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 amendment filed on August 29, 2025, has been entered. Claims 1 – 6 have been amended. Claims 1 – 10 are pending.
The amendment to the claims have clarified the placement of the protrusions set forth in section 7 of the previous Office Action.
The 35 USC 112 rejection to claim 3 is withdrawn due to the amendment to claim 3.
The 35 USC 112 rejection to claim 4 is withdrawn due to the amendment to claim 4.
The 35 USC 103 rejection over Harting (2008/0156580) is withdrawn due to the amendments to claim 1.
Definition of Terms
The phrase “first protrusion portions… along the second direction extending outward” in claim 1 is interpreted as requiring the protrusions to extend outward towards the adjacent wires, within the plan of the fabric.
The phrase “wherein two adjacent first wires and two adjacent second wires are interlaced with each other, so that the two first protrusion portions located on a side of two adjacent first wires that are close to each other and the two second protrusion portions located on a side of two adjacent second wires that are close to each other together form a ventilation hole” is interpreted as requiring the protrusions to be on the sides of the fibers and that the fibers are interlaced so that an opening is formed between the four wires after they are interlaced. Further it is noted that the term “close” is a relative term and is considered to require a specific distance between the adjacent wires.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the drawings do not show a woven fabric as described in the disclosure and claimed. The woven structure requires interlacing of yarns. Figures 1 and 2 do not show the wires as overlapping at the intersections with one wire passing over and the other passing under. Instead, the figures suggests that intersection merge into a single wire as if the grid were formed in a mold. This flat structure is not suggested or taught by the disclosure. For comparison, Figure 6 of Chen shows the yarns going over one yarns and then under the next yarn as it interlaces to form the woven fabric. Further, in Figure 7 of Chen, the side view shows that the yarns form cross-over points which are thicker than the areas between the cross-overs. The interwoven structure is not all within a single plane with a single thickness as shown in the Applicant’s figures.
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 § 112
Claims 1 – 10 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claim description of the wires in claim 1 is indefinite. Claim 1 recites that the first wire comprises a first circular wire with a circular cross-section and two first protrusion portions … wherein the thickness of the first wire are the same a diameter the first circular wires. It is unclear if the first wire, first circular cross-section and the two protrusions are required to be separate pieces or a single wire. How can the first circular wire be both circular are have a protrusion? How do the sides of the circular wire form protrusions and still form a circular wire? Is the circle wire a distinct part of the cross section, formed by a separate material? Or is the cross section a single component wherein one could outline a circle onto a portion of the cross-section? Further, the term wire is defined as being formed from metal. If the first wire includes a first circular wire which has a protrusion on opposite sides are all three portions formed from the same single wire material? Or, are the protrusions a coating added on to the center wire material?
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 - 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen (2014/0073213).
Chen discloses a damper structure comprising first yarns interwoven with second yarns (abstract). The yarns include a first yarn formed by a single thread and a fixture layer formed on and enclosing the overlapping areas. The first yarn is equivalent to the first wire. The thread is equivalent to the circular core and the fixture layer forms the protrusion. The fixture layer forms two opposite C-shaped protrusions. As shown in the marked up figure below, protrusion starts at the top of the fiber and extends around to the bottom of the yarn, extending out towards the adjacent yarns. Further, the yarns meet at the intersections producing an uncoated connection portion that connects with the protrusion. Finally, the coated yarn tapers to smaller diameters in the direction perpendicular to the damping mesh. As some point the thickness will equal the diameter of the circular wire. A line estimating this location was drawn in the figure. Finally, the first yarns are considered to be equivalent to the yarns running in the first direction and the second yarns are considered to equivalent to the yarns running in the second, perpendicular direction. Thus, claims 1 – 3 and 5 – 10 are anticipated.
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With regards to claim 4, the claim is directed to the method of making the fabric. Even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same or an obvious variant from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process. In re Thorpe, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). In this, case the product does not need to be made in a single step. If the prior art can be made in multiple steps to produce all the features recites in the claims, then the final product would still have the same final structure. The burden has been shifted to the Applicant to show unobvious differences between the claimed product and the prior art product. In re Marosi, 218 USPQ 289, 292 (Fed. Cir. 1983). Therefore, claim 4 is rejected.
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 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 Jenna Johnson whose telephone number is (571)272-1472. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10am - 4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marla McConnell can be reached at (571) 270-7692. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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jlj
December 19, 2025
/JENNA L JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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