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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, claims 6–10 in the reply filed on 12/18/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1–5 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/18/2025.
Claim Objections
Claims 8 and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities: “straightly” is not a word. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 6–10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zi (TWM 647207 U) in view of Chen (US 11,317,229 B1).
Zi teaches the formation of a wire damper for a loud speaker comprising a main body 10 made up of woven warp 101 and weft 102 plurality of yarns, wherein metal yarns 21 are blend-twisted to form a conductive plurality of multifilament metal wires 20 that are woven into the main body 10. Zi Description, Figs. 6, 8.
Zi fails to teach that each multifilament wire is formed by blend-twisting a plurality of di-filament wires, and each di-filament wire is formed by blend-twisting two metal yarns. As taught in Zi, however, the multifilament wires are formed by blend-twisting a plurality of wires and each wire is formed by blend-twisting a plurality of metal yarns. Id. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have formed the multifilament wire of Zi by blend-twisting a plurality of di-filament wire, and each di-filament wires is formed by blend-twisting two metal yarns because a plurality requires at least two wires/yarns to satisfy the teaching.
Zi fails to teach the use of a solid resin layer that covers surfaces of the yarns and the multifilament wires.
Chen teaches the formation of a loudspeaker having a damper with woven warp and weft yarns, wherein a solid resin layer covers the surfaces of the damper to improve and make more uniform the elasticity and toughness of the damper. Chen abstract, ll. 2, lines 23–34.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to the ordinarily skilled artisan to have covered the surfaces of the yarns and the multifilament wires of the Zi damper motivated by the desire to create a damper with more uniform and improved elasticity and toughness.
Claim 7 is rejected as the metal yarns of the Zi are necessarily made of either different materials or the same material.
Claim 8 is rejected as warp yarns 101 and the multifilament wires 21 extend in a straight manner parallel to each other, and the weft yarns 102 also extend in a straight manner, but perpendicular to the warp yarns and multifilament yarns. Zi Figs. 6, 8.
Each of the warp and weft yarns extend in straight manner in perpendicular directions. See id. The multifilament wires extend in a straight manner parallel with the warp direction and perpendicular to the weft direction. See id. Claim 9 is rejected as the orientation of the multifilament wires and corresponding parallel yarns is merely a design choice in that the damper may be rotated 90 degrees such that the conductive multifilament wires now run parallel to the weft yarns and perpendicular to the warp yarns without any material change to the performance of the conductive wires in the damper. See In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW D MATZEK whose telephone number is (571)272-5732. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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, Jennifer Boyd can be reached at 571.272.7783. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MATTHEW D MATZEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786