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
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) 1-5, 8-13 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Foenander (US 2009/0127917) in view of O'Toole (US 2010/0013277).
Claim 1- Foenander teaches an attachment (100) for a high chair, comprising: a body (102) having a top surface and a bottom surface (shown, not designated), the body defining an opening (the rectangular cutout shown not designated, ¶ [0019]); a shroud (comprising a plurality of vertical panels 110) extending from the top surface of the body (fig. 3), the shroud being proximate to and at least partially surrounding the opening (shown best in fig. 2) and including a fastener (120) that secures an upper portion of the shroud to a chair portion of the high chair (fig. 1).
Foenander does not teach a funnel coupled to the bottom surface of the body proximate to and at least partially surrounding the opening.
O’Toole discloses a device in the field of child chair accessories. O’Toole teaches an attachment (10) for a highchair, comprising: a body (14) having top and bottom surfaces (figs. 1-3), and defining an opening (22); and a funnel (18) coupled to the bottom surface (fig. 3) of the body proximate to and at least partially surrounding the opening (¶ [0020]). Similar to Foenander’s attachment, the opening of O’Toole’s body allows it to be disposed around the high-chair for the purpose of collecting debris spilled or thrown by the child occupant. O’Toole teaches the funnel extends from the bottom surface of the body for the purpose of containing the debris collected by the body.
The teachings of Foenander and O’Toole would suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art that it would be suitable for a highchair attachment to include both a top-extending shroud and a bottom-extending funnel for collecting and containing debris from the highchair occupant.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the chair attachment of Foenander with a funnel, as taught by O’Toole, in order to contain debris collected by the attachment body.
Accordingly, a highchair attachment of Foenander and O’Toole would yield the predictable result of providing an attachment body, a top-extending shroud, and a bottom funnel; wherein the shroud includes an upper fastener for connecting to a highchair.
Claim 2- Foenander and O’Toole teach the attachment of claim 1, wherein the body comprises an arc shape, as taught by Foenander (¶ 19).
Claim 3- Foenander and O’Toole teach the attachment of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of straps (defined by sleeves 112 and arms 132) extending from different points on a perimeter of the body (Foenander shows in figs. 2-3 the straps extend from the inner perimeter of the body).
Claim 4- Foenander and O’Toole teach the attachment of claim 3, further comprising a connector (122) provided on a distal end of each of the plurality of straps (as taught by Foenander, fig. 1), each connector enabling each of the plurality of straps to be removably coupled to the chair portion of the highchair.
Claim 5- Foenander and O’Toole teach the attachment of claim 1, wherein the funnel (18) taught by O’Toole is removably coupled to the bottom surface of the body (¶ 36).
Claim 8- Foenander and O’Toole teach the attachment of claim 1, wherein the body is comprised of nylon (as taught by Foenander, ¶ 18) or canvas.
Claim 9- Foenander and O’Toole teach the attachment of claim 1, wherein the body is circular (as taught by Foenander, ¶ 19).
Claim 10- Foenander teaches an apparatus (100) for catching items dropped from a high chair, comprising: an arc-shaped body (102) defining an opening (the rectangular cutout shown not designated, ¶ [0019]) within a perimeter of the arc-shaped body (fig. 2); a shroud (comprising a plurality of vertical panels 110) extending from a top surface of the arc-shaped body (fig. 3), and at least partially surrounding the opening (shown best in fig. 2), the shroud comprising a fastener (120) to removably couple the shroud to a portion of the high chair (fig. 1).
Foenander does not teach a funnel removably coupled to a bottom surface of the arc-shaped body and at least partially surrounding the opening.
O’Toole discloses a device in the field of child chair accessories. O’Toole teaches an apparatus (10) for catching items dropped from a highchair (¶ [0004], [0006]), comprising: a body (14) defining an opening (22) within a perimeter of the body (figs. 1-3); and a funnel (18) removably coupled to a bottom surface (fig. 3) of the body and at least partially surrounding the opening (¶ [0020]). Similar to Foenander’s apparatus, the opening (22) of O’Toole’s body allows it to be disposed around the high-chair for the purpose of collecting debris spilled or thrown by the child occupant. O’Toole teaches the funnel is attached to and extends from the bottom surface of the body for the purpose of containing the debris collected by the body (¶ [0018]).
The teachings of Foenander and O’Toole would suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art that it would be suitable for a highchair apparatus to include both a top-extending shroud and a bottom-extending funnel for attachment to a highchair and for collecting and containing debris from the highchair occupant.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the chair apparatus of Foenander with a removable funnel, as taught by O’Toole, in order to contain debris collected by the apparatus body.
Accordingly, combining the teachings of Foenander and O’Toole would yield the predictable result of providing an apparatus body, a top-extending shroud, and a bottom funnel; wherein the shroud includes a fastener for connecting to a highchair.
