Ex Parte Brandt

Patent Trial and Appeal BoardJan 24, 2017

13374680 (P.T.A.B. Jan. 24, 2017)

United States Patent and Trademark Office UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O.Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 13/374,680 01/09/2012 Richard F. Brandt BRAN/004 1651 14333 7590 01/26/2017 Meagher Emanuel Laks Goldberg & Liao, LLP ONE PALMER SQUARE SUITE 325 Princeton, NJ 08542 EXAMINER COLLADO, CYNTHIA FRANCISCA ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3781 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 01/26/2017 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address(es): molech@meagheremanuel.com 14333-docket @ meagheremanuel. com tmeagher @ meagheremanuel. com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte RICHARD F. BRANDT Appeal 2015-003206 Application 13/374,680 Technology Center 3700 Before CHARLES N. GREENHUT, MICHAEL L. HOELTER, and ANNETTE R. REIMERS, Administrative Patent Judges. GREENHUT, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from a rejection of claims 1— 7. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We reverse. Appeal 2015-003206 Application 13/374,680 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER The claims are directed to a slender and comfortable wallet for enhanced folding money and credit/identification card carrying. Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: 1. A wallet for retaining a plurality of credit and business identification cards along with currency bills, comprising: a rectangularly configured case having a fabric partition insert having a center hinge portion running between side edges of the case in forming upper and lower sections of the case; each of the upper and lower sections of the case adapted to receive via an opening of one of the side edges respective rectangularly shaped credit, business and identification cards oriented with their longer sides running parallel to top and bottom edges of the case and perpendicular to said side edges of the case, one behind the other, within the case in either of an upper section card pocket and a lower section card pocket formed via the center hinge portion of the fabric partition; a fabric liner insert between said card pockets and an inside wall of the case in forming a section capable of receiving currency bills; with the case sized and adapted for insertion into a back trouser pocket and adapted to hinge proximate the center hinge portion of the fabric insert without folding over. REFERENCES The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on appeal is: Loncich US 2,592,918 Apr. 15, 1952 Reis US 3,946,781 Mar. 30, 1976 REJECTIONS Claims 1—6 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Loncich. 2 Appeal 2015-003206 Application 13/374,680 Claim 7 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Loncich and Reis. OPINION Claim 1 The Examiner provides an annotated version of Figures 1—4 of Loncich, which identifies an alleged “hinged partition insert.” Final Act. 4. The purported hinged partition insert noted by the Examiner is simply a plurality of fold lines 26 in partitions 18, 20, and 22 that align the foldable center portion of the billfold 10. Loncich 2:3—6. In contrast, claim 1 recites “a fabric partition insert having a center hinge portion running between side edges of the case in forming upper and lower sections of the case.” App. Br. 15, Claims App. Appellant contends that Loncich is simply not adapted to receive and hold rectangularly shaped cards as claimed; namely, within card pockets “formed via the center hinge portion of the fabric partition.” App. Br. 10. Appellant’s argument is persuasive. The lengthwise partitions 18, 20, and 22 of Loncich define no upper section card pocket or lower section card pocket formed via the center hinge portion of a fabric partition as called for in Appellant’s claim 1. See Loncich Figs. 1,4. As noted above, the partitions 18, 20, and 22 of Loncich may have a center hinge defined by fold lines 26 running between the side edges of the case and the partitions themselves may form upper and lower pockets. However, claim 1 calls for those pockets to be formed by the center hinge portion of the fabric partition. This is not disclosed by Loncich under the Examiner’s interpretation. 3 Appeal 2015-003206 Application 13/374,680 For the foregoing reasons, we do not sustain the Examiner’s rejection of claim 1 or dependent claims 2—6 as unpatentable over Loncich. Claim 7 As for claim 7, the Examiner does not rely on Reis in any way that would cure the deficiency in the Examiner’s rejection based on Loncich. As such, we do not sustain the rejection of claim 7 as unpatentable over Loncich and Reis. DECISION The Examiner’s rejections of claims 1—7 are reversed. REVERSED 4