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 .
Specification
The amendment filed on 07 August 2025 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows: the claims 1, 4 and 7 recitations of “and unfixed relative to each other” do not appear to be disclosed within Applicant’s originally filed specification or drawings.
Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in the reply to this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. See the indicated new matter within independent claims 1, 4 and 7, set forth supra.
Claims 2-3, 5-6 and 8-10 are rejected as depending (directly or indirectly) from rejected independent claims 1, 4 and 7.
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0291801 to Sung (“Sung”).
Regarding claim 1, Sung anticipates a shock-absorption module (e.g. vibration-absorption block 4, as shown in fig. 7; per para. 1, this is a shock-absorbing structure), comprising: i) an exterior enclosure (e.g. enclosure barrel 45, as shown in fig. 7 and discussed at para. 29) made of an elastic material (e.g. rubber, as discussed at para. 29) and formed with a hollow interior space (e.g. inner portion holding foamed units 42 and foaming pores 43 therein, as shown in figs. 7 and 5) therein (fig. 7), two opposite ends (e.g. upper surface and lower surfaces, respectively, as shown in fig. 7) of an outside surface (fig. 7) of the exterior enclosure (45) being respectively defined as a first force-bearing surface (e.g. upper surface, as shown in fig. 7) and a second force-bearing surface (e.g. lower surface, as shown in fig. 7); and ii) a plurality (fig. 5) of cushioning pellets (e.g. foaming pores 43, as shown in fig. 5 and discussed at para. 24 and 26) made of thermoplastic elastomer (e.g. thermoplastic polyurethane polymer, per para. 24), filling (figs. 7 and 5) the hollow interior space (aforementioned inner portion holding foamed units 42 and foaming pores 43 therein, as shown in figs. 7 and 5) of the exterior enclosure (45) and unfixed relative to each other (fig. 5; note the manner in which foaming pores 43 appear to be detached from each other, and there is no indication that they are in any way fixed relative to each other; also see the treatment under 35 USC 112 set forth supra).
Regarding claim 2, Sung anticipates the shock-absorption module according to claim 1, wherein the shock-absorption module (4) is made in one of a spherical structure, an oblate spherical structure (fig. 7), a cylindrical structure (fig. 7), a columnar structure (fig. 7), and a flat structure (fig. 7; note that the upper and lower surfaces of vibration-absorption block 4 are flat).
Regarding claim 3, Sung anticipates the shock-absorption module according to claim 1, wherein the exterior enclosure (45) is formed with (fig. 7) a through hole portion (e.g. central hole 41, as discussed at para. 25; compare figs. 4 and 7), which is formed through a central portion (fig. 7) of the exterior enclosure (45) and communicates with (fig. 7) the first force-bearing surface (aforementioned upper surface) and the second force-bearing surface (aforementioned lower surface).
Regarding claim 4, Sung anticipates a saddle (1, as shown in fig. 7), comprising: i) a base plate (e.g. bottom surface 12, as shown in fig. 7) having a bottom (e.g. lower surface, as shown in fig. 7) formed with at least one positioning portion (e.g. cavity in which vibration-absorption block 4 is held, as shown in fig. 7); ii) a support base (3, as shown in fig. 7) arranged under (fig. 7) the bottom (aforementioned lower surface) of the base plate (12) and corresponds to (fig. 7) the at least one positioning portion (aforementioned cavity in which vibration-absorption block 4 is held); iii) at least one shock-absorption module (e.g. vibration-absorption block 4, as shown in fig. 7; per para. 1, this is a shock-absorbing structure) positioned between (fig. 7) the at least one positioning portion (aforementioned cavity in which vibration-absorption block 4 is held) of the base plate (12) and the support base (3); iv) wherein the at least one shock-absorption module (4) is made of an elastic material (e.g. rubber, as discussed at para. 29), formed with a hollow interior space (e.g. inner portion holding foamed units 42 and foaming pores 43 therein, as shown in figs. 7 and 5) therein (fig. 7), two opposite ends (e.g. upper surface and lower surfaces, respectively, as shown in fig. 7) of an outside surface (fig. 7) of the at least one shock-absorption module (4) being respectively formed with a first force-bearing surface (e.g. upper surface, as shown in fig. 7) abutted against (fig. 7) the at least one positioning portion (aforementioned cavity in which vibration-absorption block 4 is held) of the base plate (12) and a second force-bearing surface (e.g. lower surface, as shown in fig. 7) abutted against (fig. 7) the support base (3); and v) a plurality (fig. 5) of cushioning pellets (e.g. foaming pores 43, as shown in fig. 5 and discussed at para. 24 and 26) made of thermoplastic elastomer (e.g. thermoplastic polyurethane polymer, per para. 24), filling (figs. 7 and 5) the hollow interior space (aforementioned inner portion holding foamed units 42 and foaming pores 43 therein) of the at least one shock-absorption module (4) and unfixed relative to each other (fig. 5; note the manner in which foaming pores 43 appear to be detached from each other, and there is no indication that they are in any way fixed relative to each other; also see the treatment under 35 USC 112 set forth supra).
Regarding claim 5, Sung anticipates the saddle according to claim 4, wherein the at least one shock-absorption module (4) is made in one of a spherical structure, an oblate spherical structure (fig. 7), a cylindrical structure (fig. 7), a columnar structure (fig. 7), and a flat structure (fig. 7; note that the upper and lower surfaces of vibration-absorption block 4 are flat).
