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 § 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 10, 12, and 13 recite the limitations Claim 1, “each face”, “the edges”, Claim 10 “each face”, Claim 12, “the fitting”, “the suspension”, “each side”, “the edges”, “the compression”, and “the closing”, Claim 13, “the edges”, “the suspension of blocks of foam or agglomerated fibers or layers of cotton wool and cretonne”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims.
Claims 2-9, 11, and 14-16 are rejected based on their dependance of the rejected independent claims.
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) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pat. No. 7,640,611 to Kluft in view of U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,653 to Stalter
Claim 1, Kluft discloses a mattress comprising a spring suspension defined by a plurality of coils 80 defining a sleeping plane and a ticking defined by a quilted panel (108,122), on the top surface and sidewalls (54,58). Kluft is silent to a fabric. Stalter discloses a tight fit fabric 12 closed around a spring core. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the fabric disclosed in Stalter with the inner spring core of Kluft with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided barrier for the spring core defined by a tight fit covering the spring core of Kluft .
Claims 2-3, Kluft discloses the mattress, but is silent to the fabric being a woven material such as cotton or cretonne. Selecting from a plethora of known fabric materials is considered an obvious modification and it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to select the fabric materials as stated above with the mattress of Kluft with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided an equivalent and alternative fabric material for the fabric covering of Kluft.
Claim 4, Kluft discloses the mattress, but is silent to the fabric having a weight of 120 to 160 g/m2. Selecting a range of weights for the fabric covering is considered an obvious modification and it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to select the range of weights as stated above with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided an equivalent and alternative weight for the fabric covering of Kluft.
Claim 5, Kluft discloses the mattress wherein the fabric is held together around the inner spring by staples 182 and sewing (col. 5 lines 36-52).
Claim 6, Kluft discloses the mattress wherein the fabric is quilted throughout the periphery of the innerspring of Kluft (fig. 1-2).
Claim 7, Kluft discloses the mattress wherein the quilted panel comprises a padding (124)(fig. 4-5).
Claim 8, Kluft, as modified, discloses the mattress wherein the quilted panel is attached to the innerspring assembly and comprises a lateral strip 125 attached with pads for both sides (fig. 2, 4-5).
Claim 9, Kluft discloses the mattress wherein the fabric is closed around the innerspring with foam blocks 60 and a layer of wool 106 interposed along the edges of the spring assembly.
Claim 10, Kluft, as modified, discloses the mattress wherein the fabric is closed around the innerspring with comfort-coating plates defined by layers (62,102) interposed on the innerspring (fig. 2, 7).
Claim 11, Kluft, as modified, discloses the mattress the fabric is closed around the innerspring assembly along the lengthwise direction and along the widthwise direction of the mattress.
Claim 12, Kluft, as best understood, discloses a method of manufacturing a mattress comprising providing a spring suspension defined by a plurality of innerspring coils 80 and. Kluft is silent to a fabric. Stalter discloses a tight/compression fit fabric 12 mounted closely around a spring core. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the fabric disclosed in Stalter with the inner spring core of Kluft with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided barrier for the spring core defined by a tight/compression fit of the spring core of Kluft .
Claim 13, Kluft, as best understood, discloses the method wherein the fabric is closed around the innerspring assembly with the fabric being held around the innerspring with staples 182 and sewing (col. 5 lines 36-52).
Claims 14-16, with regards to the Applicant’s recitation wherein the fabric is a woven material, made of cotton or a cretonne, and having a weight of 120 to 160 g/m2. The patentability of a method does not depend on the type of material or the materials weight. Under the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0246833 to Kluft et al. discloses a mattress having an innerspring.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,663,973 to Spence discloses a mattress having an envelope placed around an inner core.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FREDRICK C CONLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-7040. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm.
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/FREDRICK C CONLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673
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