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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: In claim 6, the claim must end in a period and not a comma. 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 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein et al (International Publication Number: WO 2022/061250A1, hereinafter “Finkelstein”- APPLCIANT CITED) in view of Mathew et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0228691 A1, hereinafter “Mathew”).
Regarding claims 1, 7 and 8, Finkelstein teaches an electrode (1) (e.g. [0078]: dry electrode 300, which could be implemented in any of the electrodes 1) for a garment (e.g. Fig.1), a belt or a bandage, and a fabric layer - electrode combination with an electrode wherein the electrode is connected to a fabric layer of a garment, a belt or a bandage and a garment (as claimed in claims 7 and 8) said electrode(1) (i.e. 300 [0078]) comprising
several superimposed layers (e.g.302,304,306,308 Fig. 10) including one layer in the form of an electrically conductive electrode layer (3) (e.g. 302 Fig. 10, [0078]: conductive layer 302 is a conductive textile made from nylon and/or silk fibers embedded and/or woven with silver-plated polyurethane) and
another layer in the form of a foam material layer(4) (e.g. 306 Fig. 10, [0079]: padding layer 306, the elastic layer is a sponge, polyethylene (PE) and PE film, polyamide, polyester, silk, nylon, polyurethane, pure silver, and rubber having an appropriate thickness, padding layer is an air layer, cellular fabric) is, wherein during wearing of the garment, the belt or the bandage, provided with the electrode, the electrode layer is in direct contact with the skin of a wearer (e.g. claims 1, 3 4),
wherein an electrical conductor (e.g. [0009]: signal pathway comprises a conductive wire) extends between the electrode layer and the foam material layer and is in contact with the electrode layer, characterized in that
the electrode layer includes a fabric layer(5) (e.g. [0081]: wicking material in thin film layer 304) and an electrically conductive elastomer disposed on or in the fabric layer (e.g. [0082]-[0088]), that between the electrode layer(3) and the foam material layer(4), there is a fabric layer(5) on which the electrode layer is supported and that the foam material layer(4) extends over an area of the electrode layer(3) (e.g. [0080]: the entire electrode surface is padded. In other implementations, only portions, such as a center portion or outer portion, are padded). Finklelstein does not specifically teach that the foam layer extends over a larger surface area than the electrode layer.
In a similar field of endeavor, Mathew teaches an electrode E comprising a backing of polyurethane foam layer (e.g. 130 Fig. 2, [0072]-[0077]) that extends over a larger surface area than an electrode layer (e.g. 140 Fig. 2, [0072]-[0077]) of the electrode E.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the foam layer in the electrode as taught by Finkelstein to extend over a larger surface area than the electrode layer as taught by Mathew in order to provide the predictable results of improving electrode contact with the skin of the user.
Regarding claim 6, Finkelstein in view of Mathew teaches the invention as claimed and Finkelstein teaches that the foam material layer (4) (e.g. (e.g. 306 Fig. 10, [0079]) is thicker than the electrode layer (3) (e.g. 302 Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 9, Finkelstein in view of Mathew teaches the invention as claimed and since Finkelstein teaches that the fabric layer (5) (e.g. [0081]: wicking material in thin film layer 304) has a lower porosity than the foam material layer (4) (e.g. [0079]: padding layer 306, the elastic layer is a sponge, polyethylene (PE) and PE film, polyamide, polyester, silk, nylon, polyurethane, pure silver, and rubber having an appropriate thickness, padding layer is an air layer, cellular fabric) since it is capable of absorbing moisture better.
Regarding claim 10, Finkelstein in view of Mathew teaches the invention as claimed and since Finkelstein in view of Mathew teaches that the foam material layer extends beyond edges of the electrode layer as discussed above, the comfort of the wearer is improved.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein et al (International Publication Number: WO 2022/061250A1, hereinafter “Finkelstein”- APPLICANT CITED) in view of Mathew et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0228691 A1, hereinafter “Mathew”) and further in view of McAdams et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2009/0043185 A1, hereinafter “McAdams”).
