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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed with the written response received on October 3, 2025 have been considered and an action on the merits follows. As directed by the amendment, claim 20 has been added. Accordingly, claims 2, 9, 11, and 17-20 are pending in this application, with an action on the merits to follow regarding claims 2, 9, 11, and 17-20.
Because of the applicant's amendment, the following in the office action filed November 10, 2025, are hereby withdrawn:
Objections to the specification;
Objections to the claims;
Claim rejections under 35 USC 112(a);
Claim rejections under 35 USC 112(b).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “sleeves of said shirt integrally connected inside sleeves of said jacket” (claims 17 and 19; Examiner notes only cuffs are shown in the figures as representing “shirt sleeves 111” and the cuffs appear to be part of the jacket and not the shirt and at no time is the shirt fully represented) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because:
Replacement Fig. 4 filed February 10, 2026 is unclear and adds new matter. Previously, Examiner objected to Fig. 4 as “Fig. 4 shows a bottom opening 138, but also a tail 115, and it is unknown how the tail is below the bottom opening, as a bottom opening should be at the bottom of a shirt tail especially since Fig. 5 shows a bottom opening, but no tail”. Showing the tail 115 extending below the opening is considered new matter as the original disclosure does not have support for such an arrangement as the tail was not disclosed as extending below the opening (see p. 5, line 10-p. 6 line 5 where the back of the shirt is disclosed) and when looking to original Fig. 4, the entirety of the shirt is not shown and in original Fig. 5, only a bottom opening and no tail is shown and therefore one having ordinary skill in the art cannot draw such a conclusion. Examiner notes, that a complete shirt is not shown in any of the drawings. It remains unclear as to the depiction of the tail 115 is shown below the bottom opening 138. If 138 is indeed an opening, does this mean that there is some sort of slit or other aperture in the shirt above tail 115 where the shirt can be opened? Is the shirt made with an opening and then a separate panel is attached to create a tail? It remains unclear how the bottom of the tail is not the bottom opening.
Replacement Fig. 5 (which was originally filed as Fig. 6) is very confusing. It is unclear as to what portion of the front of the shirt is being shown as it still appears that the entirety of the shirt is not shown;
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. 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. 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. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 2, 9, 11, and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Price (US 1793131) in view of Le (DE 202011100351), in view of Patton (US 2017/0135418), and in view of Fisher (US 789015).
Examiner notes claims presented below are not in chronological order, but in order to facilitate flow and understanding of the rejections.
Regarding claim 19, Price discloses a shirt and tie combination (Figs. 1-3), comprising: the tie (3) of said combination permanently affixed (via stitching, see lines 35-40) along part of a tie-to-neck mount collar of said tie (part of the tie that surrounds collar 2, see Fig. 2), to a shirt collar (2) of the shirt (1) of the combination, along a tie-to-shirt attachment region (the region being the portion of the tie-to neck mount collar what is stitched to the collar of the shirt, see annotated Figs. 2-3), said shirt comprising a front shirt panel comprising a front of said shirt (front shirt panel is portion of 1 seen in Figs. 1-2) and a back shirt panel (portion of 1 seen in Fig. 3); and sleeves of said shirt (sleeves can be seen in Figs. 1-3).
Price does not expressly disclose wherein said tie-to-neck mount collar comprising a pair of separable mating halves with mating fasteners thereof, which provide a side neck opening when not mated and close said side neck opening when mated, situated along said tie-to-neck mount collar at a region other than said tie-to-shirt attachment region; and a remainder of said tie permanently connected to said tie-to-neck mount collar; the combination comprising a jacket, the jacket of said combination comprising a front jacket panel and a back jacket panel integrally connected with said front jacket panel; sleeves of said shirt integrally connected inside sleeves of said jacket; the back shirt panel comprising a back tail which can be tucking into pants of a user; wherein: the user is enabled to don said shirt and tie combination by putting the user's arms through sleeves of said shirt while said front of said shirt is unfastened and said mating halves are not mated, fastening said front of said shirt, and mating said mating halves; and the user is further enabled to don said jacket simultaneously with said shirt and tie, by said putting the user's arms through said sleeves of said shirt simultaneously with said sleeves of said jacket.
