DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to a request for continued examination (RCE) filed on January 27th, 2026 in which claims 2, 3, 5, 6, 8-19 are presented for examination, with claims 9-19 remaining withdrawn.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/27/26 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The missing reference as indicated on 8/27/25 has not been provided and is not considered.
Election/Restriction
Examiner reminds applicant that withdrawn claims should be amended alongside elected claims in order to be considered for rejoinder; otherwise, based on the election without traverse, the claims may be cancelled by examiner’s amendment at notice of allowance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under U.S.C. 112(b).
The term “the counter includes slots configured to receive a rear portion of the left and right detachably interchangeable panels” in Claim 3 Lines 3-4 is unclear and therefore renders the claim indefinite. It is unclear how the plurality of panels have a single rear portion, let alone how a single rear portion would be received in a plurality of slots. Examiner recommends “the counter includes first and second slots configured to receive first and second rear portions, respectively, of the left and right detachably interchangeable panels”, though other amendments will be considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 2, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Albert (USPN 8220184).
Regarding Claim 2, Albert teaches footwear (see Fig. 1; abstract "shoe or sandal"; Col. 3 Line 43 "invention relates to a piece of footwear") comprising:
a sole comprising a sole top surface (see Fig. 1; Col. 3 Line 59 "footwear includes a foot bed 1"; Col. 4 Line 9 "foot bed 1 is built around a sole 17"),
the sole top surface comprising a plurality of channels including a first respective channel and a second respective channel (see Fig. 1; Col. 4 Lines 41-42 "foot bed 1 is further defined by opposing longitudinal sides which each feature a series of fingers 19 and detents 21", channels being 21, especially with Col. 4 Lines 48-50 "foot bed fingers 19 are created by cutting the series of detents 21 into the sides of the foot bed 1", the first/second being left/right on the opposing sides); and
a plurality of detachably interchangeable panels, including a left detachably interchangeable panel and a right detachably interchangeable panel (see Fig. 1; for panels-- Col. 3 Lines 59-64 "footwear includes…first sidewall 5a and second sidewall 5b which attach between the foot bed 1 and the top piece 3"; for detachable-- Col. 4 Lines 47-48 "fingers 23…of the sidewall(s) 5a, 5b"; Col. 7 Lines 11-16 "the foot bed fingers 19 and the sidewall fingers 23 to interlock by aligning the respective opposing fingers and detents and applying a lateral force to frictionally engage the fingers 23 on the lower edge of the sidewall 5a, 5b with the fingers 19 on the foot bed 1. When this is done the sidewall(s) 5a, 5b slides into a position"; Albert teaches the plurality of fastenable panels which meets the structural limitations in the claims and performs the functions as recited such as being capable of being detachable, and further capable of being interchangeably detachable as the left side could be detached before the right side or interchangeably/vice versa), wherein:
each of the left and right detachably interchangeable panels are configured to detachably connect to the sole top surface via a respective slider configured to slide into the first or second respective channel of the plurality of channels of the sole top surface (see Fig.1; for slider—Col. 4 Lines 47-48; for slide—Col. 7 Lines 11-16; Albert teaches the respective sliders and channels which meets the structural limitations in the claims and performs the functions as recited such as being capable of sliding as recited, especially in light of the recitations), and
the left and right detachably interchangeable panels are configured to couple with each other to form another portion of the footwear (see Fig. 1; Col. 3 Lines 59-64 "footwear includes…first sidewall 5a and second sidewall 5b which attach between the foot bed 1 and the top piece 3" to form an upper portion; wherein the panels at least eventually couple to each other via top piece 3).
Regarding Claim 8, Albert further teaches the footwear of claim 2, wherein neither of the detachably interchangeable right panel or the detachably interchangeable left panel cover a toe portion of the footwear (see Figs. 1, 2, where panels do not cover toe portion being Col. 4 Line 22 "toe cover 43").
Examiner Notes
Claim(s) 3, as best understood from the disclosure, is/are free of U.S.C. 102/103 rejections, but is/are currently questioned under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Allowable Subject Matter
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Claim(s) 5, 6 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but may be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 5, none of the prior art of record discloses footwear comprising left/right support structures permanently coupled to a sole top surface of a sole and configured to detachably connect to the detachably interchangeably interchangeable left/right panels, in conjunction with the other structural limitations, as set forth in the claim. The use of left/right support structures on interchangeable left/right panels is known in the art of footwear, but the specific combination with the sole top surface and the rest of the structural limitations, as claimed by the applicant is novel. Specifically, prior art Prestridge (USPN 5065531) discloses left/right support structures on detachably interchangeable left/right panels in a footwear as recited in the application. Prior art Albert (USPN 8220184) also discloses detachably interchangeable left/right panels on a sole top surface. However, none of the prior art discloses, teaches, or suggests that there would be left/right support structures permanently coupled to a sole top surface in combination while also configured to connect detachably to the detachably interchangeable left/right panels. To modify either reference merely to be as recited in the current application would be impermissible hindsight reconstruction of the applicant’s invention without any disclosure, teaching, or suggestion from the prior art of record, as is presently the case.
Regarding Claim 6—Claim 6 is indicated with allowable subject matter at least for depending on Claim 5 which has been indicated with allowable subject matter.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 have been considered but are moot because of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by amendment. Therefore, see aforementioned rejections for the argued missing limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Grace Huang whose telephone number is (571)270-5969. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30am-5:30pm EST.
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/GRACE HUANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732