Regarding claims 2 and 3, Finkelstein in view of Mathew teaches the claimed invention as discussed above and Finkelstein teaches electrical conductors (e.g. [0009]: signal pathway comprises a conductive wire) to connect the electrodes, they do not specifically teach that the electrical conductor (7) extends through an opening (9) in the foam material layer(4) and that the electrical conductor(7) extends through an opening (9) in the fabric layer (5).
In a similar field of endeavor, McAdams teaches an electrode comprising of a plurality of layers (e.g. Fig.1) and further teaches a conductor stud 24 that extends through an opening in the layers (e.g. [0013]-[0016]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the electrode of Finkelstein so that the layers in the electrode of Finkelstein to have an opening for the conductor to extend through as taught by McAdams in order to provide the predictable results of ensuring proper contact across all layers of the electrode and thus improving conductivity of the electrode.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein et al (International Publication Number: WO 2022/061250A1, hereinafter “Finkelstein”- APPLICANT CITED) in view of Mathew et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0228691 A1, hereinafter “Mathew”) and further in view of Jayalth et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2014/0135593 A1, hereinafter “Jayalth”).
Regarding claim 4, Finkelstein in view of Mathew teaches the claimed invention as discussed above and Finkelstein teaches electrical conductors (e.g. [0009]: signal pathway comprises a conductive wire) to connect the electrodes but they do not specifically teach that the electrical conductor (7) is in the form of an electrically conductive ribbon.
In a similar field of endeavor, Jalayth teaches that conductors that couple the electrodes to the sensors and/or the sensors to the controller(s) and/or other components on a form-fitting sensor garment may be formed using a flexible multi-conductor ribbon (e.g. [0099]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the conductors in the teachings of Finkelstein in view of Mathew to be ribbon conductors as taught by Jayalth in order to provide the predictable results of allowing for a more flexible and comfortable garment electrode system.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein et al (International Publication Number: WO 2022/061250A1, hereinafter “Finkelstein”- APPLICANT CITED) in view of Mathew et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0228691 A1, hereinafter “Mathew”) and further in view of Wohnsdorf (International Publication Number: WO 2021/110711 A1, hereinafter “Wohnsdorf”).
Regarding claim 5, Finkelstein in view of Mathew teaches the claimed invention as discussed above except for the electrode (1) being provided with a thermoadhesive foil (6) for a connection with an adjacent layer.
Wohnsdorf teaches that it is well known to have garment electrodes that have a layer of thermoadhesive material (e.g. 3 Figs.1-3, claims 1-5) on the opposite side of the electrode layer for connection with an adjacent layer of the garment.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Finkelstein in view of Mathew in order to provide the predictable results of providing good adhesion between the electrode and the garment.
Claims 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein et al (International Publication Number: WO 2022/061250A1, hereinafter “Finkelstein”- APPLICANT CITED) in view of Mathew et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0228691 A1, hereinafter “Mathew”) and Wohnsdorf (International Publication Number: WO 2021/110711 A1, hereinafter “Wohnsdorf”) and further in view of McAdams et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2009/0043185 A1, hereinafter “McAdams”).
Regarding claim 11, Finkelstein in view of Mathew and Wohnsdorf teaches the claimed invention as discussed above except for the electrical conductor (7) extending through an opening (8) in the thermoadhesive foil (6).
In a similar field of endeavor, McAdams teaches an electrode comprising of a plurality of layers (e.g. Fig.1) and further teaches a conductor stud 24 that extends through an opening in the layers including the backing layer (e.g. [0013]-[0016]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the electrode of Finkelstein in view of Mathew and Wohnstdorf so that the layers including the thermoadhesive backing layer in the electrode of Finkelstein in view of Mathew and Wohnsdorf have an opening for the conductor to extend through as taught by McAdams in order to provide the predictable results of ensuring proper contact across all layers of the electrode and thus improving conductivity of the electrode.
Conclusion
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/MALLIKA D FAIRCHILD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3792