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 .
Acknowledgment is made of the amendment filed December 11, 2025. The application has been updated accordingly.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dzugan (2020/0206551).
Dzugan discloses:
Claim 1: A harness for a fall protection system comprising:
a number of user initiated features (Figs. 1-2; 10, 11 and 22, Para. [0030-0032]) structured to be activated by an action of a user (the user falling, Para. [0030-0032]); and
a lockout system (Fig. 1; 2) including fall indicator stitching structured to tear in response to a fall (Fig. 1; 13, Para. [0030]),
wherein an element of a selected user initiated feature (Fig. 1; 11) is attached to the fall indicator stitching such that the selected user initiated feature is unable to be activated by the action of the user until the fall indicator stitching is torn (Para. [0030]).
Claim 2: The harness of claim 1, further comprising:
a pull cord (Fig. 1; 11a) structured to activate one of the user initiated features (Fig. 1; 10).
Claim 3: The harness of claim 2, wherein the one of the user initiated features is a switchpoint feature (Fig. 1; 10) to allow an attachment point (Fig. 1; via 6) of the harness to be moved from a back to a front of the harness (Para. [0030]).
Claim 4: The harness of claim 2, wherein the one of the user initiated features is the selected user initiated feature (Fig. 3A; 6 in the locked configuration).
Claim 5: The harness of claim 4, wherein the pull cord includes a first pull cord end accessible by a user (Fig. 2; 11a), and wherein the pull cord extends through a release ring (Fig. 1; 11a passes through 6) structured to activate the user initiated feature (Fig. 3B; 6 in the unlocked configuration).
Claim 6: The harness of claim 5, wherein the element of the user initiated features is a pull cord redirection attachment (Fig. 1; 12) attached to the fall indicator stitching (Fig. 1; 13), and wherein the pull cord (Fig. 1; 11) extends from the first pull cord end (Fig. 1; 11a) through the release ring (Fig. 1; 6) and through the pull cord redirection attachment (Fig. 1; 12) to a pull cord second end (Fig. 2; 11a) attached to the harness (Fig. 1; 1), wherein the pull cord redirection attachment and fall indicator stitching prevent the pull cord from engaging the release ring when the fall indicator stitching is intact, and wherein the pull cord redirection attachment and fall indicator stitching release and allow the pull cord to engage the release ring after a fall (Para. [0030-0032]).
Claim 7: The harness of claim 1, further comprising: a directional tearaway feature including direction sensitive stitching that is structured to resist tearing in a first direction and be susceptible to tearing in a second direction (Para. [0030] describes the seam 13 as tearing successively from the back to the front indicating that the stitching is structured to tear in a specified direction).
Claim 8: The harness of claim 1, further comprising: a lanyard (Fig. 1; 11) composed of a single strap having three connection points (Fig. 1-2; where 11a connects to 6, where 11 connects to 2, and where 11a connects to 22).
Claim 9: The harness of claim 8, further comprising: a directional tearaway feature including direction sensitive stitching that is structured to resist tearing in a first direction and be susceptible to tearing in a second direction, wherein the directional tearaway features includes direction sensitive stitching (Para. [0030] describes the seam 13 as tearing successively from the back to the front indicating that the stitching is structured to tear in a specified direction) which attaches a portion of the lanyard (Fig. 1; 11) to straps of the harness (Fig. 1; 12).
Claim 13: The harness of claim 1, further comprising:
a first element (Fig. 1-2; 2);
a second element (Fig. 1-2; 2b);
a third element (Fig. 1-2; 2c); and
a tri-load capable hardware attachment (Fig. 2; 22) structured to attach the first element, the second element, and the third element, wherein the tri-load capable hardware attachment is structured to resist three directions of loading (Fig. 2; 22 would resist loading in three directions from loading on 2a-c).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dzugan (2020/0206551) in view of Lirakis (4,121,688).
Claim 10: Dzugan discloses the harness of claim 1, further comprising:
a torso strap (Fig. 1; 2c); and
a chest strap (Fig. 1; 2c).
Dzugan fails to disclose the torso strap being composed of a plurality of layers of webbing and the chest strap composed of at least one of the plurality of layers of webbing of the torso strap folded to be disposed perpendicular with respect to the remaining of the plurality of layers of webbing of the torso strap.
However, Lirakis discloses a torso strap (Fig. 6; 36) being composed of a plurality of layers of webbing (Fig. 6; 31 and 36) and a chest strap (Fig. 6; 31) composed of at least one of the plurality of layers of webbing (Fig. 6; 31) of the torso strap folded (Fig. 6; at 35) to be disposed perpendicular with respect to the remaining of the plurality of layers of webbing of the torso strap (Fig. 6; 31 and 36 are depicted as perpendicular to one another).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the harness of Dzugan to include the strap configuration, as taught by Lirakis, with a reasonable expectation of success because it would minimize the risk of failure of the stitching under severe stress (Col. 4, Lines 6-7).
Claim 11: Dzugan discloses the harness of claim 10, further comprising: but fails to disclose a buckle, wherein the chest strap is threaded through the buckle.
However, Lirakis discloses a buckle (Fig. 6; 33), wherein the chest strap is threaded through the buckle (Fig. 6; Col. 3, Lines 9-15 describe the chest strap as passing through 33).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the harness of Dzugan to include the buckle, as taught by Lirakis, with a reasonable expectation of success because it would make the harness easier for the user to don, adjust, and remove.
Claim 12: Dzugan and Lirakis disclose the harness of claim 10, wherein the at least one of the plurality of layers of webbing of the torso strap (Lirakis - Fig. 6; 36) is folded at about 45 degrees (Lirakis - Fig. 6; at 35, Col. 3, Lines 9-18) with respect to the remaining of the plurality of layers of webbing of the torso strap.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is allowed.
Claim 20 is considered allowable due to the recitation of a second webbing layer of the first element looped through the opening of the second element and the opening of the third element a first time and looped back through the opening of the second element a second time.
Claims 14-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 14 and 17 are considered allowable due to the recitation of a second webbing layer of the first element looped through the opening of the second element and the opening of the third element a first time and looped back through the opening of the second element a second time.
Claims 15-16 and 18-19 due to their dependency from claims 14 and 17.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 11, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to the prior art rejections, applicant argues that the primary reference of Dzugan fails to disclose a user initiated feature and therefore the locking element (6) of Dzugan is not a user initiated feature. This argument is not persuasive because the action of falling, on the part of the user, is very much initiated by the user, as the tear tape (12/13) would not tear and the pull cord (11) would not activate but for the fall of the user.
For at least these reasons applicant’s remarks are not found persuasive and the claims remain rejected as advanced above.
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 Kathleen M. McFarland whose telephone number is (571)272-9139. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm.
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/Kathleen M. McFarland/Examiner, Art Unit 3635
Kathleen M. McFarland
Examiner
Art Unit 3635
/BRIAN D MATTEI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3635