Le teaches a pre-formed necktie (1) wherein said tie-to-neck mount collar (3) comprising a pair of separable mating halves (two halves of 3) with mating fasteners thereof (hook and loop 6/7, best seen in Fig. 1), which provide a side neck opening (4) when not mated (as seen in Fig. 1) and close said side neck opening when mated (as can be understood that when 6/7 are mated, then the opening is closed); and a remainder (2/10) of said tie (as can be seen in Fig. 41, the remainder of the tie is a pre-knotted configuration which presents as a tied tie) permanently connected to said tie-to-neck mount collar (as 2 and 3 are made of one piece).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the tie of Price to have a pre-formed knot and closure around the neck mount as taught by Le on order to alleviate user frustration as the user often struggles to tie the necktie in a satisfactorily-appearing and functioning knot. Even if a successful knot is tied, the tail section must also fall at an appropriate position on the user's torso, or the user must retie the necktie. For some individuals, appropriately tying the necktie may frustratingly consume several valuable minutes in the morning. Moreover, the parents of young children often struggle with attempting to get a necktie positioned on a young child.
When used in combination, the side neck opening (4 of Le) is situated along said tie-to-neck mount collar at other than said tie-to-shirt attachment region (as can be seen in Fig. 2 of Price and Fig. 1 of Le, the opening is along the side of the mount collar while the mount collar is attached to the shirt collar along the upper side and backside of the mount collar); wherein: a user is enabled to don said shirt and tie combination by putting the user's arms through sleeves of said shirt while the front of said shirt is unfastened and said mating halves are not mated, fastening said front of said shirt, and mating said mating halves (as can be understood from Fig. 2 of Price, when the buttons on the front of the shirt are not buttoned, a user is capable of putting their arms through the sleeves, fastening the buttons and then mating the halves of the mount collar of the tie).
The modified combination of Price does not expressly disclose the combination comprising a jacket, the jacket of said combination comprising a front jacket panel and a back jacket panel integrally connected with said front jacket panel; sleeves of said shirt integrally connected inside sleeves of said jacket; the back shirt panel comprising a back tail which can be tucking into pants of a user; wherein: a user is enabled to don said shirt and tie combination by putting the user's arms through sleeves of said shirt while said front of said shirt is unfastened and said mating halves are not mated, fastening said front of said shirt, and mating said mating halves; and the user is further enabled to don said jacket simultaneously with said shirt and tie, by said putting the user's arms through said sleeves of said shirt simultaneously with said sleeves of said jacket.
Patton teaches a combination of a shirt and jacket combination comprising a jacket (14), the jacket of said combination comprising a front jacket panel (front portion of 14 as seen in annotated Fig. 1) and a back jacket panel (34) integrally connected with said front jacket panel (as can be seen in Fig. 6); said shirt (12/16/18) comprising the front shirt panel (19) and the back shirt panel (24); the back shirt panel (24) comprising a back tail (see annotated Fig. 7 and note para. 0028 discloses “the back portion 24 of the shirt 14 fits adjacent the liner-less portion 34 of the jacket element 14”) which can be tucked into pants of a user (as the tail or bottom edge of the shirt is not shown or disclosed as being directly connected to the jacket, it is capable of being tucked into pants of at least one user; Examiner further notes as the limitation recites, “can” it therefore also implies “cannot” and therefore whether or not tail is capable of being tucked into pants is irrelevant).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to attach a jacket to the modified combination of Price as taught by Patton in order to “complete an ensemble” (see para. 0003 of Patton) while reducing “a length of time required to put on the outfit and the cost of purchasing each individual layer for the outfit” (see para. 0004 of Patton).
