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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, and 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ashcroft et al. (US 10,279,581 B2) (hereinafter Ashcroft).
Regarding Claim 1, Ashcroft discloses a method for manufacturing a footbed (See column 29, lines 1-6: “…the input parameters and algorithms may be utilized to design an insole for a shoe, with the insole customized to the specific physical characteristics of the athlete and the structure of the insole designed to provide a customized feel and/or performance characteristic for the athlete.”) for a hockey skate (See column 13, lines 7-13: “…athletic activities for which footwear can be customized include activities with significant cutting-type motions (e.g., …ice hockey…) where an individual's technique and physical characteristics can vary greatly from person to person…”) comprising:
obtaining data from at least one of a scan of a foot (See Fig. 63A and column 36, lines 29-33: “the data used in the customization design process includes biometric data relating to the geometry of the athlete's foot (e.g., foot scan data 950 obtained through an optical scan of the geometry of the foot).”) and a plantar pressure map of the foot (See Fig. 63B and column 36, lines 33-34: “pressure data 955 associated with the pressure distribution under the foot”);
obtaining a player position of a player (See column 41, lines 10-13: “The specific data used can, for example, be based on performance characteristics relevant to a playing position (e.g., goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, or striker)”) for whom the footbed is to be manufactured;
generating a virtual footbed model (See Figs. 37A-52) based on the data and the player position; and
causing an additive manufacturing machine to manufacture (See columns 43-44, lines 64-2: “The customized footwear elements described herein can be manufactured through any appropriate manufacturing technique such as… using rapid manufacturing (additive manufacturing) technology such as, but not limited to, selective laser sintering (SLS)”), based on the virtual footbed model, the footbed for the hockey skate.
Regarding Claim 2, Ashcroft discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the player position is one of forward, defenseman and goalie. See column 41, lines 10-13, noting “forward” synonymous with “striker”, “defenseman” with “defender”, and “goalie” with “goalkeeper”, respectively: “The specific data used can, for example, be based on performance characteristics relevant to a playing position (e.g., goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, or striker)”.
Regarding Claim 4, Ashcroft discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the generating the virtual footbed model comprises adjusting at least one of a size and a location of an arch portion of the virtual footbed model based on the data. See column 19. Lines 4-17: “the input parameters for the customized design process may include one or more physical characteristics of a foot of the athlete in addition to, or instead of, the experimental data described herein. Such physical characteristics may include, but are not limited to, … an arch shape” and column 12, lines 26-31: “Medical requirements that may be addressed through use of customized footwear components may include elements such as structural support for conditions such as, but not limited to, problems with the muscles, tendons, bones, and or skin of the foot such as flat feet, fallen arches, …”.
Regarding Claim 5, Ashcroft discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the generating the virtual footbed model comprises increasing a density of the virtual footbed model in regions of the virtual footbed model corresponding to regions of higher pressure in the plantar pressure map. See Figs. 32A-32C and column 26, lines 55-60: “the lattice structure is arranged such that more nodes 510, with shorter elongate elements 505 are positioned in regions of high performance metric values, thereby providing additional structural support in those regions, such as in the central forefoot region 515”. Ashcroft further describes performance metric data represented as a scalar hexahedron pressure mapping distribution (column 27, lines 38-40 and Fig. 32D).
Regarding Claim 6, Ashcroft discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturing machine is a selective laser sintering printer. See column 44, lines 7-10: “customized footwear components described herein can be manufactured through the use of SLS manufacturing methods and tooling. SLS is an additive manufacturing technique that uses a high power laser”.
Regarding Claim 7, Ashcroft discloses a footbed manufactured according to the method of claim 1. More specifically, Ashcroft discloses an insole for a hockey skate (column 13, lines 7-13) customized to the specific physical characteristics of the athlete by utilizing input parameters including foot scan and pressure data (Fig. 63A, 63B, and column 36, lines 29-34), and based on performance characteristics relevant to the athlete’s playing position (column 41, lines 10-13). Ashcroft further discloses virtual models (Figs. 37A-52) and manufacturing the insole using additive manufacturing technology such as selective laser sintering (column 44, lines 7-10).
Regarding Claim 8, Ashcroft discloses the method of claim 7, comprising: a pushing plate region in alignment with a ball region of the foot; and wherein a lattice-type of the pushing plate region differs from a lattice-type of other regions of the footbed. Ashcroft’s disclosure is illustrated in Fig. 47B and described in column 32, lines 23-25 as “regions requiring greater structural support (such as under the forefoot of an athlete) having smaller cells 762 with shorter elongate elements 505”. Note that Ashcroft describes a lattice formed by a plurality of elongate elements 505 extending between nodes 510 (column 26, lines 44-46 and Figs. 32A-32C).
Regarding Claim 9, Ashcroft discloses the method of claim 7, wherein: a top of the footbed is a closed surface (top surface of Fig. 42); and a bottom of the footbed exposes a lattice of the footbed (bottom surface illustrated in Fig. 41A).
Regarding Claim 10, Ashcroft discloses the method of claim 7, wherein walls of at least one portion of a lattice of the footbed are angled at an angle generally corresponding to an angle of a force applied by a foot of a skater for whom the footbed is designed on the at least one portion. See column 32, lines 38-45: “The elongate elements may be angled in a substantially longitudinal direction (with respect to the direction of the shoe sole) or in a substantially transverse direction, or at any angle therebetween. For example, elongate elements may be arranged in an orientation opposing the direction of the predominant load placed on the midsole at that location during an athletic motion”. Note that a plurality of elongate elements 505 Ashcroft has referred to extend between nodes 510 to form a lattice (column 26, lines 44-46 and Figs. 32A-32C).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
Regarding Claim 3, the prior art does not teach that a virtual footbed model generated for the player position being goalie is at least one of: more cushioned in a region aligned with a ball region of the foot than for the player position being forward or defenseman; and designed for greater lateral push than for the player position being forward or defenseman. Ashcroft discloses a virtual footbed model for a goalie as well as a different lattice-type for the area aligned with the ball region of a foot, but Ashcroft fails to explicitly associate the described enhancement with the player position being goalie. Ashcroft is also silent regarding a design entailing greater lateral push for the goalie. Furthermore, the closest reference, Vaughn (US 2014/0097583 A1), discloses a goalie skate with a rigid sole designed to increase the longitudinal rigidity of the skate (¶0004), but does not comment on lateral support for a greater lateral push by the player. Vaughn further recites addition of a rest platform 45 with an associated bevel 46 intended to allow the goalie to “get much lower to the ice and achieve a steeper skate angle” (¶300 and Fig. 8). However, the described enhancement does not involve the footbed and is limited to the upper portion of the chassis 2 (Fig. 1) comprising the cowling 40 and the sole platform 35 (Fig. 8).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD OMID NEYZARI whose telephone number is (571)272-9530. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 5 PM.
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/MOHAMMAD O NEYZARI/Examiner, Art Unit 3613
/JAMES A SHRIVER II/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3613