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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 April 10, 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 8-10, 12, 15, 17 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Swainson, US 3,430,304.
Regarding claim 8, Swainson discloses a fastener-attached product comprising a stringer member (series of coupling elements 22; figure 6) and a fastener-attached member (31), wherein: the stringer member includes a plurality of fastener elements (22) forming an element row and arranged continuously in a coil shape (elements 22 secured to tape 23, comprising a single filament of plastics material of the same coil construction as elements 3 of the first embodiment, which are formed as a general helical shape providing a series of interconnected coupling elements), a support member including a support body (27) and supporting the fastener-attached member (31), a tape member (30) having a shape of a thin strip and disposed between the plurality of fastener elements (22) and the support member (having 27), and a connecting part (26) that fixes the element row (of elements 22) and the support body (27) to the tape member (30); the support body (27) is flexible and extends continuously in a longitudinal direction of the stringer member; a portion of the connecting part (26) of the stringer member and the fastener-attached member are sewn together (by stitching) with an attachment sewing part (19) composed of a sewing thread (stitching 19 passing through tape portion 30 at the position of the intermediate connecting portion of stitching 26); the fastener-attached member (31) has a portion bent along the support member (27) to cover the support member (portion 31 is folded at fold 33 around the end of tape portion 30 and over the elements 22 to cover them; figure 6); and left and right elements rows in an engaged state are covered by the left and right fastener-attached member (31) without being visible from above (“the tape having a fold formed on one side of the series of elements with the tape portion extending form the fold across the coupling elements in a direction away from the coupling head portions partially to conceal said one side of the elements”).
Regarding claim 9, Swainson discloses the product according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of fastener elements (22) and the support member (27) of the stringer member are sewn together along the longitudinal direction with a stringer sewing part (26) composed of a sewing thread (see figure 7).
Regarding claim 10, Swainson discloses the product according to claim 9, wherein a portion of the stringer sewing part (26) of the stringer member is sewn on the fastener-attached member (31) as the portion of the connecting part (the intermediate portion of 26 and the threads passing through 27 is the portion of the connecting part sewn on the attached member 31).
Regarding claim 12, Swainson discloses the product according to claim 8, wherein the support member (27) includes at least one of a coil member formed by shaping a linear member made of a synthetic resin or a metal into a helical shape (elements 22 formed by shaping a single filament of plastic material into a general helical shape), a string member (flexible longitudinal cord) **formed by using a fiber, and an extrudate member formed by extrusion molding**.
**Examiner notes that even though a product-by-process claim is limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process. In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698,227 USPQ 964,966 (Fed. Cir. 1985).
Regarding claim 15, Swainson discloses a stringer member [for a fastener including an element row], wherein: the stringer member comprises a plurality of fastener elements (22) forming the element row and arranged continuously in a coil shape (formed from a single filament of plastics material into a general helical shape providing a series of interconnected coupling elements), a support member including a support body (27) and configured to support a fastener-attached member (31), and a connecting part (26) that connects the element row (form by the elements 22) and the support body (27); the support body (27) is flexible and extends continuously in a longitudinal direction of the stringer member; a portion of the connecting part (26) is provided as a portion to be sewn on the fastener-attached member (31) with an attachment sewing part (19) composed of a sewing thread (stitching 19); and the support body (27) of the support member has a helical coil shape repeating continuously (the coil elements 22 are formed by shaping a single filament of plastics material into a continuously repeating helical coil shape) or a zigzag shape including a plurality of L-shaped bent portions.
Claim language set in brackets [] set forth above and below in this office action are considered by the examiner to be intended use that fails to further limit the structure of the claimed invention. Since the claimed invention is directed solely to that of the fastener-attached product, the prior art must only be capable of performing the functional recitations in order to be applicable, and in the instant case, the examiner maintains that the stringer disclosed by Swainson or Yoshida (US 4,133,084), is indeed capable of the intended use statements. Note that it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations.
Regarding claim 17, Swainson discloses the product according to claim 8, wherein the portions of the left and right fastener-attached members (31) bent along the support members (27) are abutted against each other (see figure 1 showing stringers 1, 2 assembled in the engaged state with the fold portions abutting each other at center line D).
Regarding claim 19, Swainson discloses the stringer member according to claim 15, including a tape member (30) having a shape of a thin strip and disposed between the plurality of fastener elements (22) and the support member (having 27), wherein the element row and the support body (27) are fixed to the tape member (30) with the connecting part (26).
Claim(s) 15 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoshida, US 4,133,084.
Regarding claim 15, Yoshida discloses a stringer member [for a fastener including an element row], wherein: the stringer member (20) comprises a plurality of fastener elements (10) forming the element row and arranged continuously in a coil shape (figure 2), a support member (22) including a support body and configured to support a fastener-attached member (12), and a connecting part (11) that connects the element row (form by the elements 10) and the support body (of 22); the support body (22) is flexible and extends continuously in a longitudinal direction of the stringer member (20); a portion of the connecting part (11) is provided as a portion to be sewn on the fastener-attached member (12) with an attachment sewing part (see the threading part 11 sewn over the shank 17) composed of a sewing thread (see the threads in figure 5); and the support body of the support member (22) has a helical coil shape repeating continuously (the coil elements 10 are formed by shaping a monofilament of synthetic resin into a continuously repeating helical coil shape) or a zigzag shape including a plurality of L-shaped bent portions.
Regarding claim 20, Yoshida discloses the stringer member according to claim 15, wherein the support member (22) includes a core string (13) inserted continuously in the support body (of 22).
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) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Swainson, US 3,430,304 in view of Moertel, US 4,078,280.
Regarding claim 18, Swainson discloses the product according to claim 8 except for wherein the attachment sewing part (19) is disposed to cross the connecting part (26).
Moertel teaches a slide fastener stringer wherein the attachment sewing part (60) is disposed to cross the connecting part (46). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fastener-attached product of Swainson to dispose the attachment sewing part to cross the connecting part as taught by Moertel in order to distribute stresses on the fastener body and to secure the stringer member against separation under lateral pull.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 8-10, 12, 15 and 17-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
With regards to claim 15 and the amended features added, the rejection of record advances how the reference of Yoshida still read on the claimed support body having a helical shape repeating continuously. It is noted that the argument requiring the coil member to be a separate component is more limiting than the claimed invention since the claim does not require the support body to be separate from the element row.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 for similar art cited. For example, Adachi (US 7,520,304) discloses a fastener stringer of concealed type slide fastener, woven element row with tape bent portion; and Akashi (US 5,472,019) discloses a woven slide fastener stringer with stuffer cord and threads through the coil space.
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/R.D./ Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/ SPE, Art Unit 3677
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