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 .
This is a final Office action responsive to the reply filed on 12/24/2025.
Claims 1, 9, 16, 18 and 21 have been amended.
Claims 2 and 13-15 have been canceled.
Claims 1, 3-12 and 16-21 are pending.
Amended specification was filed for entry.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 5 “thereof,; and” should be - - thereof; and - -.
Claim 1, line 8 “an-edge” should be - - an edge - -.
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 16, 17 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rhett, Jr. (US Patent No. 8,936,034), in view of Frazer et al. (US Patent No. 9,968,178).
Regarding claim 1, Rhett, Jr. discloses a hammock assembly, comprising:
a zipper fastener (26) having a first tape section and second tape section corresponding to the first tape section (see annotated Fig. 1 and Col. 3, lines 56-58);
a hammock having a hammock body with the first tape section attached to an edge thereof (see annotated Fig. 1); and
a cover having a body with the second tape section attached to an edge thereof, the cover removably attachable to the hammock by connecting the first tape section and the second tape section (see annotated Fig. 1).
Rhett, Jr. does not disclose the cover removably attachable to the hammock in a plurality of different orientations to correlate to various orientational configurations of the hammock body.
However, Frazer et al. teaches the cover removably attachable to the hammock in a plurality of different orientations to correlate to various orientational configurations of the hammock body (see Col. 6, lines 38-44; also, first orientational configurations of the hammock body with the combination of (112), (115) and (119), and second orientational configurations of the hammock body with the combination of (113), (114) and (120), see Fig. 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have zippers on the entire perimeter of the netting or cover, and the hammock portion in order to be able to secure the cover or netting to the hammock in a reversible or different orientations.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Rhett, Jr. in view of Frazer et al. discloses, wherein a suspension system provides the various orientational configurations of the hammock body, the suspension system includes a central suspension line extending between a plurality of suspension devices and tensioned along the suspension axis (see annotated Fig. 1) (first orientational configurations of the hammock body with the combination of (112), (115) and (119), and second orientational configurations of the hammock body with the combination of (113), (114) and (120), see Fig. 6 from Frazer).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Rhett, Jr. in view of Frazer et al. discloses, wherein the central suspension line supports the cover along a longitudinal axis of the cover to crease an enclosable space between the hammock and the cover (see annotated Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 21, Rhett, Jr. discloses, wherein the body is formed of only a netting material (20) (see annotated Fig. 1).
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 3-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rhett, Jr. (US Patent No. 8,936,034), in view of Frazer et al. (US Patent No. 9,968,178) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Scheid (DE 10 2014 116 104 cited by applicant).
Regarding claim 3, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the first tape section has a first set of fastener elements extending along a length thereof, a first retainer box positioned at a first end of the first set of fastener elements, and a first slider movably attached to the first tape section and engageable with the first retainer box. However, Scheid teaches the first tape section (II) has a first set of fastener elements (5) extending along a length thereof, a first retainer box (7b) positioned at a first end of the first set of fastener elements (5), and a first slider (6) movably attached to the first tape section (II) and engageable with the first retainer box (7b) (see Fig. 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a retainer box at the end of a tape section in order to engage the end of the other tape section into the retainer box.
Regarding claim 4, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the second tape section has a second set of fastener elements extending along a length thereof and engageable with the first set of fastener elements and a first retainer pin positioned at a first end of the second set of fastener elements and corresponding to the first retainer box and the first slider. However, Scheid teaches the second tape section (I) has a second set of fastener elements (4) extending along a length thereof and engageable with the first set of fastener elements (5) and a first retainer pin (7a) positioned at a first end of the second set of fastener elements (4) and corresponding to the first retainer box (7b) and the first slider (6) (see Fig. 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a retainer pin at the end of a tape section in order to engage into a retainer box from the other tape section.
Regarding claim 5, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the first tape section has a second retainer box positioned at an opposite second end of the first set of fastener elements and a second slider movably attached to the first tape section and engageable with the second retainer box. However, Scheid teaches the first tape section (II) has a second retainer box (17B) positioned at an opposite second end of the first set of fastener elements (5) and a second slider (16) movably attached to the first tape section (II) and engageable with the second retainer box (17b) (see Fig. 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a retainer box at the end of a tape section in order to engage the end of the other tape section into the retainer box.
Regarding claim 6, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the second tape section has a second retainer pin positioned at an opposite second end of the second set of fastener elements that is positioned opposite the first retainer pin, the second retainer pin corresponding to the second retainer box and the second slider. However, Scheid teaches the second tape section (I) has a second retainer pin (17a) positioned at an opposite second end of the second set of fastener elements (4) that is positioned opposite the first retainer pin (7a), the second retainer pin (17a) corresponding to the second retainer box (17b) and the second slider (16) (see Fig. 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a retainer pin at the end of a tape section in order to engage into a retainer box from the other tape section.
Regarding claim 7, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the second tape section has a second retainer box positioned at an opposite second end of the second set of fastener elements and a second slider movably attached to the second tape section and engageable with the second retainer box. However, Scheid teaches the second tape section (I) has a second retainer box (17b) positioned at an opposite second end of the second set of fastener elements (4) and a second slider (16) movably attached to the second tape section (I) and engageable with the second retainer box (17b) (see Fig. 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a retainer box at the end of a tape section in order to engage the end of the other tape section into the retainer box.
