DETAILED ACTION
Claims 17, 18, 21, 23, 30-32, 38-44, 46, 47, 49, and 51-56, 58, and 59 are pending. Claims 17, 18, 21, 32, 38, 46, 51, 52 are amended. Claims 45, 50, and 57 are cancelled.
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
This office action is responsive to the amendment filed on October 6, 2025. As directed by the amendment: claims 17, 18, 21, 32, 38, 46, 51, 52 have been amended, claim 45 has been cancelled, and claim 59 has been added. Thus, claims 17, 18, 21, 23, 30-32, 38-44, 46, 47, 49, and 51-56, 58, and 59 are presently pending in this application.
Applicant’s amendment to the claims has overcome the 35 USC §112(b) rejections.
Applicant’s amendment to the claims has overcome the 35 USC §103 rejections.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the art-based rejections of the claims have been fully considered and are persuasive. The art-based rejections of the claims have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 23, 38, and 46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 23 recites “the first, second, or third tuft sequences”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if there is an omission of a previously recited element or if “the” should be changed to “a”.
Claim 38 recites “a first tuft sequence” and “a second tuft sequence”, however, claim 21, from which claim 38 depends, already includes a first and second tuft sequence. Therefore it is unclear if claim 38 refers to the same, or different tuft sequences.
Claim 46 recites “a first patch and a second patch” however claim 17 already includes a first and second patch. Therefore it is unclear if the claim attempts to introduce two new patches, or further limit the patches of claim 17.
The dependent claims inherit(s) the deficiency by nature of dependency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17, 18, 21, 30-32, 39-44, 47, 49, 51-56, 58, and 59 are allowed.
Claims 23, 38, and 46 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The independent claims include that each of the plurality of tuft sequences is spaced from, and does not have a backstitch connecting to, other tuft sequences of the plurality of tuft sequences along both the first axis and the second axis, which the prior art fails to teach in combination with the other limitations of the independent claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK J LYNCH whose telephone number is (571)272-1145. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th, Alt F: 8:00 AM-5:00 PM ET.
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/PATRICK J. LYNCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732