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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the PCT international search report is not considered to be an information disclosure statement (IDS) complying with 37 CFR 1.98. 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2) requires a legible copy of: (1) each foreign patent; (2) each publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; (3) for each cited pending U.S. application, the application specification including claims, and any drawing of the application, or that portion of the application which caused it to be listed including any claims directed to that portion, unless the cited pending U.S. application is stored in the Image File Wrapper (IFW) system; and (4) all other information, or that portion which caused it to be listed. In addition, each IDS must include a list of all patents, publications, applications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office (see 37 CFR 1.98(a)(1) and (b)), and MPEP § 609.04(a), subsection I. states, “the list ... must be submitted on a separate paper.” Therefore, the references cited in the international search report have not been considered. Applicant is advised that the date of submission of any item of information in the international search report will be the date of submission of the IDS for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements for the IDS with 37 CFR 1.97, including all timing statement requirements of 37 CFR 1.97(e). See MPEP § 609.05(a).
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.
Claims 1-2 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the number of the convex buttons" in lines 9-10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Office has interpreted this to reference the structure of “a plurality of the convex buttons” recited in line 7. Applicant should revise either line 7 or lines 8-9 for the purpose of consistency in order to avoid confusion as to whether these structures are meant to be related or different from each other.
Claim 2 is rejected due to dependency on claim 1 above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by HAG-r (NPL attached via this Office action, first made available to the public 09/03/2018).
Regarding claim 1: HAG-r discloses a size-adjusting device for an Elizabethan collar (Page 1), comprising: convex and concave buttons, each being individual snap components, disposed on the front and back sides of a belt shaped body, wherein: a plurality of the convex buttons are arranged in a horizontal row on the front side of the body, and a number of the concave buttons equal to the number of the convex buttons are respectively disposed on the back side of the body at positions diagonally below each of the convex buttons (as seen on pages 4-6).
Regarding claim 2: HAG-r discloses the limitations of claim 1 as shown above, and further discloses wherein an additional concave button is provided on the recessed back side of the body, at a position further outward than the concave button located at the endmost position among the concave buttons (as seen on pages 4-6).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cited art are within applicant’s related field of Elizabethan collars and extension straps.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDGAR REYES whose telephone number is (571)272-5318. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-6 EST.
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/E.R./Examiner, Art Unit 3642
/ASSRES H WOLDEMARYAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642