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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 20 March 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 7-13, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 20090010149 U in view of Telford et al. (US 9,380,888 B2)(Telford) and Higuchi (JP 2012187352 A).
Regarding claim 1, KR 20090010149 U demonstrates a baby carrier (Figs. 4 and 9), comprising a vest (160), a shoulder strap (130), a waist belt (120), and a back bag (110), wherein, the shoulder strap and the waist belt are connected with opposite ends of the vest (Figs. 4 and 9) respectively in a longitudinal direction of the vest (160, noting the shoulder straps are attached at a top, and the waist belt is attached at a bottom), one end of the back bag is connected with the waist belt (Figs. 4 and 9), and another end of the back bag is detachably connected with the shoulder strap (via 135 and 137), a carrying space (Fig. 10-12) is formed between the vest and the back bag, and at least one of a width and a length of the carrying space is adjustable (Figs. 13 and 14 noting the width of the lower portion is adjustable), the back bag and the vest both are connected with the same side of the waist belt (Figs. 4 and 9), and the back bag is turnover relative to the vest (Figs. 11 and 12) and detachably connected with the shoulder strap (Via 135 and 137), and the back bag comprises a fixing bag (110) and an adjusting bag (180), and the fixing bag and the adjusting bag are connected between the waist belt and the shoulder strap (Fig. 13) the fixing bag and the adjusting bag are configured to cooperate with each other to form a supporting portion disposed in the carrying space (Fig. 13), a width of the supporting portion is adjustable (Figs. 13 and 14): a first end of the fixing bag and a first end of the adjusting bag both are connected with the waist belt (120); a second end of the fixing bag is detachably connected with the shoulder strap (130), the supporting portion has a first end corresponding to the first end of the fixing bag and the first end of the adjusting bag (at the belt), has a second end corresponding to the second end of the adjusting bag (at the maximum height of the adjusting bag portions), an adjusting member at the second end of the supporting portion; the second end of the supporting portion includes two side portions opposite to each other in a lateral width direction of the back bag: and the two side portions of the second end of the adjusting bag, which include the adjusting member. A second end of the adjusting bag comprises a first side portion and a second side portion (noting instances of 180) opposite to teach other in a lateral width direction of the back bag and detachably connectable to the fixing bag (Figs. 5 and 11).
KR 20090010149 U does not specifically disclose a central portion of a second end of the adjusting bag is fixedly connected with the fixing bag, a width of the first end of the supporting portion is fixed and a width of the second end of the supporting portion is adjustable by moving inward or outward relative to the central portion of the second end of the adjusting bag, to connect each of the two side portions of the second end of the adjusting bag with different segment positions of the fixing bag to adjust the width of the second end of the supporting portion.
Telford demonstrates an adjustable baby carrier including a back bag having a fixing bag and an adjustment bag (402), and a central portion of a second end of the adjusting bag is fixedly connected with the fixing bag (via 408/410), a width of the first end of the supporting portion is fixed (Fig. 3, at the attachment of to the belt) and a width of the second end of the supporting portion is adjustable by moving inward or outward relative to the central portion of the second end of the adjusting bag, to connect each of the two side portions of the second end of the adjusting bag with different segment positions of the fixing bag to adjust the width of the second end of the supporting portion (Col. 11; Ll. 47-55) noting each side portion connects at a different plurality of segment positions. Telford demonstrates a central portion between the first side portion and the second side portion in the lateral width direction and fixedly connected with the fixing bag (via 360) as well as portions (390) between the first side portion and the second side portion fixedly connected with the fixing bag.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take the device of KR 20090010149 U and use the teaching of Telford and configure the adjusting bag such that it and a supporting portion are fixedly attached to a belt and have an opposite end attached at a central portion to the fixing bag and have a second end that adjusts in shape and size because such a change would allow for additional adjustment of the width of the baby carrier thereby allowing it to have additional adjustment and fit more children comfortably.
To the degree that it can be argued that the width of the bag are not specifically configured to be folded inward or outward relative to the central portion,
Higuchi demonstrates a similar device having an adjustable width (Fig .11) and including side portions (101) and a central portion, whereby the side portions are configured to be folded inward or outward relative to the central portion in order to adjust the width (noting the configurations shown in Fig. 11).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take the modified device of KR 20090010149 U and allow the side portions to move by folding inward or outward similar to that of Higuchi because such a change would have required the mere choice of one type of extending and retracting over another and would have yielded predictable results.