Claim 11- Foenander and O’Toole teach the apparatus of claim 10, further comprising at least two straps (defined by sleeves 112 and arms 132) extending from different points of the perimeter of the body (Foenander shows in figs. 2-3 the straps extend from the inner perimeter of the body).
Claim 12- Foenander and O’Toole teach the apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a first connector (122) provided on a distal end of a first strap (as taught by Foenander, fig. 1), and a second connector (122) provided on a distal end of a second strap, wherein the first connector is removably coupled to a first portion of the high chair and the second connector is removably coupled to a second portion of the high chair (¶ 24).
Claim 13- Foenander and O’Toole teach the apparatus of claim 10, further comprising at least one support member (132) coupled to the arc-shaped body, as taught by Foenander.
Claim 16- Foenander teaches an apparatus (100), comprising: a body (102) defining an opening (the rectangular cutout shown not designated, ¶ [0019]) within a perimeter of the body (fig. 2); a shroud (comprising a plurality of vertical panels 110) extending from a top surface of the body (fig. 3), and at least partially surrounding the opening (shown best in fig. 2); a plurality of fasteners (120) extending from the body (fig. 1).
Foenander does not teach a funnel coupled to a bottom surface of the body and at least partially surrounding the opening.
O’Toole discloses a device in the field of child chair accessories. O’Toole teaches an apparatus (10), comprising (¶ [0004], [0006]): a body (14) defining an opening (22) within a perimeter of the body (figs. 1-3); and a funnel (18) coupled to a bottom surface (fig. 3) of the body and at least partially surrounding the opening (¶ [0020]). Similar to Foenander’s apparatus, the opening (22) of O’Toole’s body allows it to be disposed around the high-chair for the purpose of collecting debris spilled or thrown by the child occupant. O’Toole teaches the funnel is attached to and extends from the bottom surface of the body for the purpose of containing the debris collected by the body (¶ [0018]).
The teachings of Foenander and O’Toole would suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art that it would be suitable for an apparatus to include both a top-extending shroud and a bottom-extending funnel for attachment to a highchair and for collecting and containing debris from the highchair occupant.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of Foenander with a removable funnel, as taught by O’Toole, in order to contain debris collected by the apparatus body.
Accordingly, combining the teachings of Foenander and O’Toole would yield the predictable result of providing an apparatus body, a top-extending shroud, and a bottom funnel; wherein the shroud includes fasteners for connecting to a highchair.
Claim 17- Foenander and O’Toole teach the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the body is a half-circle (as taught by Foenander, ¶ 19).
Claim 18- Foenander and O’Toole teach the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the body is circular (as taught by Foenander, ¶ 19).
Claim 19- Foenander and O’Toole teach the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the funnel (18) taught by O’Toole is removably coupled to the bottom surface of the body (¶ 36).
Claim 20- Foenander and O’Toole teach the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the fasteners (120) taught by Foenander can be removably coupled to different portions of a highchair (¶ 24).
Claim(s) 6 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Foenander and O'Toole as applied to claims 1, 10 and 13 above, and further in view of Ing (US 2015/0320234).
Claim 6- Foenander and O’Toole teach the attachment of claim 1, further comprising an outer perimeter of the body, as taught by Foenander (figs. 2-3).
Foenander and O’Toole do not teach the attachment further comprising at least one support bar provided in the perimeter of the body, the support bar causing the body to be substantially taut.
Ing discloses a device in the field of highchair accessories. Ing teaches an attachment for a highchair comprising: a body (16) defining an opening at inner perimeter (18), and an outer perimeter (22); wherein at least one support bar (rigid insert, not shown) is provided in the perimeter of the body (¶ [0024]). Ing’s teaching suggests the support bar’s rigidity would contribute to causing the body to be substantially taut.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the attachment of Foenander with a perimeter bar, as taught by Ing, in order to provide tautness to the body in its use position.
Claim 14- Foenander and O’Toole teach the apparatus of claim 13, further comprising an outer perimeter of the arc-shaped body, as taught by Foenander (figs. 2-3).
Foenander and O’Toole do not teach the apparatus further comprising at least one support member provided in the perimeter of the arc-shaped body, wherein the support member causes the arc-shaped body to be substantially taut.
Ing discloses a device in the field of highchair accessories. Ing teaches an apparatus for a highchair comprising: a body (16) defining an opening at inner perimeter (18), and an outer perimeter (22); wherein at least one support member (rigid insert, not shown) is provided in the outer perimeter (22) of the body (¶ [0024]). Ing’s teaching suggests the support member’s rigidity would contribute to causing the body to be substantially taut.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of Foenander with a perimeter support member, as taught by Ing, in order to provide tautness to the body in its use position.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 15 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TANIA ABRAHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-2635. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am - 5:30 pm.
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, DAVID DUNN can be reached at 571-272-6670. 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.
/T.A./Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636