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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-10, in the reply filed on 12/12/2025 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the mount member and card holder must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-10 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.
Claim 1 recites “a card holder configured to engage with the first cage cover or the first cage base via the mount member” but the mount member is either on the base flange or the cover flange such that the embodiments that would work are only if the card holder and the mount member are on the same component (first cage cover or the first cage base). For example, if the mount member is on the base flange then the card holder cannot be on the first cage cover via the mount member because the mount member is not on the first cage cover to hold the card holder. This embodiment of the mount member on the base flange and the card holder on the first cage cover is not possible. The claim limitations should be able to be logical with every kind of “or” embodiment. The claim doesn’t claim for embodiments in which the mount member is on both the base flange and the cover flange. It is unclear what embodiments claim 1 is trying to claim.
Dependent claims 2-10 fail to solve the deficiencies.
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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Conger et al. (US 20060278171), hereinafter Conger.
Regarding claim 1, Conger teaches of (fig. 2) an animal cage system comprising:
a first cage base (cage base 101) having a floor and at least one sidewall connected to the floor at a bottom portion of the at least one sidewall (seen in fig. 2), the first cage base (101) comprising a base flange (flap 117) extending around a perimeter thereof (seen in fig. 2),
a first cage cover (cage cover 102) configured to engage with the at least one sidewall at a top portion of the at least one sidewall (seen in fig. 1), the first cage cover (102) comprising a cover flange extending around a perimeter thereof (flange around the perimeter of the cage cover 102),
a mount member (fig. 1, indent 144A) disposed on the base flange or the cover flange (of the options, indent 144A is on the base flange); and
a card holder (card holder 109) configured to engage with the first cage cover or the first cage base via the mount member (¶0093, cage holder 109 is attached to cage base 101, often via a snap fit of a boss member of the card holder and indent 144A of the cage base),
wherein the first cage cover (102) is configured for nesting with a second cage cover when the card holder is disengaged from the first cage cover (¶0114-0118, the cage covers can be nested together when the card holder is disengaged), and
wherein the first cage base (101) is configured for nesting with a second cage base when the card holder is disengaged from the first cage base (¶0053, nesting of cage bases can happen when the card holder is disengaged from the first cage base).
Regarding claim 2, Conger teaches of claim 1, and wherein the at least one sidewall of the first cage base has a thickness between about 0.01 inches and about 0.08 inches (¶0091, the thickness of each wall is about 0.01 inches to about 0.08 inches).
Regarding claim 3, Conger teaches of claim 1, and wherein the at least one sidewall of the first cage base (101) tapers inward from the top portion toward the bottom portion (fig. 3, sidewalls taper inwards from the top portion toward the bottom portion).
Regarding claim 4, Conger teaches of claim 1, and wherein the first cage base is nestable with a second cage base when the first cage cover is disengaged from the at least one sidewall of the first cage base (fig. 2, ¶0053, nesting of cage bases is when the first cage cover 102 is disengaged from the at least one sidewall of the first cage base such that the top is open and can receive a cage base).
Regarding claim 5, Conger teaches of claim 1, and (fig. 1) wherein the mount member (144A) is spaced apart from the floor of the first cage base (101) when the first cage base (101) is engaged with the first cage cover (102) (seen in fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, Conger teaches of claim 1, and wherein (fig. 2) the first cage base (101) comprises an interior region (interior of first cage base 101) defined, at least in part, by the floor and the at least one sidewall (seen in fig. 2).
Regarding claim 7, Conger teaches of claim 6, and wherein (fig. 1) the mount member (144A) is disposed external to the interior region when engaged with the first cage cover or the first cage base (mount member 144A is disposed on the external perimeter of the cage base 101 such that it is disposed exterior to the interior region when engaged with the first cage cover 102).
Regarding claim 8, Conger teaches of claim 1, and wherein the first cage base and the first cage cover comprise recyclable polymer (¶0055, the cage base can be made of polypropylene (PE), high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, polyethylene teraphthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylenefluoroethylene (PEFE), polystyrene (PS), high-density polystryrene, and acrylnitrile butadiene styrene copolymers, which are all recyclable polymers. ¶0057, Examples of materials from which the cover can be constructed include those described above for cage bases.)
Regarding claim 9, Conger teaches of claim 8, and wherein the recyclable polymer material comprises polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (¶0055, the recyclable polymer material can be PET).
Regarding claim 10, Conger teaches of claim 1, and wherein (figs. 1-2) the card holder (109) is configured to slidably engage with the mount member (144A) (card holder 109 slides up to engage with mount member 144A).
Conclusion
The cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZOE TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8530. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-6pm EST.
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, Kimberly Berona can be reached at 571-272-6909. 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.
/ZOE TAM TRAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3647