The modified combination of Price does not expressly disclose sleeves of said shirt integrally connected inside sleeves of said jacket; wherein: the user is enabled to don said shirt and tie combination by putting the user's arms through sleeves of said shirt while said front of said shirt is unfastened and said mating halves are not mated, fastening said front of said shirt, and mating said mating halves; and the user is further enabled to don said jacket simultaneously with said shirt and tie, by said putting the user's arms through said sleeves of said shirt simultaneously with said sleeves of said jacket.
Fisher teaches a garment for men or boys wherein sleeves (see p. 1, lines 45-60) of said shirt (2) integrally connected (via 7, see p. 1 lines 75-84) inside sleeves (see Fig. 5) of said jacket (1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to attach the sleeves of the dress shirt to the jacket sleeves of the modified combination of Price as taught by Fisher “to prevent the [sleeves of the shirt] from being drawn up into the sleeve of the coat in removing the garment” (p. 2, lines 80-85 of Fisher).
When used in combination, the user is further enabled to don said jacket simultaneously with said shirt and tie, by said putting the user's arms through said sleeves of said shirt simultaneously with said sleeves of said jacket (as the entire combination is connected such that the tie is connected to the shirt and the sleeves of the shirt are inside and attached to the sleeves of the jacket, then a user is capable of putting their arms simultaneous with the sleeves thereby simultaneously donning the shirt and tie).
Examiner notes that italicized limitations are functional and do not positively recite a structural limitation, but instead require an ability to so perform and/or function. As the prior art discloses the structure of the combination, there would be a reasonable expectation for the combination to perform such functions as Examiner has indicated after each such functional limitation.
Regarding claim 2, the modified shirt and tie combination of Price discloses wherein said mating fasteners (6/7 of Le) comprising hook and loop fasteners (see para. 0031 of the translation of Le).
Regarding claim 9, the modified shirt and tie combination of Price discloses further comprising: said back jacket panel (34 of Patton) extending continuously between said sleeves of said jacket (as seen in Fig. 6 of Patton).
Regarding claim 11, the modified shirt and tie combination of Price discloses wherein said tie (3 of Price as modified by 1 of Le to have a pre-formed knot and closure around the neck mount) is a knotted tie (as can be seen at 10 of Le in at least in Fig. 1 of Le).
Regarding claim 17, Price discloses a shirt and tie combination (Figs. 1-3), comprising: the tie (3) of said combination permanently affixed (via stitching, see lines 35-40) along part of a tie-to-neck mount collar of said tie (part of the tie that surrounds collar 2, see Fig. 2), to a shirt collar (2) of the shirt (1) of the combination, along a tie-to-shirt attachment region (the region being the portion of the tie-to neck mount collar what is stitched to the collar of the shirt, see annotated Figs. 2-3), said shirt comprising a front shirt panel comprising a front of said shirt (front shirt panel is portion of 1 seen in Figs. 1-2) and a back shirt panel (portion of 1 seen in Fig. 3); sleeves (sleeves can be seen in Figs. 1-3).
Price does not expressly disclose wherein said tie-to-neck mount collar comprising a pair of separable mating halves with mating fasteners thereof, which provide a side neck opening when not mated and close said side neck opening when mated, situated along said tie-to-neck mount collar at a region other than said tie-to-shirt attachment region; and a remainder of said tie permanently connected to said tie-to-neck mount collar; the combination comprising a jacket, the jacket of said combination comprising a front jacket panel and a back jacket panel integrally connected with said front jacket panel; said back shirt panel integrally connected with said back jacket panel; and sleeves of said shirt integrally connected inside sleeves of said jacket, the back shirt panel comprising a back tail which can be tucking into pants of a user; wherein: the user is enabled to don said shirt and tie combination by putting the user's arms through sleeves of said shirt while said front of said shirt is unfastened and said mating halves are not mated, fastening said front of said shirt, and mating said mating halves; and the user is further enabled to don said jacket simultaneously with said shirt and tie, by said putting the user's arms through said sleeves of said shirt simultaneously with said sleeves of said jacket.
