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 .
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
Receipt is acknowledged of Information Disclosure Statements (IDS), filed 12 March 2026 and 25 August 2026, which have been placed of record in the file. An initialed, signed, and dated copy of each PTO-1449 or PTO-SB-08 form is attached to the Office action.
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.
Claim 3 is 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.
Claim 3 is ambiguous as the phrase “0⁰ being defined as a time when the suction unit starts the suction” is unclear since a measurement of an angle is not a time. For examination purposes, this phrase is interpreted as ““0⁰ being defined at a time when the suction unit starts the suction”.
Clarification and/or correction is required.
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shitamae et al. (JP 6059478), cited by applicant.
With respect to claim 1, Shitamae et al. disclose a boxing apparatus comprising: a pushing mechanism configured to push an article into a box having an opening facing sideways from a lateral side (pushing member 41 pushes article A into sideways facing opening in cardboard box C, fig. 8C); and a posture changing mechanism configured to rotate the box by a first angle so as to change a posture of the box accommodating the article from a state where the opening faces sideways to a state where the opening faces upward (posture changing unit 50 that rotates cardboard box C by a first angle, figs. 8G-H), wherein the posture changing mechanism comprises: a suction unit configured to suction, from below, a suctioned side surface that is a side surface of the box located on a lower side of the box when the article is pushed in by the pushing mechanism (suction unit 51, figs. 8G); a support unit configured to support the suction unit (support unit 57, fig. 6); and a rotation unit configured to rotate the support unit by the first angle around a rotation axis parallel to a boundary line between the suctioned side surface and the opening (rotation unit 59 that rotates the support unit 57 by the first angle, figs. 59, 8G-H), wherein the suction unit: starts suction in a state where the posture of the box is such that the opening faces sideways (suction unit 51 sucks the side surface of the cardboard box C until the article A is pushed into the cardboard box C); and reduces a suction force or stops suction when the rotation unit rotates the support unit by a second angle that is less than the first angle, with reference to a time when the suction is started.
Shitamae et al. disclose the suction unit and a control unit 80. Thus, one is fully capable of operating the suction unit such that the suction unit “reduces a suction force or stops suction when the rotation unit rotates the support unit by a second angle that is less than the first angle, with reference to a time when the suction is started”.
The intended use recitation language (some of which has been italicized supra) carries no weight in the absence of any distinguishing structure. Shitamae et al. disclose the structure as claimed and is thus capable of performing the functions. See MPEP 2114 which states: APPARATUS CLAIMS MUST BE STRUCTURALLY DISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE PRIOR ART While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477-78, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431-32 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (The absence of a disclosure in a prior art reference relating to function did not defeat the Board's finding of anticipation of claimed apparatus because the limitations at issue were found to be inherent in the prior art reference); see also In re Swinehart, 439 F.2d 210,212-13, 169 USPQ 226,228-29 (CCPA 1971); In re Danly, 263 F.2d 844, 847, 120 USPQ 528,531 (CCPA 1959). "[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does." Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (emphasis in original).
With respect to claim 2, Shitamae et al. disclose a control unit configured to control a rotation speed of the rotation unit based on an angle of the rotation unit (control device 80), wherein the control unit starts decreasing the rotation speed of the rotation unit when the angle of the rotation unit reaches a third angle that is less than the second angle (the control unit decelerates and temporarily stops rotation at the angle R1, pg. 13, Modification A, fig. 8G).
With respect to claim 3, Shitamae et al. disclose the first angle is 90° (figs. 8G-H), and wherein the second angle is 45° or more and less than 90° (angle R1 is 45⁰ or less, pg. 13, (4-9), with 0° being defined as a time when the suction unit starts the suction (fig. 8F).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Serra (US Patent No. 6,266,948) and Fioravanti et al. (US Patent Publ. No. 2025/0128845) disclose a box opening apparatus including deactivating box opening suction cups.
Dong et al. (CN 117104616) disclose a box opening device including deactivating suction cups to permit a box to fall.
Weber (US Patent No. 3,134,309) disclose deactivating suction cups.
Cloud et al. (US Patent No. 3,854,270) disclose a box erecting apparatus including freeing a carton to prevent damage to the carton.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Linda J. Hodge whose telephone number is (571)272-0571. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00.
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/LINDA J. HODGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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