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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 08/06/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 11, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brookstein et al. (US 2012/0118427 A1) in view of Arene et al. (US 2019/0391560 A1)
Regarding Claim 11, Brookstein teaches an article (Abstract) comprising first and second fabric layers that enclose a pocket (Fig. 5) with an electrical component in the pocket (Item 300) and a conductive strand contacting the electrical component. (Fig. 5).
Brookstein does not specifically teach the conductive strand having an insulated segment and an exposed conductive segment, the electrical component has a groove and a contact in the groove, where the exposed conductive segment is received within the groove and soldered to the contact, wherein the conductive strand has a bent segment in the pocket that bends back on itself and encapsulant material within the groove.
Arene teaches an electrical component and protective structure that can be located within the fabric. (Abstract; Paragraph 0116). Arene teaches a conductive strand contacting the electrical component. (Fig. 5c). Arene teaches the conductive strand having an insulated segment and an exposed conductive segment. (Paragraph 0042), where the exposed conductive segment is received within the groove and soldered to the contact in the groove (Fig. 5c; Paragraph 0047), wherein the conductive strand has a bent segment that bends back on itself. (Fig. 5a) and encapsulant material within the groove. Arene teaches this protective structure and joining the electric component and conductive wire leads to faster assembly and protects the wire and electrical component. (Paragraph 0008-0009, 0062). Thus, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to have the electronic device/protective structure of Arene to ensure faster assembly and good protection.
Regarding Claim 14, Brookstein teaches the first and second fabric layers comprise woven fabric. (Abstract).
Regarding Claim 15, Brookstein teaches the electrical component can comprise a printed circuit and an electrical device mounted to the printed circuit (Paragraph 0042, 0069). Arene teaches a protective structure that covers the electrical device and the groove is formed in the protective device. Arene teaches this protective structure and joining the electric component and conductive wire leads to faster assembly and protects the wire and electrical component. (Paragraph 0008-0009, 0062). Thus, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to have the electronic device/protective structure of Arene to ensure faster assembly and good protection.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brookstein and Arene in view of Sunshine (WO 2017/030851 A2) [referenced via US 2019/0013274 A1].
Regarding Claim 13, Brookstein does not teach additional encapsulant that captures the bent segment in the pocket.
Sunshine teaches a fabric and electronic component together, where a conductive strand can be interposed between an electronic component and the encapsulant material. (Abstract; Fig. 12). Sunshine teaches applying additional encapsulant material that captures wire segment in the pocket. (Fig. 12; Paragraph 0054). Sunshine teaches this additional encapsulant can be used to protect the component from dust and moisture. (Paragraph 0054). Thus, it would have bene obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to apply additional encapsulant that captures the wire segment, including the bent segment, in the pocket as taught by Sunshine to protect the electronic component.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5, 8-10, 16 and 18-20 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered.
The prior §112 rejections have been withdrawn, due to Applicant’s amendments.
A new ground of rejection has been made in view of Applicant’s amendments.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-0358. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday: 9:30am-3:30pm, 8:30PM-10:30PM.
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/Michael Zhang/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1781
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