Regarding claim 3, modified KR 20090010149 U discloses the supporting portion (180) is provided with an adjusting member (noting 410 of Telford) configured to adjust the width of the supporting portion, and the adjusting member is arranged along a lateral width direction of the back bag and has at least an adjusting segment position.
Regarding claim 5, modified KR 20090010149 U discloses a relative width between the fixing bag and the adjusting bag is adjustable (Figs. 13-14).
Regarding claim 7, modified KR 20090010149 U discloses one end of the fixing bag connected with the waist belt is narrower (Fig. 14) than another end of the fixing bag away from the waist belt (noting the upper end, Fig. 14), and a width of the adjusting bag (as taught by Telford 410) is greater than a width of the end of the fixing bag connected with the waist belt (Fig. 13), and less than or equal to a width of the other end of the fixing bag away from the waist belt (Fig. 13, noting the width of 180 is significantly equal to the width of the upper portion of 110).
Regarding claim 8, modified KR 20090010149 U discloses the adjusting bag is disposed on an outer side of the adjusting bag rather than the inner side of the fixing bag. Such a change would have required a mere choice of one of a finite number of options. i.e., placing the adjustable bag on an inner side or an outer side of the fixing bag and would have yielded predictable results.
Regarding claim 9, modified KR 20090010149 U discloses the adjusting bag is disposed on an outer side of the fixing bag (KR 20120132306 A Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 10, modified KR 20090010149 U and specifically Telford discloses an adjusting member (410) is arranged at a junction of the adjusting bag and the fixing bag; and the adjusting member is configured to fix the adjusting bag at a plurality of first segment positions and the plurality of second segment positions (noting instances of 410, and the symmetry of the device including the different locations of 410) of the fixing bag, and the plurality of first segment positions and the plurality of second segment positions corresponding to different widths of the supporting portion (Col. 11; Ll. 47-55).
Regarding claim 11, modified KR 20090010149 U and specifically Telford discloses demonstrates the adjusting member comprises a Hook and Loop (415/417); are arranged on the adjusting bag and the fixing bag respectively, match with each other and are detachable (Col. 11; Ll. 42-55).
Regarding claim 12, modified KR 20090010149 U and specifically KR 20120132306 A discloses at least two attachments (410) arranged on the fixing bag along a lateral width direction thereof, and two attachments (408) arranged correspondingly on the first and second side portions of the second end of the adjusting bag; and the two attachments selectively attach in corresponding two other attachments (Fig. 23).
Modified KR 20090010149 U does not specifically disclose fixing holes and fixing buckles. Such a change to include fixing holes and fixing buckles would have required the mere choice of one known detachable connector over another and would have yielded predictable results.
Regarding claim 13, modified KR 20090010149 U and specifically Telford discloses a pocket arranged on the supporting portion (in which portions 410 exist, concealed under a panel) wherein the adjusting member is received in the pocket.
Regarding claim 18, modified KR 20090010149 U discloses a quantity of the shoulder straps is two (130), and the two shoulder straps are symmetrically connected with the vest (160).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 20090010149 U in view of Telford et al. (US 9,380,888 B2)(Telford) and Higuchi (JP 2012187352 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chen (US 2017/0196374 A1).
Regarding claim 14, modified KR 20090010149 U does not specifically disclose wherein a supporting pad is further arranged in the carrying space, and fixed on the back bag or detachably connected with the back bag.
Chen demonstrates a baby carrier including a supporting pad (Paragraph 0031) is further arranged in the carrying space, and fixed on the back bag.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take the modified device of KR 20090010149 U and include a pad in the carrying space similar to that of Chen because such a change will help to improve the comfort of the baby carrier as is a well-known characteristic of cushions or padding.
Claim(s) 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 20090010149 U in view of Telford et al. (US 9,380,888 B2)(Telford) and Higuchi (JP 2012187352 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of KR 20100011826 U.
Regarding claims 15-16, modified KR 20090010149 U shows the vest folding down, but does not specifically disclose the waist belt is configured to be turned toward or away from the vest around an end of the waist belt connected with the vest, to adjust the length of the carrying space, the vest and the back bag are configured to be turned around the waist belt, to adjust the length of the carrying space.
