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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 9-10 and 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Pub. No. 4,224,705 to Santo
Claim 9, Santo discloses a bed base comprising housing 24 a honeycomb structure 18 disposed in the housing; and head and foot pieces 16 disposable at either end of the housing to hold the honeycomb structure in an expanded configuration by interlocking with the housing.
Claim 10, Santo discloses the bed frame wherein the bed base consists essentially of one or more recyclable materials (col. 2 lines 41-68 & 1-15).
Claim 14, Santo discloses a bed comprising a bed base comprising opposing end pieces 16; and a honeycomb structure 18 disposed between the end pieces; and a mattress disposed on the bed base, wherein the mattress 10 is attached to the bed base (fig. 1).
Claim 15, Santo discloses the bed wherein: the bed base further comprises bilateral bed wings 24 attached to the opposing end pieces; and the bilateral bed wings are attachable or attached to bed sides disposed laterally along the bed.
Claim 16, Santo discloses the bed wherein: padding defined by a platform 12 is connected to at least two planar surfaces of the bed base by one or more connectors attached to at least one of: the opposing end pieces; the bilateral bed wings; the honeycomb structure; and any combination thereof (col. 2 lines 25-40).
Claim 17, Santo discloses a bed base comprising a housing comprising a first half defined by a platform 12 comprising: a top surface; a bottom surface 14; and a side walls 16 connecting the top surface to the bottom surface; a second half 14 separate from and the platform, comprising: a top surface; a bottom surface; and a side wall (22’) connecting the top surface to the bottom surface; opposite end walls 16 seated against an outer edge of the housing; and a honeycomb structure 18 disposable between the opposite end walls and within the housing.
Claim 18, Santo discloses the bed base wherein the honeycomb structure comprises a plurality of honeycomb sections each comprising a plurality of dividers to ensure even expansion of the honeycomb structure (fig. 2-5).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 4,224,705 to Santo.
Claim 11, Santo discloses the bed frame wherein the frame, the honeycomb structure, and the head and foot pieces consist essentially of paper pulp defined by paper board and adhesives, and wherein the bed base is free of, or essentially free of screws or metal. Santo discloses the bed frame such as head and foot portions are capable of being made from a rigid material. Selecting from a plethora of known rigid materials that are not wood is considered an obvious modification and it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to select a rigid material as stated above with the head and foot portions of Santo with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided an equivalent and alternative rigid material to construct the head and foot portions of the frame of Santo.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 4,224,705 to Santo in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2009/0183311 to Nguyen et al.
Claim 1, Santo discloses a bed base comprising a bed frame 14 comprising a plurality of connectable straight rails (16,22) and corner pieces defined by channels 22;
a honeycomb structure 18 disposable within the plurality of connectable straight and corner pieces when the bed frame is assembled, wherein the honeycomb structure extends to an extended position and attaches at opposite inner surfaces of the bed frame (col. 2 lines 58-68 & 1-15), but is silent to a plurality of braces. Nguyen discloses
a plurality of braces 35 disposed diagonally at each corner of a bed frame. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the diagonal braces in Nguyen with the bed frame of Santo with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided greater strength to the corners of the bed frame of Nguyen.
Claims 2-3, Santo discloses the bed frame further comprising fastening means capable of being adhered to the opposite inner surfaces of the bed frame (16) and configured to removably attach to correspond with connectors 24 of the honeycomb structure extending substantially lengthwise across an inner width of at least one side the bed
frame to thereby keep the honeycomb structure in the extended position. Santo is silent to the fastening means being a removable type such as a hook and loop fastener. Selecting from a plethora of known fastening means is considered an obvious modification and it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to select a removable fastener as stated above with the bed frame of Santo with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided an equivalent and alternative fastening means to connect the honeycomb structure to the rails of Santo.
Claim 4, Santo discloses the bed frame wherein the connectors comprise a permanent attachment device selected such as adhesive (col. 3 lines 16-20).
Claim 5, Santo discloses the bed frame wherein the plurality of connectable straight and corner pieces comprising corner pieces, symmetric straight pieces, but is silent to asymmetric straight pieces. Selecting asymmetric pieces for straight or corner pieces is considered an obvious modification and it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to select asymmetric straight or corner pieces as stated above with the bed frame of Santo with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided an equivalent and alternative rails and corner members to the bed frame of Santo.
Claim 8, Santo discloses the bed frame wherein the honeycomb structure comprises a plurality of honeycomb sections, wherein each of the plurality are separated by a gap or tightly packed together (fig. 2-5).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 4,224,705 to Santo in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2009/0183311 to Nguyen et al., and further in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2017/0055715 to Rohr.
Claim 6, Santo discloses the bed frame, but is silent to each of the connectable straight and corner pieces has a reduced width portion defined by a step change and boreholes for connecting to respective neighboring straight and/or corner pieces. Rohr discloses connectable straight and corner pieces (102,104,106) having a reduced width portion defined by a step change between connecting portions and boreholes (108,210) capable of connecting to respective neighboring straight and/or corner pieces (fig. 1-4 and 9-13). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the reduced width portions of Rohr with the bed frame of Santo with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided an equivalent and alternative configurations to the bed frame of Santo.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 4,224,705 to Santo in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2009/0183311 to Nguyen et al., and further in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0157582 to Bertele.
Claim 7, Santo discloses the bed base, wherein the honeycomb structure is expandable by volume prior to assembly, but is silent to the bed base is configurable to be housed by a shipping container. Bertele discloses a furniture element capable of being housed in a shipping container 92 that is less by volume when the furniture element is assembled. Santo is silent to the shipping container being less than 30% by volume of the bed base when assembled, and the honeycomb structure being is expandable by approximately 150% by volume of the bed base prior to assembly. Selecting a volume for the shipping container or the expansion of the honeycomb structure as stated above is an obvious modification and it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to select the volumes as stated above with the bed of Santo with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided an equivalent and alternative volume for the shipping container and honeycomb structure to the bed of Santo.
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
U.S. Pub. No. 4,224,705 to Santo in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0157582 to Bertele.
Claim 19, Santo discloses the bed base, wherein the honeycomb structure is expandable by volume prior to assembly, but is silent to the bed base is configurable to be housed by a shipping container. Bertele discloses a furniture element capable of being housed in a shipping container 92 that is less by volume when the furniture element is assembled. Santo is silent to the shipping container being less than 30% by volume of the bed base when assembled, and the honeycomb structure being is expandable by approximately 150% by volume of the bed base prior to assembly.
Claim 20, Santo, as modified, discloses the bed base, further comprising a mattress 10 and padding defined by platform capable of being disposed within the shipping container.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,974 to Kuss discloses a collapsible mattress support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,929 to Santo discloses a compact collapsible bed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FREDRICK C CONLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-7040. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm.
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/FREDRICK C CONLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673