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 .
Summary
Claims 1-4,7-14 and 17-18 are pending in this office action. Claims 10, 11 and 14 are amended. Claims 5, 6, 15 and 16 are cancelled. All pending claims are under examination in this application.
Priority
The current application filed on June 20, 2022 claims domestic priority to provisional patent application 63/213,057 filed on June 21, 2021. In addition, the instant application serves as the priority document for PCT/US22/34211, filed June 21, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
Receipt of the Information Disclosure Statement filed on May 13, 2026 is acknowledged. A signed copy of the form PTO/SB/08 is attached to this office action.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s response of May 13, 2026 has been received and entered into the application file.
Applicant’s amendments to the abstract and claims 10, 11 and 14 have overcome the objections and rejection under 35 USC 112(b) from the nonfinal action mailed July 10, 2024.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed May 13, 2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-18 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Sweeney et al. in view of Patel.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 1-3, 7-14 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sweeney et al. in view of Patel and Christo.
Sweeney et al. teach a knitted glove made from a plurality of yarns. One yarn is antimicrobial, see paragraph [0034] and another type is thermal regulating yarn, see paragraph [0033]. Claim 12 lists many combinations of yarn types; the specific combination of antimicrobial and thermal regulating is not included.
The antimicrobial yarns specifically named by Sweeney et al. are not made antimicrobial by inclusion of particles.
Sweeney et al. do not disclose the antimicrobial particles of claims 1 and 4, nor do they disclose proportions or uses of the material other than gloves.
Patel teaches antimicrobial yarn given that property by incorporating silver nanoparticles and discusses uses for the fabric other than gloves.
Christo teaches antimicrobial glove that incorporates silver salts as the antimicrobial into the textile fibers, see paragraph [0041].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the instant effective filing date, to use the silver salt nanoparticle-infused fiber of Christo as the antimicrobial fiber of Sweeney et al. with the expectation of providing an antimicrobial fiber. It would have been further obvious that the teachings of Sweeney et al. could be easily expanded to other uses for the glove fabric. With regard to the specific proportions of yarns, it is considered to be well within the ordinary level of skill in the art to determine the proportions, depending on the properties desired. Should specific proportions give rise to unexpectedly superior results, examiner invites applicant to demonstrate the same.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Applicant's submission of an information disclosure statement under 37 CFR 1.97(c) with the timing fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(p) on May 13, 2026 prompted the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 609.04(b). 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 Robert A. Wax whose telephone number is (571)272-0623. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM -4:00 PM Monday - Friday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Michener can be reached at (571) 272-1424. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Robert A Wax/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1615
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