DETAILED ACTION
This Final Office Action is in response to the amendment and / or remarks filed on January 05, 2026. Claims 1 & 2 are pending and currently being examined.
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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 & 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (U.S. Patent Number 10,786,068) to Gross in view of (U.S. Patent Number 6,520,926 B2) to Hall and (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2011 / 0290833 A1) to Koerner.
Regarding claim 1, Gross discloses the friction-enhanced, dual strip magnetic fastening system (100) (i.e. via (210 & 220) in Figures 2, 5 & 7) (See Column 3, lines 31 – 37) comprising:
the body-worn band (204) configured to be removably secured around a body part of a user selected from the group consisting of an arm (See Figures 1, 6 & 7), torso, leg, waist, and head, the body-worn band (204) having; and,
the first magnetic element (220) comprising at least one magnet (See Column 3, lines 21 – 24) disposed between upper and lower layers (216 & 218) of the body-worn band (204) (See Figures 2 & 5): and,
an item-worn band (103) configured to be secured around a tool or device (i.e. Binocular (104) in Figures 1, 6 & 7), the item-worn band (103) having the second magnetic element (210) (See Column 3, lines 1 & 2) disposed between upper and lower layers (206 & 208) of the item-worn band (103) (See Column 2, lines 49 – 51) (See Figures 2 & 5), wherein the first and second magnetic elements (220 & 210) are aligned and dimensioned to magnetically attract each other with the separation force (i.e. via (302) in Figures 3A, 3B & 5) sufficient to retain the tool or device (i.e. Binocular (104) in Figures 1, 6 & 7) in the hands-free manner (See Figure 1) when the body-worn band (204) is worn on the user and the item-worn band (103) is attached to the tool or device (i.e. Binocular (104) in Figures 1, 6 & 7), and the body-worn band (204) along the body part (106) when the tool or device (i.e. Binocular (104) in Figures 1 & 6) is magnetically attached (See Column 3, lines 31 – 37) (See Figure 5).
However, Gross does not explicitly disclose an inner surface sized to provide an increased contact footprint on the body part and comprising the friction-enhancing structure selected from the group consisting of an adhesive fabric, a clip, a pin-to-fabric element and the high-friction material, and wherein the friction-enhancing structure and the increased footprint of the body-worn band cooperate to resist sliding.
Hall teaches an inner surface (22) sized to provide an increased contact footprint on the body part and comprising the friction-enhancing structure (23) selected from the group consisting of the high-friction material (i.e. Silicon Rubber) (See Column 5, lines 28 – 56) (See Figures 2 & 3), and wherein the friction-enhancing structure (23) and the increased footprint of the body-worn band (1) cooperate to resist sliding (See Abstract) (See Figure 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to make an inner surface sized to provide an increased contact footprint on the body part and comprising the friction-enhancing structure selected from the group consisting of the high-friction material, and wherein the friction-enhancing structure and the increased footprint of the body-worn band cooperate to resist sliding as taught by Hall with the friction-enhanced, strip magnetic fastening system of Gross in order to prevent migration / movement / slippage of the garment on the skin of the wearer during exercise (See Abstract).
However, Gross does not explicitly disclose the second magnetic element (210) comprising at least one magnet.
Koerner teaches the first magnetic element (22) comprising at least one magnet (See Paragraph 0026) and the second magnetic element (52) comprising at least one magnet (See Paragraph 0038).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to make the second magnetic element comprising at least one magnet as taught by Koerner with the friction-enhanced, strip magnetic fastening system of Gross because the motivation only requires a simple substitution of one known equivalent magnet fastening element for another to obtain predictable results.
Regarding claim 2, Gross discloses the method of using the friction-enhanced, dual strip magnetic fastening system (100) (i.e. via (210 & 220) in Figure 2, 5 & 7) (See Column 3, lines 31 – 37), the method comprising:
placing the body-worn band (204) around the body part of a user selected from the group consisting of an arm (106) (See Figures 1, 6 & 7), the body-worn band (204) having an inner surface (i.e. Inner Surface of (204) in Figure 5), and the first magnetic element (220) comprising at least one magnet (See Column 3, lines 21 – 24) (See Figure 5) disposed between upper and lower layers (216 & 218) of the body-worn band (204) (See Figure 5);
securing an item-worn band (103) around the tool or device (104) (i.e. Binocular), the item-worn band (103) having the second magnetic element (210) (See Column 3, lines 1 & 2) disposed between upper and lower layers (206 & 208) of the item-worn band (103) (See Column 2, lines 49 – 53) (See Figure 5);
positioning the first and second magnetic elements (220 & 210) such that the first and second magnetic elements (220 & 210) are aligned (See Figure 5) and dimensioned to magnetically attract each other with the separation force (i.e. via (302) in Figures 3A, 3B & 5) sufficient to retain the tool or device (104) (i.e. Binocular) in the hands-free manner when the body-worn band (204) is worn on the user and the item-worn band (103) is attached to the tool or device (104) (See Figure 1); and
is magnetically attached to the body-worn band (204) by the first and second magnetic elements (220 & 210) (See Figures 1, 5, 6 & 7).
However, Gross does not explicitly disclose the method steps of an increased contact footprint on the body part and comprising the friction-enhancing structure selected from the group consisting of an adhesive fabric, the clip, the pin-to-fabric element, and the high-friction material, and using the friction-enhancing structure and the increased contact footprint of the body-worn band to resist sliding of the body-worn band along the body part.
Hall teaches the method steps of the body-worn band (1) having an inner surface (22) sized to provide an increased contact footprint on the body part and comprising the friction-enhancing structure (23) selected from the group consisting of the high-friction material (i.e. Silicon Rubber) (See Column 5, lines 28 – 56) (See Figures 2 & 3), and using the friction-enhancing structure (23) and the increased contact footprint of the body-worn band (1) to resist sliding of the body-worn band (1) along the body part (i.e. Leg) (See Abstract) (See Figure 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to make the method steps of an increased contact footprint on the body part and comprising the friction-enhancing structure selected from the group consisting of the high-friction material, and using the friction-enhancing structure and the increased contact footprint of the body-worn band to resist sliding of the body-worn band along the body part as taught by Hall with the friction-enhanced, strip magnetic fastening system of Gross in order to prevent migration / movement / slippage of the garment on the skin of the wearer during exercise (See Abstract).
However, Gross does not explicitly disclose the method steps of the second magnetic element (210) comprising at least one magnet.
Koerner teaches the first magnetic element (22) comprising at least one magnet (See Paragraph 0026) and the second magnetic element (52) comprising at least one magnet (See Paragraph 0038).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to make the second magnetic element comprising at least one magnet as taught by Koerner with the friction-enhanced, strip magnetic fastening system of Gross because the motivation only requires a simple substitution of one known equivalent magnet fastening element for another to obtain predictable results.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 & 2 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 LESTER L VANTERPOOL whose telephone number is (571)272-8028. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00.
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/L.L.V/Examiner, Art Unit 3734
/NATHAN J NEWHOUSE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3734