Regarding claim 8, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the first tape section has a second retainer pin positioned at an opposite second end of the first set of fastener elements and corresponding to the second retainer box and the second slider. However, Scheid teaches the first tape section (II) has a second retainer pin (17a) positioned at an opposite second end of the first set of fastener elements (5) and corresponding to the second retainer box (17b) and the second slider (16) (see Fig. 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a retainer pin at the end of a tape section in order to engage into a retainer box from the other tape section.
Regarding claim 9, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the first tape section has a first set of fastener elements extending along a length thereof, a first retainer pin positioned at a first end of the first set of fastener elements, and a second retainer pin positioned at an opposite second end of the first set of fastener elements. However, Scheid teaches the first tape section (I) has a first set of fastener elements (4) extending along a length thereof, a first retainer pin (7a) positioned at a first end of the first set of fastener elements (4), and a second retainer pin (17a) positioned at an opposite second end of the first set of fastener elements (4) (see Fig. 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a retainer pin at the end of a tape section in order to engage into a retainer box from the other tape section.
Regarding claim 10, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the second tape section has a second set of fastener elements extending along a length thereof and engageable with the first set of fastener elements, a first retainer box positioned at a first end of the second set of fastener elements, and a second retainer box positioned at an opposite second end of the second set of fastener elements. However, Scheid teaches the second tape section (II) has a second set of fastener elements (5) extending along a length thereof and engageable with the first set of fastener elements (4), a first retainer box (7b) positioned at a first end of the second set of fastener elements (5), and a second retainer box (17b) positioned at an opposite second end of the second set of fastener elements (5) (see Fig. 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a retainer box at the end of a tape section in order to engage the end of the other tape section into the retainer box.
Regarding claim 11, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the second tape section has a first slider movably attached to the second tape section and engageable with the first retainer box and a second slider movably attached to the second tape section and engageable with the second retainer box. However, Scheid teaches the second tape section (II) has a first slider (6) movably attached to the second tape section (II) and engageable with the first retainer box (7b) and a second slider (16) movably attached to the second tape section (II) and engageable with the second retainer box (17b) (see Fig. 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have two sliders on each ends a tape section in order to be capable to open or close from each ends of the tape section.
Regarding claim 12, Rhett, Jr. discloses the claimed invention except for the first retainer pin corresponds to the first retainer box and the first slider and the second retainer pin corresponds to the second retainer box and the second slider. However, Scheid teaches the first retainer pin (7a) corresponds to the first retainer box (7b) and the first slider (6) and the second retainer pin (17a) corresponds to the second retainer box (17b) and the second slider (16) (see Fig. 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have two sliders on each ends a tape section in order to be capable to open or close from each ends of the tape section.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rhett, Jr. (US Patent No. 8,936,034), in view of Frazer et al. (US Patent No. 9,968,178) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Setterholm (US Patent No. 4,057,859 cited by applicant).
Regarding claim 18, Rhett, Jr. does not disclose the body is formed of a first material and a second material. However, Setterholm teaches the body (15, 48) is formed of a first material (woven nylon) and a second material (screen) (see col. 4, lines 1-9). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a hammock with a body that has two materials and one of the materials is a screen for ventilation and insect protection.
Regarding claim 19, Rhett, Jr. does not disclose the first material is formed of nylon, cotton, silk, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, or polytetrafluoroethylene, and the second material is a netting material. However, Setterholm teaches the first material (15) is formed of nylon (woven nylon) (see col. 4, lines 7-9), and the second material (43) is a netting material (screen) (col. 4, lines 27-30). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the first material to protect the user from precipitation and the second material to protect the user from insect.
Regarding claim 20, Rhett, Jr. discloses, wherein the second material (netting (20)) constitutes a sufficient percentage of the body to permit adequate ventilation from an enclosed space between the hammock and the cover (see annotated Fig. 4C).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see pages 8-10, filed 12/24/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 1, the combination of Rhett, Jr. in view of Frazer et al. broadly discloses, the cover removably attachable to the hammock in a plurality of different orientations to correlate to various orientational configurations of the hammock body.
First the cover is removably attachable to the hammock in a plurality of different orientations, or reversible see (see Col. 6, lines 38-44 from Frazer).
Second the hammock body has various orientational configurations (first orientational configurations of the hammock body with the combination of (112), (115) and (119), and second orientational configurations of the hammock body with the combination of (113), (114) and (120), see Fig. 6 from Frazer). Applicant's arguments are more limiting than the claimed invention.
Examiner’s Comment
In view of applicant’s amendments to the specification and claims submitted in the reply filed on 12/24/2025, the objections to the specification indicated in the prior Office action have been withdrawn. The nonstatutory double patenting rejections indicated in the prior Office action have been withdrawn.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 LOUIS A MERCADO whose telephone number is (571)270-5388. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason W. San can be reached at 571-272-6531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LOUIS A. MERCADO/
Examiner
Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/SPE, Art Unit 3677
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