17 and 20 objected to, but would be allowable if rewritten to correct the ungrammatical language. Prior Art not relied upon: Please refer to the additional references listed on the attached PTO-892, which, while not relied upon for the claim rejection, these references are deemed relevant to the claimed invention as a whole. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYON P GEHMAN whose telephone number is (571) 272-4555. The examiner can normally be reached on Tuesday through Thursday from 7:30 am to 5:00 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, Orlando Aviles-Bosques, can be reached on (571) 270-5531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /BRYON P GEHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736 Bryon P. Gehman Primary Examiner Art Unit 3736 BPG
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 06, 2025
Application Filed
Jun 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12679624
Equipment Case Protective Layer Systems and Methods
2y 2m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12654921
Carrier For Containers
2y 6m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12654956
SOLAR MODULE SPACER
1y 11m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12653511
SYSTEM FOR PROTECTING A TISSUE SPECIMEN
1y 10m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12648882
SEALED ABSORBENT ARTICLE PACKAGE WITH NATURAL FIBERS
1y 6m to grant Granted Jun 09, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
74%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+30.7%)
1y 11m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1971 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month