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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 May 19, 2026 has been entered. By this amendment, claims 1, 3, and 23 are amended, claim 4 is cancelled, and claims 1-3 and 5-53 are now pending in the application, with claims 24-52 withdrawn from further consideration as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the band including an expandable and stretchable under band for directly contacting a tail of said animal and having a securing mechanism for securing said under band to said tail, and an expandable and stretchable over band permanently attached to said under band at a first side, said over band wrapping entirely around said under band and being secured with a second securing mechanism, said over band wrapping entirely around a top side of said housing through said at least one band receiving portion and wrapping entirely around said under band must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). The figures fail to show the over and wrapping entirely around the under band. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The amendment filed May 19, 2026 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: a band including an expandable and stretchable under band for directly contacting a tail of said animal and having a securing mechanism for securing said under band to said tail, and an expandable and stretchable over band permanently attached to said under band at a first side, said over band wrapping entirely around said under band and being secured with a second securing mechanism, said over band wrapping entirely around a top side of said housing through said at least one band receiving portion and wrapping entirely around said under band. The specification fails to describe the over band wrapping entirely around the under band.
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 1-3, 5-23, and 53 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(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The disclosure fails to describe the newly-added subject matter of “a band including an expandable and stretchable under band for directly contacting a tail of said animal and having a securing mechanism for securing said under band to said tail, and an expandable and stretchable over band permanently attached to said under band at a first side, said over band wrapping entirely around said under band and being secured with a second securing mechanism” and “said over band wrapping entirely around a top side of said housing through said at least one band receiving portion and wrapping entirely around said under band”. While the disclosure discusses an over band 34 and an under band 28 and the over band wrapping around the under band (see at least paragraph [00030]), the disclosure fails to describe the over band wrapping entirely around the under band. As such, the claims contain 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(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
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 1-3, 5-23, and 53 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 "said band" in lines 15 and 17. It is unclear which band is being referenced, the over band or the under band.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "said band" in line 1. It is unclear which band is being referenced, the over band or the under band.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "said securing mechanism" in lines 1-2. It is unclear which of the securing mechanisms recited in claim 1 is being referenced, the securing mechanism of the under band or the second securing mechanism of the over band.
Claim 19 recites the limitation "said band" in line 3. It is unclear which band is being referenced, the over band or the under band.
Claim 23 recites the limitation "said band" in lines 1-2. It is unclear which band is being referenced, the over band or the under band.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cobbett et al. (U.S. 2016/0136882) discloses an athletic band with a removable module that includes an under band 920, an over band 940, and an electronics and hardware portion 930, wherein the over band 940 is permanently attached to said under band and wraps around a portion of the under band and a top side of the housing of electronic and hardware portion 930 (see Figure 15A). If Applicant’s claims are amended to recite the subject matter of the over band that is supported by Applicant’s specification, the Cobbett reference would likely be utilized as a teaching reference for this aspect of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAMMIE K MARLEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1986. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8 am until 4 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin Klein can be reached at 571-270-5213. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TAMMIE K MARLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796
