Patent ID: 7617930

Claim:
A container for smoking articles, the container comprising: a generally rectilinear outer sleeve member having front, left side, right side, and rear walls forming a cavity open at least at a first cavity end; at least two generally rectilinear packet members constructed of paperboard-type material, each configured for substantially fully enclosing smoking articles, and slidably disposed and adjacent each other at least partially within the cavity; and a catch mechanism configured to prevent the at least two packets from being fully removed from the outer sleeve cavity wherein the catch mechanism comprises: a first retention flap that is continuous with a wall of the outer sleeve member, said first flap being biased at least slightly into the outer sleeve cavity; and a first tab that is continuous with and extending at least slightly outwardly from a surface of a first one of the at least two packet members; wherein the first tab is configured to engage the first retention flap when the first packet member is moved in a first direction relative to the outer sleeve, and wherein the engagement prevents movement in the first direction beyond a first pre-determined position.