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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sutyla (5,474,204). Sutyla discloses a housing case (10) comprising a case body having a frame-shape (11-14) and including a first opening portion (25; Figs. 4 & 6) located on an upper side, a second opening portion (26) located on a lower side, and a housing part (50, 51) inside adapted to house items for the tradesman, home handyman and the like, a first lid (28) configured to open and close the first opening portion, and a second lid (27) configured to open and close the second opening portion. The housing case of Sutyla is inherently capable to house a cutting insert.
As to claim 2, Sutyla discloses the first lid and the second lid have an identical shape (Figs. 1 & 6).
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.
Claim(s) 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sutyla in view of Rosler (5,577,629) and/or The Japanese Publication No. 05-071186 to Ikenaga et al. (hereinafter Ikenaga). Sutyla discloses the housing case as above to house the items for the tradesman, home handyman and the like, and other claimed limitations except for the items comprises a cutting insert as claimed. Rosler teaches an insert set comprising a housing case (1) including a case body (3) having a frame-shaped with a first opening portion located on an upper side (Fig. 2), a first lid (4) configured to open and close the first opening portion, and a cutting insert (2) disposed within the housing case. Ikenaga teaches an insert set comprising a housing case (4) including a case body (5) having a frame-shaped with a first opening portion located on an upper side (Fig. 8), a first lid (6) configured to open and close the first opening portion, and a cutting insert (1, 2) disposed within the housing case. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention in view of Rosler and/or Ikenaga to modify the housing case of Sutyla so the housing case is constructed to house a cutting insert for allowing the housing case of Sutyla to hold other items and because the substitution of one known element for another would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
As to claim 4, Sutyla further discloses the housing case comprises a first sealing seal (30, 31) adapted to fix the first lid to the case body and a second sealing seal (similar to the first sealing seal) adapted to fix the second lid to the case body as claimed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 6 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUAN K BUI whose telephone number is (571)272-4552. The examiner can normally be reached Generally M-F, 7-4.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Orlando E. Avilés can be reached on 571-270-5531 or orlando.aviles-bosques@uspto.gov. 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.
/LUAN K BUI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736
Prosecution Insights