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 .
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 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.
DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to the amendments filed on 12/23/2025 in which claims 1-2, 6-8, 10, 14, 16 are pending, of which Claims 1, 10, 16 have been amended, claims 6-8 have been withdrawn and claims 3-5, 9, 11-13, 15, 17-20 have been cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Argument:
Applicant's argument is that the prior art does not disclose the claimed limitations. The examiner disagrees with the applicant’s argument because as shown in the rejection below the prior art does disclose all of the claimed limitations.
Drawings
The drawings (9-10) are objected to because they are not supported by the original disclosure and therefore represent new matter, the newly added drawing must be withdrawn. 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.
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 of this title, 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 1-2, 10, 14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hujar et al. (U.S. Patent No. 5,557,807) in view of Spell (U.S. Pub. No. 2002/0035745 A1) and Benziger (U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0163162 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hujar et al. “Hujar” discloses a headwear device (See Fig. 1 identifier 1) comprising:
a pouch (6), wherein:
the pouch (6) defines an opening (the space between fasteners 18 as shown in Fig. 2) to receive a cooling pack (See Fig. 2 identifier 7); and
the pouch (6) is disposed on an internal surface of the headwear device to abut a crown of a user’s head when worn (as shown in Figs. 1-2 through the use of hook and loop fasteners 8).
Hujar does not disclose that the pouch comprises an insulating layer disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device.
However, Spell teaches yet another headwear device having a pouch to receive cooling member as shown in Fig. 1. The pouch comprises an insulating layer (11b) as shown in Fig. 10C wherein the insulating layer is disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device as shown in Fig. 1, and a mesh layer disposed to be proximal to the user’s head (para. 0007 of Spell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have manufactured Hujar device with the pouch comprises an insulating layer disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device as taught by Spell in order to keep the cooling element cold for a longer time.
Hujar and Spell do not disclose that the pouch (6) is disposed to leave existing holes unobstructed.
However, Benziger teaches yet another headwear having a hat (270) and an insert (200) wherein the holes in the hat (212) are unobstructed because the insert holes (212) are aligned with the hat holes as shown in Figs. 2B and 2C.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have manufactured Hujar and Spell device with the pouch disposed to leave existing holes unobstructed as taught by Benziger for promoting ventilation while maintaining comfort (para. 0064).
Regarding claim 2, Hujar discloses a headwear device further comprising at least one fastener (8), wherein:
the at least one fastener (8) comprises a headwear element (8 disposed on the interior surface of the headwear as shown in Fig. 1) disposed on the internal surface of the headwear device (See Fig. 1), and a pouch element (8) disposed on the pouch (See Fig. 1); and
the pouch (6) is removable from the internal surface of the headwear device (See claim 2).
Regarding claim 10, Hujar discloses a kit (See Fig. 1 and Col. 8, lines 33-43) comprising:
a pouch (6); and
a plurality of fasteners (Fig. 1 identifier 8), wherein:
the pouch (6) defines an opening (the space between fasteners 18 as shown in Fig. 2) to receive a cooling pack (See Fig. 2 identifier 7);
the plurality of fasteners each comprise a headwear element (8 disposed on the interior surface of the headwear as shown in Fig. 1) configured to be disposed on an internal surface of a headwear device (See Fig. 1), and a pouch element (8) disposed on the pouch (See Fig. 1); and
the pouch (6) is configured to be disposed on an internal surface of the headwear device to abut a crown of a user’s head when worn (as shown in Figs. 1-2 through the use of hook and loop fasteners 8).
Hujar does not disclose that the pouch comprises an insulating layer disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device.
However, Spell teaches yet another headwear device having a pouch to receive cooling member as shown in Fig. 1. The pouch comprises an insulating layer (11b) as shown in Fig. 10C wherein the insulating layer is disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device as shown in Fig. 1, and a mesh layer disposed to be proximal to the user’s head (para. 0007 of Spell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have manufactured Hujar device with the pouch comprises an insulating layer disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device as taught by Spell in order to keep the cooling element cold for a longer time.
Hujar and Spell do not disclose that the pouch (6) is disposed to leave existing holes unobstructed.
However, Benziger teaches yet another headwear having a hat (270) and an insert (200) wherein the holes in the hat (212) are unobstructed because the insert holes (212) are aligned with the hat holes as shown in Figs. 2B and 2C.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have manufactured Hujar and Spell device with the pouch disposed to leave existing holes unobstructed as taught by Benziger for promoting ventilation while maintaining comfort (para. 0064).
Regarding claim 14, Hujar discloses a kit further comprising a plurality of cooling packs (Col. 8, lines 33-43).
Regarding claim 16, Hujar et al. “Hujar” discloses a headwear device (See Fig. 1 identifier 1) comprising:
a pouch (6), wherein:
the pouch (6) defines an opening (the space between fasteners 18 as shown in Fig. 2) to receive a cooling pack (See Fig. 2 identifier 7); and
the pouch (6) is disposed on an internal surface of the headwear device to abut a crown of a user’s head when worn (as shown in Figs. 1-2 through the use of hook and loop fasteners 8).
Hujar does not disclose that the pouch comprises an insulating layer disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device.
However, Spell teaches yet another headwear device having a pouch to receive cooling member as shown in Fig. 1. The pouch comprises an insulating layer (11b) as shown in Fig. 10C wherein the insulating layer is disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device as shown in Fig. 1, and a mesh layer disposed to be proximal to the user’s head (para. 0007 of Spell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have manufactured Hujar device with the pouch comprises an insulating layer disposed to be proximal to the internal surface of the headwear device as taught by Spell in order to keep the cooling element cold for a longer time.
Hujar and Spell do not disclose that the pouch (6) is disposed to leave existing holes unobstructed.
However, Benziger teaches yet another headwear having a hat (270) and an insert (200) wherein the holes in the hat (212) are unobstructed because the insert holes (212) are aligned with the hat holes as shown in Figs. 2B and 2C.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have manufactured Hujar and Spell device with the pouch disposed to leave existing holes unobstructed as taught by Benziger for promoting ventilation while maintaining comfort (para. 0064).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/KHALED ANNIS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732