Le teaches a pre-formed necktie (1) wherein said tie-to-neck mount collar (3) comprising a pair of separable mating halves (two halves of 3) with mating fasteners thereof (hook and loop 6/7, best seen in Fig. 1), which provide a side neck opening (4) when not mated (as seen in Fig. 1) and close said side neck opening when mated (as can be understood that when 6/7 are mated, then the opening is closed); and a remainder (2/10) of said tie (as can be seen in Fig. 41, the remainder of the tie is a pre-knotted configuration which presents as a tied tie) permanently connected to said tie-to-neck mount collar (as 2 and 3 are made of one piece).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the tie of Price to have a pre-formed knot and closure around the neck mount as taught by Le on order to alleviate user frustration as the user often struggles to tie the necktie in a satisfactorily-appearing and functioning knot. Even if a successful knot is tied, the tail section must also fall at an appropriate position on the user's torso, or the user must retie the necktie. For some individuals, appropriately tying the necktie may frustratingly consume several valuable minutes in the morning. Moreover, the parents of young children often struggle with attempting to get a necktie positioned on a young child.
When used in combination, the side neck opening (4 of Le) is situated along said tie-to-neck mount collar at other than said tie-to-shirt attachment region (as can be seen in Fig. 2 of Price and Fig. 1 of Le, the opening is along the side of the mount collar while the mount collar is attached to the shirt collar along the upper side and backside of the mount collar); wherein: a user is enabled to don said shirt and tie combination by putting the user's arms through sleeves of said shirt while the front of said shirt is unfastened and said mating halves are not mated, fastening said front of said shirt, and mating said mating halves (as can be understood from Fig. 2 of Price, when the buttons on the front of the shirt are not buttoned, a user is capable of putting their arms through the sleeves, fastening the buttons and then mating the halves of the mount collar of the tie).
The modified combination of Price does not expressly disclose the combination comprising a jacket, the jacket of said combination comprising a front jacket panel and a back jacket panel integrally connected with said front jacket panel; said back shirt panel integrally connected with said back jacket panel; and sleeves of said shirt integrally connected inside sleeves of said jacket, the back shirt panel comprising a back tail which can be tucking into pants of a user; wherein: the user is enabled to don said shirt and tie combination by putting the user's arms through sleeves of said shirt while said front of said shirt is unfastened and said mating halves are not mated, fastening said front of said shirt, and mating said mating halves; and the user is further enabled to don said jacket simultaneously with said shirt and tie, by said putting the user's arms through said sleeves of said shirt simultaneously with said sleeves of said jacket.
Patton teaches a combination of a shirt and jacket combination comprising a jacket (14), the jacket of said combination comprising a front jacket panel (front portion of 14 as seen in annotated Fig. 1) and a back jacket panel (34) integrally connected with said front jacket panel (as can be seen in Fig. 6); said shirt (12/16/18) comprising the front shirt panel (19) and the back shirt panel (24); said back shirt panel integrally connected with said back jacket panel (as the back panel 24 is attached to the jacket 14 using attachment mechanisms 25 and 26 as disclosed in para. 0024-0025, then at least via attachment mechanisms 25/26 and shirt 12, the back panel of the shirt is integrally connected to the back panel of the jacket; as the shirt is attached to the jacket, then each component is integrally attached to each other and the entire shirt/jacket combination of Patton is integrally connected); the back shirt panel (24) comprising a back tail (see annotated Fig. 7 and note para. 0028 discloses “the back portion 24 of the shirt 14 fits adjacent the liner-less portion 34 of the jacket element 14”) which can be tucked into pants of a user (as the tail or bottom edge of the shirt is not shown or disclosed as being directly connected to the jacket, it is capable of being tucked into pants of at least one user; Examiner further notes as the limitation recites, “can” it therefore also implies “cannot” and therefore whether or not tail is capable of being tucked into pants is irrelevant); and said back shirt panel extending continuously between said sleeves of said shirt (as can be seen in Fig. 7 where the back panel, in between the sleeves, extends continuously).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to attach a jacket to the modified combination of Price as taught by Patton in order to “complete an ensemble” (see para. 0003 of Patton) while reducing “a length of time required to put on the outfit and the cost of purchasing each individual layer for the outfit” (see para. 0004 of Patton).
