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 .
Detailed Action
Group II withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being for the nonelected design. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/28/2025.
Rejection Under 35 U.S.C. 112
The claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and (b), as the claimed invention is not described in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the same, and fails to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The visual disclosure is inadequate because the appearance and shape or configuration of the design for which protection is sought cannot be determined or understood (MPEP § 1504.04).
The claim is indefinite and non-enabling because of the following matters:
The bottom of the soap dispenser is only shown in one view and the depth, if any, of the different areas shown cannot be understood without resorting to conjecture. The position of these areas within the space could be understood as being flat or indented inside the rear of the pegboard. Essentially the whole bottom of the soap dispenser, except for the outer most line outlining the shape of the soap dispenser and the square and circular holes in the extrusion are considered non-enabled and indefinite because of a lack of understanding this area. These areas are shown in grey and annotated “A” in the annotated figure below.
The lock/unlock symbols shown in reproductions 1.2 and 1.3 are shown inconsistently with 1.4. Reproduction 1.4 does not show the symbols as shown in the other reproductions. Refer to “B” in annotated image below.
The pill shape shown in reproduction 1.3 is shown inconsistently with 1.5. Reproduction 1.3 shows the pill shape with two pill shaped lines and three lines horizontally while reproduction 1.5 shows one pill shaped line and two horizontal lines. Refer to “C” in annotated image below.
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682
575
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703
642
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736
590
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In attempt to overcome this rejection and if the design cannot be fully enabled without introducing new matter because certain portions are indefinite, applicant may be able to exclude those portions of the design from the claim by converting those portions of the article to broken lines, so long as the amendment meets the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. 112(a). It must be apparent that applicant was in possession of the amended design at the time of original filing, or applicant must provide evidence of that possession.
If preparing new or replacement drawings, be careful to avoid introducing new matter. New matter is prohibited by 35 U.S.C. 132 and 37 CFR 1.121(f).
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. If all the figures on a drawing sheet are canceled, a replacement sheet is not required. A marked-up copy of the drawing sheet (labeled as “Annotated Sheet”) including an annotation showing that all the figures on that drawing sheet have been canceled must be presented in the amendment or remarks section that explains the change to the drawings. 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.
Accordingly, the claim stands rejected for 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and (b) as set forth above.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jeremy S Swartz whose telephone number is (571)272-1474. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 5:30am - 3:00pm ET.
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, George A Bugg can be reached at (571)272-2998. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.S.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2911
/GEORGE A BUGG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2911