KR 20100011826 U demonstrates the ability to have a baby carrier including a back support portion and a waist belt whereby the back support portion is configured to be turned toward or away from the vest around an end of the waist belt connected with the vest, to adjust the length of the carrying space, the back portion is configured to be turned around the waist belt, to adjust the length of the carrying space (Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take the modified device of KR 20090010149 U and configure it such that the vest and back bag are capable of being wrapped around the waist belt in order to adjust the height of the vest and back bag of the carrier because such a change would allow the device to be rolled up into a compact configuration when not in use, or allow the device to have a desired back support length as demonstrated by KR 20100011826 U.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 20090010149 U in view of Telford et al. (US 9,380,888 B2)(Telford) and Higuchi (JP 2012187352 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Parness et al. (US 2010/0072236 A1)(Parness).
Regarding claim 17, modified KR 20090010149 U does not specifically disclose two side ends of the vest are provided with fifth connecting members respectively; and two outer side ends of the back bag are respectively provided with sixth connecting members detachably connected with the fifth connecting members.
Parness teaches a similar baby carrier including a vest portion (29a/29b) including disclose two side ends of the vest are provided with fifth connecting members respectively (72a/72b or 80a/80b); and two outer side ends of the back bag are respectively provided with sixth connecting members (62a/62b) detachably connected with the fifth connecting members.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take the modified device of KR 20090010149 U and include an additional set of connectors between the vest and the back bag similar to those of Parness because such a change would allow for an additional connection thereby helping to ensure that the vest and the back do not become disconnected accidentally.
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 20090010149 U in view of Telford et al. (US 9,380,888 B2)(Telford) and Higuchi (JP 2012187352 A) as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of DE 202011103052 U1.
Regarding claim 19-20, modified KR 20090010149 U demonstrates each of the shoulder straps includes a first connecting segment (noting the body portions of 130); the first connecting segment is fixed on the vest (160) along a length direction of the vest (to the degree that they are attached to a portion of the vest at, at least a point along a length direction), but does not specifically disclose and a second connecting segment, one end of the second connecting segment is connected with the first connecting segment, another end of the second connecting segment is connected with a top side end of the vest rotatably; and a length of the second connecting segment is adjustable, or two enforcing belts are respectively fixed at one end of either of two shoulder straps, and the two enforcing belts are detachably connected.
DE 202011103052 U1 demonstrates a similar device including shoulder straps having a first connecting segment (7a/7b) and a second connecting segment (23), one end of the second connecting segment is connected with the first connecting segment (at 19), another end of the second connecting segment is connected with a top side end of a support panel rotatably (at 22), and a length of the second connecting segment is adjustable, and two enforcing belts (noting the belts attached to 17 and 18) are respectively fixed at one end of either of two shoulder straps, and the two enforcing belts are detachably connected (via 17 and 18).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take the modified device of KR 20090010149 U and use the teaching of DE 202011103052 U1 and include similarly configured second connecting segments and enforcing belts because such a change would help to strengthen the shoulder straps and/or act as secondary attachments and would help to ensure that the straps stay connected to one another and held in a desired location on the wearer.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4 February 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the cited references fail to teach or disclose a second end of the adjusting bag comprises a first and second side portions including a central portion that is fixedly connected with the fixing bag. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Telford demonstrates a similar device having first and second side portions that are fixedly connected to a fixing bag via portions 360 and 390. To the degree that an upper end can generally be considered an upper half, and a lower end can generally be considered a lower half, the fixed connections of Telford generally extend up into the upper (second) end of the adjusting bag portions. Examiner notes that the adjustment of Telford is shown to be a removable set of buttons, however connections via 360 and 390 are not disclosed to be temporary. Examiner notes that the connections 408 and 410 are not considered to be fixed connections.
Examiner notes Higuchi is not intended to be bodily incorporated into the device, but teaches the ability for similar adjustment portions to fold inward or outward relative to a central portion during adjustment.
Claim 1 recites “the first side portion and the second side portion of the second end of the adjusting bag with a plurality of first segment positions and a plurality of second segment positions of the fixing bag, respectively, to adjust the width of the second end of the supporting portion” this language allows for a first plurality of segment positions to which a first side portion connects, and a second, different, plurality of segments to which the second side portion connects.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW T THEIS whose telephone number is 571-270-5700. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday - Thursday.
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/M.T.T./Examiner, Art Unit 3734
/NATHAN J NEWHOUSE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3734
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