The modified combination of Price does not expressly disclose sleeves of said shirt integrally connected inside sleeves of said jacket; wherein: the user is enabled to don said shirt and tie combination by putting the user's arms through sleeves of said shirt while said front of said shirt is unfastened and said mating halves are not mated, fastening said front of said shirt, and mating said mating halves; and the user is further enabled to don said jacket simultaneously with said shirt and tie, by said putting the user's arms through said sleeves of said shirt simultaneously with said sleeves of said jacket.
Fisher teaches a garment for men or boys wherein sleeves (see p. 1, lines 45-60) of said shirt (2) integrally connected (via 7, see p. 1 lines 75-84) inside sleeves (see Fig. 5) of said jacket (1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to attach the sleeves of the dress shirt to the jacket sleeves of the modified combination of Price as taught by Fisher “to prevent the [sleeves of the shirt] from being drawn up into the sleeve of the coat in removing the garment” (p. 2, lines 80-85 of Fisher).
When used in combination, the user is further enabled to don said jacket simultaneously with said shirt and tie, by said putting the user's arms through said sleeves of said shirt simultaneously with said sleeves of said jacket (as the entire combination is connected such that the tie is connected to the shirt and the sleeves of the shirt are inside and attached to the sleeves of the jacket, then a user is capable of putting their arms simultaneous with the sleeves thereby simultaneously donning the shirt and tie).
Regarding claim 18, the modified shirt and tie combination of Price discloses wherein said tie (3 of Price as modified by 1 of Le to have a pre-formed knot and closure around the neck mount) is a knotted tie (as can be seen at 10 of Le in at least in Fig. 1 of Le).
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Annotated Figs. 1-3 (Price)
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Annotated Fig. 1 (Patton)
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Annotated Fig. 7 (Patton)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is allowed.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 10, 2026, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding the 35 USC 103 rejections of claims 2, 9, 11, and 17-19:
Applicant argues “the number of references required by the Office Action to make these rejections, alone, evidences the novelty of these claims” (Remarks, p. 10, 2nd full para.). Examiner respectfully disagrees. In response to applicant's argument that the examiner has combined an excessive number of references, reliance on a large number of references in a rejection does not, without more, weigh against the obviousness of the claimed invention. See In re Gorman, 933 F.2d 982, 18 USPQ2d 1885 (Fed. Cir. 1991). In this particular case, Applicant has not offered anything further as to why the four references used cannot be combined to arrive at the claimed invention and has not argued any particular motivation stated in the rejection.
Applicant argues that Fisher does not teach “sleeves of said shirt integrally connected inside sleeves of said jacket” because Fisher discloses a temporary connection and therefore teaches away from integral connection (Remarks, p. 10, final para. to p. 12). Examiner respectfully disagrees. Under broadest reasonable interpretation, Examiner must interpret words of a claim consistent with their plain meaning. Examiner notes that the plain meaning of "integral" is very broad and the term merely means " A complete unit; a whole." (Defn. No. 1 of "American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition" entry via TheFreeDictionary.com) and the shirt sleeve of Fisher is attached to the jacket sleeve via button 7, a complete unit is formed, and thus the shirt sleeves are integrally attached inside the jacket sleeves.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HEATHER MANGINE, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571)270-0673. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM.
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/HEATHER MANGINE, Ph.D./ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732