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 .
This non-final Office action is in response to Applicant’s patent application number 18/703,159 filed on 10/20/2021.
Currently, claims 1-3, 5-8, 10, 12-23 are pending and examined.
Claims 4, 9, 11, 24 have been cancelled.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 4/19/2024; 8/13/2024; 5/13/2025; 6/19/2025; 9/8/2025 are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 5, 6, 7 are objected to because of the following informalities: claim 5 is dependent upon the cancelled claim 4. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 6 and 7 depending upon the objected claim 5 are also objected. For the examination purpose, the claim 5 is being treated as dependent upon claim 1.
Note: Claims 1-3, 5-8, 10, 12-22 are being examined as a sub-combination of a head protection as claimed.
Claim 23 is depending upon the claim 1 and being examined as a combination of a head protection with an infant carrier as claimed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-3, 5-8, 10, 12, 15-17, 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US No. 2015/0314711 to Mitsuo et al. (‘Mitsuo’).
Re claim 1: Mitsuo discloses in Figs. 4-5, a head protection device 16, comprising a protective sheet 46, a connecting member 58/54 and a positioning member 48 both disposed on the protective sheet 46, wherein left and right ends of the protective sheet 46 are detachably connected by the connecting member 58/54, so as to be capable of being sleeved outside a shoulder strap 41 of an infant carrier 10 (Fig. 1) and an adjustment buckle 32 wound around the shoulder strap 41, wherein the shoulder strap 41 is connected between a backrest 34 and a seat body 12 of the infant carrier 10 the shoulder strap 41 and the adjustment buckle 32, wherein the positioning member 48 is used to be clamped with the adjustment buckle and/or the shoulder strap 41 wound around the adjustment buckle 32, such that the adjustment buckle 32 and the shoulder strap 41 wound around the adjustment buckle 32 are always wrapped in the head protection device 16 (see also Note above).
Re claim 2: wherein the protective sheet 46 is arranged in a transverse width direction of the shoulder strap 41 (i.e. at 11), so as to be wrapped only outside the adjustment buckle 32 and the shoulder strap 41 wound at the adjustment buckle.
Re claim 3: wherein the protective sheet 46 is arranged in a longitudinal direction of the shoulder strap 41 (i.e. at 46A), so as to be wrapped outside the adjustment buckle 32 and a wrapping place of the shoulder strap 41 which is wrapped with the adjustment buckle 32, and outside an extending place of the shoulder strap 41 which is connected to the wrapping place.
Re claim 5: wherein the protective sheet 46 includes a wrapping layer (wherein 42 points to) and a fitting layer (wherein near 18 points to) sewn T1/T2 (see Fig. 3, par. [0054]) connected together as a whole, the wrapping layer is used to contact the shoulder strap and the adjustment buckle, and the fitting layer is used to contact the infant.
Re claim 6: wherein the protective sheet 46 further includes a buffer layer (wherein 68B points to, Fig. 3), the buffer layer is disposed between the wrapping layer and the fitting layer, and the wrapping layer, the buffer layer and the fitting layer are sewn (par. [0054]) connected together as a whole.
Re claim 7: wherein the protective sheet 46 further includes a buffer layer (wherein 68B points to, Fig. 3), edges of both the wrapping layer (wherein 42 points to) and the fitting layer (wherein 18 points to) are sewn T1/T2 connected together as a whole (i.e. as one piece), the wrapping layer is provided with a filling port 68B, and the buffer layer is detachably filled between the wrapping layer and the fitting layer by the filling port (see Fig. 3).
Re claim 8: wherein the connecting member 58/54 is provided in a plurality (i.e. four sets), the plurality of connecting members 58/54 are disposed on edges of a relative left end (near 46A) and a relative right end (near 46B) of the protective sheet 46, and the plurality of connecting members 58/54 are arranged separately along a longitudinal direction of the head protection device (see Fig. 5).
Re claim 10: wherein the positioning member 48 is clamped with the shoulder strap 41 in the transverse width direction (wherein T1 points to) of the shoulder strap 41 and/or clamped with the adjustment buckle in a thickness direction of the shoulder strap.
Re claim 12: wherein the positioning member 48 includes a clamping sheet 52 and/or a hanger sheet disposed on the protective sheet, the clamping sheet 52 is used to be clamped with the shoulder strap 41 wound at the adjustment buckle 32, and the hanger sheet is used to be inserted into the adjustment buckle and clamped with the adjustment buckle.
Note, “a hanger” after “or” is an alternative citation, it does not require to meet.
Re claim 16: wherein the notch (wherein E points to) is disposed at a relative upper end or a relative center (see Fig. 5) of the relative left end or relative right end of the protective sheet, and a closed end of the notch is located at a position close to a centerline (near T3) of the protective sheet 46.
Re claim 17: wherein the positioning member 48 further includes a closure member 56 disposed at an open end of the notch for opening and closing the open end of the notch (Fig. 5).
Re claim 21: wherein the head protection device further comprises a limiting member 84, the limiting member 84 is in sewn connection with the protective sheet below the positioning member 48, and has a limiting space for the shoulder strap 30 to pass through (Fig. 11).
Re claim 22: wherein the limiting member 84 is annular or semi-annular (see Fig. 11), and has certain elasticity (i.e. for stretching the structural member 30).
Re claim 23: Mitsuo discloses an infant carrier 10 comprising a seat body 12, a backrest 22 connected to the seat body 12, and two shoulder straps 30/30 connected between the seat body 12 and the backrest 22, wherein the two shoulder straps 30/30 are detachably connected to the seat body 12 respectively, each of the two shoulder straps 30/30 is wound with an adjustment buckle 32 being used for adjusting length of the shoulder strap 30/30, wherein the infant carrier further comprises a head protection device 16 sleeved outside the shoulder straps 30/30 and the adjustment buckles 32 according to claim 1 (see rejection of the claim 1 above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13, 14, 18, 19, 20 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 (see attached PTO-892).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to CHI Q. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6847. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7AM-5PM or email: chi.nguyen@uspto.gov. If attempt to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached at (571) 270-3238. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pairdirect.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197.
/CHI Q NGUYEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635
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