Patent Application 18699285 - Packed roof window product a method for packing - Rejection

Patent Application 18699285 - Packed roof window product a method for packing

Title: Packed roof window product, a method for packing a packed roof window product, and a method of unpacking a packed roof window product

Application Information

• Invention Title: Packed roof window product, a method for packing a packed roof window product, and a method of unpacking a packed roof window product
• Application Number: 18699285
• Submission Date: 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
• Effective Filing Date: 2024-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
• Filing Date: 2024-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
• Examiner Employee Number: 59965
• Art Unit: 3736
• Tech Center: 3700

Rejection Summary

• 102 Rejections: 0
• 103 Rejections: 2

Cited Patents

The following patents were cited in the rejection:

• US 1710163🔗

Office Action Text

    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 .

The claims are objected to because they include reference characters which are not enclosed within parentheses.  In claim 2, reference characters are not enclosed in parentheses. 
Reference characters corresponding to elements recited in the detailed description of the drawings and used in conjunction with the recitation of the same element or group of elements in the claims should be enclosed within parentheses so as to avoid confusion with other numbers or characters which may appear in the claims.  See MPEP § 608.01(m).

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 1-20 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 claim 1, line 7, claim 12, line 7 and claim 13, line 6, “a first side wall” is double recitation, as such a wall is apparently the same as one of those defined earlier in the claim as “side walls”.  
In claim 3, line 3, the “and/or” phrasing is indefinite due to the employment of the slash, and the wording should be --at least one of the first edge and second edge--. 
In claim 9, line 2, the “and/or” and “is/are” phrasings are indefinite due to the employment of the slash, and the wording should be –wherein at least one of the box and the sub-packaging is…--.

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.



Claims 1-4 7-14are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2021/180288 in view of Hutchinson et al. (6,189,777). Claims 1-4,7-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 1710163 in view of Hutchinson et al. (6,189,777). WO 2021/180288 and EP 1710163 each disclose a packaging for roof window installation elements accommodated in a box (12; 1; respectively), wherein the box in a supply condition (in Figure 9; in Figure 1) has a bottom side and a top side, the sides spaced apart along a vertical height axis, and side walls of the box extend between the bottom side and the top side of the box along the height axis, the bottom side, top side and side walls delimiting an internal space of the box, and a first of the side walls extends along a primary axis perpendicular to the height axis, and the first side wall has an upper edge extending along the primary axis along the top side, an outer surface facing away from the internal space and an inner surface facing towards the internal space, a first of the components comprises an internal space delimited by internal surfaces of the first component. WO 2021/180288 and EP 1710163 do not define a second component as claimed. However, Hutchinson et al. disclose a sub-packaging (14 or 15) accommodated in a box, the sub-packaging comprising a main body (comprising panels 110-116), delimiting an internal space to accommodate an additional discrete component or component collection, and an attachment flap (one or all of 128,132 and 136) projecting from the main body to retain the sub-packaging retained in relation to the first component by the attachment flap. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the product of either one of WO 2021/180288 and EP 1710163 with a sub-packaging in the manner of Hutchinson et al. as claimed, as such a modification would predictably provide a separation of the contents of the product. 
	As to claim 2, the attachment flap as shown comprising all the flaps engage the box in the manner defined.   
	As to claim 3, to reverse the disposition of the flaps is not seen to an unobvious step. It has been held that a mere reversal of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Einstein, 8 USPQ 167.
As to claims 4, 14 and 16, to employ gutters or flashing as roof window installation elements would have been obvious components to one of ordinary skill in roof window installation. 
As to claims 7 and 18-19, the first component (open space) is defined by the first side wall. 
As to claim 8, Hutchinson et al. disclose the attachment flap folded across the upper edge from the inner surface to the outer surface of the box. 
As to claim 9, WO 2021/180288 and EP 1710163 each disclose the box and Hutchinson et al. the sub-packaging made from paper-based material.  
As to claim 10, Hutchinson et al. disclose the attachment flap integrally formed with the main body of the sub-packaging. 
As to claim 11, to render the sub-packaging of various separable pieces is not seen to be new or unobvious. It has been held that constituting a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. See Nerwin v. Erlichman, 168 USPQ 177, 179.

Claims 5-6, 15 and 17 would each be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Dependent claim 20 would also then be allowable

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.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Orlando Aviles, 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.
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/BRYON P GEHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736                                                                                                                                                                                                        
Bryon P. Gehman
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3736



BPG