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 .
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Response to Amendment
The amendments filed August 24, 2026, have been entered. Claims 1-5, 8, 10, and 13-16 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments filed August 24, 2026, have been fully considered but are not persuasive. Laux clearly shows and allows for an unbonded section between the sheets amounting to gaps there between in figs 1-4 and per Col.15 lines 35-46 which specifically mentions bonded and unbonded regions adjusted as desired.
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.
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) 1-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Surushe US 20230172764 A1 in view of Laux US 5827259.
With regards to claim 1, Surushe discloses an absorbent article for personal hygiene (abstract) comprising: a substantially transversely extending front panel (34); a substantially transversely extending back panel (36); and a substantially longitudinally extending absorbent insert (or absorbent main body 62) joined to each of said front and back panels ([0050]), said absorbent insert (or absorbent main body 62) comprising front and back transversal edges and left and right longitudinal edges connecting the front and back transversal edges to form a perimeter thereof ([0054, fig 1 and [0058] which discloses sides and front and rear section to the absorbent core); and wherein said insert comprises an absorbent core (62, fig 2); wherein the front and back panels are joined together to define a pair of side seams (32- fig 1 and [0050]), and characterized in that said article comprises a transversal waist barrier (or WG) proximal to the front and/or back transversal edges of the absorbent insert ([0067])
Surushe fails to disclose wherein said [waist] barrier comprises a plurality of liquid retarding layers wherein said plurality of liquid retarding layers comprise at least two layers selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic nonwovens, and substantially liquid impermeable films, and in that at least a majority of the waist barrier comprises at least two of said plurality of liquid retarding layers and wherein said at least two of said plurality of liquid retarding layers are un-joined at one or more locations so that said layers are separated from one another at said location by a gap, and wherein said one or more locations together correspond to a majority of a total surface of said waist barrier.
Surushe discloses the waist guard may be single non-woven sheet [0068] that is folded to form pockets to better contain waste [0080].
Laux teaches an absorbent article (abstract) thereby being in the same field of endeavor as the instant claim. Laux teaches a waist barrier using a laminate material in order to keep the flap open better (Col 9 lines 7-32). Laux shows the sheets are un-joined at certain sections to allow for the elastic there-between to contract thereby creating gaps between the sheets (Col.15 lines 35-46).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to have used a laminate material in place of a single sheet. Surushe does not teach against using more than a single sheet such as a laminate and Laux provides a clear benefit for using a laminate in order to better keep the barrier flap open to retain the waste. Since both Laux and Surushe teaches a pocket for waste collection there is a reasonable expectation of success that pocket’s function will be at a minimum retained if not improved by using a laminate over may be using a single sheet.
With regards to claim 2, Surushe as modified by Laux discloses the waist barrier comprises at least two hydrophobic nonwovens intermittently joined together by adhesive (Col. 15 lines 35-46 and Col 13, lines 44-56).
With regards to claim 3, Surushe as modified by Laux fails to disclose wherein the article has a Seepage Index of less than 35%, according to the Seepage Index Method wherein.
It is the Office’s position that the testing method for a material or structural property does not impart a patentable weight. The property is attributed to the material and structure, not the testing method. As such, a reference does not need to recite [using the Seepage Index Method to determine the seepage of the article] to read on the claim language. Further, when the structure recited in the reference is substantially identical to that of the claims, claimed properties or functions are presumed to be inherent. Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established.” See MPEP 2112.01.
With regards to claim 4, Surushe discloses wherein the hydrophobic nonwovens comprise, synthetic fibers; wherein said fibers comprise a material selected from polypropylene or derivatives thereof, polyethylene or derivatives thereof, polylactic acid or derivatives thereof, polylactic-co-glycolic acid or derivatives thereof, polyhydroxyalkanoates or derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof ([0041] which discloses numbers material for the nonwoven material).
With regards to claim 5, Surushe discloses wherein the front and/or back panels comprise a plurality of elastic strands (96, fig 2, [0062]) sandwiched between two or more hydrophobic nonwoven layers, said nonwoven layers comprising at least an inner nonwoven (92) and an outer nonwoven (94) that are substantially congruent with each other to form a front and/or back panel laminate ([0062] which notes the inner and outer layers form a laminate and [0054] which notes the layers maybe a nonwoven web); and wherein the front and/or back panel laminate is folded onto itself to form the [waist] barrier and such that both the inner and outer nonwovens are folded at one or more positions (see fig 2 annotated below).