Regarding claim 6, Sung anticipates the saddle according to claim 4, i) wherein the at least one shock-absorption module (4) is formed with (fig. 7) a through hole portion ((e.g. central hole 41, as discussed at para. 25; compare figs. 4 and 7) formed through (fig. 7) the at least one shock-absorption module (4) and communicates with (fig. 7) the first force-bearing surface (aforementioned upper surface) and the second force-bearing surface (aforementioned lower surface); ii) the at least one positioning portion (aforementioned cavity in which vibration-absorption block 4 is held) of the base plate (12) is formed with (fig. 7) a positioning pillar (e.g. portion defining positioning hole 15, as shown in fig. 7) extending downward (fig. 7), the positioning pillar (aforementioned portion defining positioning hole 15) extending through (fig. 7) the through hole portion (41, as discussed supra) of the at least one shock-absorption module (4) to position (fig. 7) the at least one shock-absorption module (4) between (fig. 7) the at least one positioning portion (aforementioned cavity in which vibration-absorption block 4 is held) of the base plate (12) and the support base (3).
Regarding claim 7, Sung anticipates a saddle (1, as shown in fig. 7), comprising: i) a base plate (e.g. bottom surface 12, as shown in fig. 7); ii) an outer cover layer (e.g. support base 3, as shown in fig. 7); iii) a cushioning pellet containing space (e.g. portion holding foamed units 42 and foaming pores 43 therein, as shown in figs. 7 and 5) formed between (fig. 7) the base plate (12) and the outer cover layer (3); and iv) a plurality (fig. 5) of cushioning pellets (e.g. foaming pores 43, as shown in fig. 5 and discussed at para. 24 and 26) made of thermoplastic elastomer (e.g. thermoplastic polyurethane polymer, per para. 24), filling (figs.7 and 5) the cushioning pellet containing space (aforementioned inner portion holding foamed units 42 and foaming pores 43 therein, as shown in figs. 7 and 5) and unfixed relative to each other (fig. 5; note the manner in which foaming pores 43 appear to be detached from each other, and there is no indication that they are in any way fixed relative to each other; also see the treatment under 35 USC 112 set forth supra).
Regarding claim 8, Sung anticipates the saddle according to claim 7, wherein the cushioning pellet containing space (aforementioned inner portion holding foamed units 42 and foaming pores 43 therein, as shown in figs. 7 and 5) is at least formed at a location corresponding to ischiatic pressure bearing zones (compare figs. 1-3 and 7; note the positioning of pressing force P) defined by the saddle (1).
Regarding claim 9, Sung anticipates the saddle according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of cushioning pellets (43, as shown in fig. 5) are contained in (figs. 7 and 5) a hollow interior space (e.g. inner portion holding foamed units 42 and foaming pores 43 therein, as shown in figs. 7 and 5) of an exterior enclosure (e.g. enclosure barrel 45, as shown in fig. 7 and discussed at para. 29) made of elastic material (e.g. rubber, as discussed at para. 29), two opposite ends (e.g. upper surface and lower surface, respectively, as shown in fig. 7) of an outside surface (fig. 7) of the exterior enclosure (45) being respectively defined as a first force-bearing surface (e.g. lower surface, as shown in fig. 7) abutted against (fig. 7) the outer cover layer (3) and a second force-bearing surface (e.g. upper surface, as shown in fig. 7) abutted against (fig. 7) the base plate (12).
Regarding claim 10, Sung anticipates the saddle according to claim 9, wherein the exterior enclosure (45) is made in one of a spherical structure, an oblate spherical structure (fig. 7), a cylindrical structure (fig. 7), a columnar structure (fig. 7), and a flat structure (fig. 7; note that the upper and lower surfaces of vibration-absorption block 4 are flat).
Response to Arguments
In response to Applicant’s argument that the unfixed nature of the pellets is supported by paragraph 26 of Applicant’s disclosure (Arguments/Remarks pg. 7), the Office respectfully asserts that paragraph 26 of Applicant’s specification merely recites “…the plurality of cushioning pellets 4 contained in the exterior enclosure 30 are acted upon by the deformation of the exterior enclosure 30 to cause adjacent ones of the cushioning pellets 4 to contact with each other and become compressed and deformed…”. There is no express or implied mention of the cushioning pellets being “unfixed relative to each other” as Applicant now aims to add to independent claims 1, 4 and 7. To the contrary, within each of Applicant’s filed drawings containing the cushioning pellets 4, each cushioning pellet appears to be connected to at least one other adjacent cushioning pellet.
In response to Applicant’s argument that the Sung plurality of foamed units 42 is “bonded together by a bonding portion 44 present between every two adjacent ones of the foamed units 42 to form the vibration-absorption block 4” (Arguments/Remarks pg. 8), the Office respectfully encourages Applicant to see the treatment of claims set forth supra, in which the claimed cushioning pellets are equated to the Sung foaming pores 43, as shown in fig. 5 and discussed at para. 24 and 26. The Office notes that fig. 5 exhibits individual instances of these foaming pores 43 clearly being separate and unfixed relative to each other within the foamed units 42.
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 JUSTIN V LEWIS whose telephone number is (571)270-5052. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel J. Troy can be reached at (571) 270-3742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN V LEWIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637