DETAILED ACTION
This communication is a first office action on the merits. Claims 1-11, as filed are currently pending and have been considered below.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention II in the reply filed on 05 December 2025 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the circular shape of the expand portions from claim 9 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koyama (JP 2018051226).
Regarding claim 8, Koyama discloses an apparatus made of a synthetic resin (Translation, Paragraph 8, last line) and including a base portion (9b, 9t) and a plurality of engagement elements (9p), the base portion including a first surface and a second surface disposed opposite to each other, the plurality of engagement elements protruding from the first surface of the base portion (Fig. 13b, 13d and 14b as shown), wherein
the second surface of the base portion includes a low position portion (9t) and a plurality of expand portions (9b) expanding in a direction away from the first surface with respect to the low position portion, and
the expand portions are disposed at positions on a side of the second surface, the positions corresponding to positions of the engagement elements provided at the first surface (Fig. 13b, 13d and 14b as shown).
Regarding claim 11, Koyama further discloses wherein the base portion has a connection region in which the base portion and the engagement elements are connected to each other, and a formation region of the expand portions at the second surface of the base portion is provided such that, when the connection region is imaginarily disposed correspondingly on the side of the second surface of the base portion, the connection region imaginarily disposed on the side of the second surface is included in the formation region of the expand portions (Fig. 13b, 13d and 14b as shown).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koyama.
Regarding claim 9, Koyama discloses the invention except for wherein the expand portions each have a circular shape when the base portion is viewed from the side of the second surface. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the expand portions of Koyama in a circular shape because Applicant has not disclosed that the circular shape provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves stated problem. Instead the stretching methodology appears to be the cause of the circular shape as less stretching is experienced at the stems of the of the fastener elements. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with the shape of Koyama because Koyama would still reduce the thickness of the base material to reduce manufacturing costs and enhance flexibility of the fastener. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify Koyama to obtain the invention as specified in the claim.
Regarding claim 10, Koyama discloses the claimed invention except for wherein a dimension of the base portion at the low position portion in a thickness direction is more than or equal to 65% and less than or equal to 85% of a maximum value of a dimension of the base portion at the expand portions in the thickness direction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to relate the thicknesses of the portions with the claimed ratios since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL S LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-5735. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason San can be reached at (571) 272-6531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.S.L/Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/ SPE, Art Unit 3677