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With regards to claim 6, Surushe in view of Laux discloses wherein at least the inner nonowoven is a multi-layer nonwoven comprising at least two layers selected from a spunbond nonwoven and a meltblown nonwoven (Laux Col. 13 line 65-Col 15 lines 7 discloses the non-woven can be an SMS material which are layers of spunbond, meltblown, spunbond).
With regards to claim 7, Surushe discloses wherein the outer nonwoven is a nonwoven that is the same or different to the inner nonwoven (Surushe discloses that the sheets are nonwovens as such they could be the same or different, ([0062] which notes the inner and outer layers form a laminate and [0054] which notes the layers maybe a nonwoven web).
With regards to claim 8, Surushe discloses wherein said front and/or back panels comprise a tummy pause (TP) being free of said elastic strands or and wherein the waist barrier overlaps said tummy pause, along an axis parallel to the transversal centerline (see annotated figure below).
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With regards to claim 9, Surushe discloses wherein the tummy pause (TP) has a width extending along an axis parallel to the transversal centerline (x), and said width being more than 60%, of a total width of the absorbent insert (the elastic free section runs the full width of the panel which had a wider width than the absorbent insert thereby meeting the more the 60%, [0054] which notes the crotch panel doesn’t overlap the front and rear panels and fig 1 and 3).
With regards to claim 10, Surushe discloses wherein the front and/or back panels comprise a first elastic region (ER1) and a second elastic region (ER2) wherein the first and second elastic regions (ER1, ER2) each comprise one or more elastic strands (11), and wherein the first and second elastic regions (ER1, ER2) are separated by a non- elastic region (NER), wherein the one or more positions of the fold(s) substantially correspond the non-elastic region (see figure below).
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With regards to claim 11, Surushe discloses wherein the first elastic region (ER1) comprises a plurality of spaced-apart elastic strands (11) having one or more first strand spacings (ss1) and wherein the second elastic region (ER2) comprises one or more elastic strands (see figure above in claim 10).
With regards to claim 12, Surushe discloses wherein the second elastic region (ER2) comprises a plurality of spaced-apart elastic strands (11) having one or more second strand spacings (ss2) and wherein the first and second strand spacings are different (see figure above in claim 10).
With regards to claim 13, Surushe as modified by Laux fails to disclose wherein at least one of the elastic strands of the second elastic region (ER2) is coloured so that the barrier (5) is visually discernable from the rest of the article.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have made the barrier a different color to have aided in the placement of the article as the barrier might be designed for a specific front vs back use to trap different bodily fluids/ excrement.
With regards to claim 14, Surushe discloses wherein the outer nonwoven is joined to the inner nonwoven at a first fold position, and wherein the inner nonwoven is joined to itself at a second fold position (see annotated figure above in claim 5).
With regards to claim 15, Surushe discloses wherein a maximum distance between a terminal edge of said waist barrier corresponding to and/or forming pocket opening and a closest terminal edge of the absorbent core is less than 20 mm ([0124] which discloses the pocket formed by the waist barrier maybe be superimposed on the absorbent core thereby being less than 20mm).
With regards to claim 16, Surushe discloses wherein a capillary acceleration sheet (or ADL layer, [0057]) is comprised along substantially an entire maximum distance such that a fluid communication bridge is formed between at least the barrier and the absorbent core ([0124] which discloses the waist barrier maybe be superimposed on the absorbent core) said capillary acceleration sheet being a nonwoven ([0057]).
With regards to claim 17, Surushe discloses wherein the absorbent core comprises; cellulose fibers and wherein said cellulose fibers are comprised at a level of at least 10%wt, by weight of the absorbent core ([0055]).
With regards to claim 19, Surushe discloses wherein first strand spacing is greater than the second strand spacing (see figure above in claim 10).
With regards to claim 20, Surushe discloses wherein the first and second fold positions do not overlap (see figure above in claim 5).
Claim(s) 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Surushe US 20230172764 A1 in view of Laux US 5827259 and in further view of Weber US 63252528 B1.
With regards to claim 18, Surushe and Laux fail to discloses wherein the side seams are refastenable side seams.
Weber discloses an absorbent pant type article (abstact) thereby being in the same field of endeavor as the instant claims. Weber allows for refastenable seams to assist with toilet training (Col 1 lines 48-63).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill inm the art before the effective filing date to have made the seams of Surushe refastenable also in order to make donning and doffing easier and to aid in toilet training if applicable as taught by Weber.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GABRIELLA E BURNETTE whose telephone number is (571)272-9574. The examiner can normally be reached M-S: 0830-1900 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca Eisenberg can be reached at (571) 270-5879. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GABRIELLA E BURNETTE/Examiner, Art Unit 3781
/REBECCA E EISENBERG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3781
