DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 6/28/2024 and 1/21/2025. Claims 1-11 are pending. Claims 1-11 are rejected.
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 § 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 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; or
(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.
Claims 1-2 and 6-7, and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent 6,079,065 to Luff et al. (“Luff”).
Claim 1. A mattress assembly comprising: an air pocket unit configured to contain air (Luff, Fig. 2, discloses an air pocket unit including at least one air bladder #52); a pressure regulator for controlling the air pocket unit (Luff discloses a controller for the air module, Fig. 2 #88); and a body unit (Luff, Fig. 2 #16) accommodating the air pocket unit and the pressure regulator, wherein the body unit includes: a frame (Luff, Fig. 2 #12) part having a top side open to provide an accommodation space for accommodating the air pocket unit and the pressure regulator (Luff discloses an articulating back portion, seen in Fig. 2, which reads on “a top side open”); and a cover (Luff, Fig. 2, mattress is seen to have an outside cover, which encloses air bladders, drawn in phantom) part disposed on the frame part to cover the accommodation space, wherein the cover part includes; a first area formed to be relatively movable (“first area” is movable back portion #26 seen in Luff, Figs. 2-3) with respect to the frame part and covering or exposing the pressure regulator; and a second area (“second area” is seat, thigh, and foot sections #28, 30, and 32 seen in Luff, Figs. 2-3) disposed adjacent to the first area and fixed to the frame part, and wherein the first area faces an upper edge of the frame part when covering the pressure regulator.
Claim 2. The mattress assembly of claim 1, wherein the first area is disposed directly above the pressure regulator, and both opposing sides are in contact with the second area when the first area covers the pressure regulator (see bed of Luff in flat configuration in Fig. 3).
Claim 6. The mattress assembly of claim 1, wherein the body unit further comprises: a damage prevention part disposed between the frame part and the pressure regulator to prevent the pressure regulator from colliding with the frame part (Luff discloses a set of links #46 in Fig. 2 which are configured to prevent damage of air unit #88 when the bed is articulated).
Claim 7. The mattress assembly of claim 6, wherein the damage prevention part includes a plurality of damage prevention parts, and the pressure regulator is disposed between the plurality of damage prevention parts (Luff discloses two sets of links #46 in Fig. 2 which disposed on either side of air unit #88).
Claim 8. The mattress assembly of claim 6, wherein the body unit further comprises: a fixing part provided on an inner surface of the frame part and selectively attached to the pressure regulator such that the pressure regulator is fixed to the frame part (Luff discloses a bracket #132 in Fig. 2 which reads on Applicant’s “fixing part”).
Claim 9. The mattress assembly of claim 1, wherein the pressure regulator comprises: a pump (Luff discloses an air compressor #98 in column 5, line 20, and in Fig. 5) for injecting air into the air pocket unit; and a controller (Luff discloses driver circuitry #96 in Fig. 5) for controlling the pump such that the pressure of the air pocket unit is adjusted.
Claim 10. The mattress assembly of claim 1, wherein the air pocket unit includes a plurality of air pockets arranged in a horizontal direction (See air pockets in Luff Fig. 2, at #52 and 54).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 6,079,065 to Luff et al. (“Luff”) in view of US Patent Application Publication 2023/0172367 to Lee.
Claim 3. The mattress assembly of claim 1, wherein the body unit further includes: a foam adhesive part disposed in the frame part and bonding the second area of the cover part and the frame part, and wherein the foam adhesive part is disposed to extend along the upper edge of the frame part, and one end and the other end opposite to the one end of the foam adhesive part are spaced apart from each other (Luff does not disclose a foam adhesive part; however, Lee teaches a foam mattress topper with convoluted foam layers as seen in Fig. 1A; Lee discloses the use of adhesive in at least the Abstract; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the bed of Luff with the foam layers of Lee in order to optimize a user’s comfort, as discussed by Lee in paragraph [0003]; furthermore, since doing so would have simply been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable and obvious results).
Claim 5. The mattress assembly of claim 1, further comprising: a topper unit disposed above the body unit, wherein the topper unit includes: a first topper member disposed above the cover part; a second topper member in contact with an upper surface of the first topper member and including an embossed part in which a plurality of ridges and valleys are alternately and repeatedly formed; and a topper adhesive part applied to the ridges of the embossed part such that the ridges of the embossed part are attached to the upper surface of the first topper member (Lee teaches multiple layers in Fig. 1A, including convoluted foam layers #103 and 104; the convoluted texture of the layers of Lee reads on Applicant’s “plurality of ridges and valleys,” additionally Lee teaches the use of adhesive in at least paragraph [0032]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 6,079,065 to Luff et al. (“Luff”) in view of US Patent Application Publication 2007/0067916 to Poston.
Claim 4. The mattress assembly of claim 3, wherein the body unit further includes: an auxiliary connection part for detachably connecting the first area of the cover part and the frame part, and wherein the auxiliary connection part is located between the one end and the other end of the foam adhesive part (Applicant’s “auxiliary connection part” is disclosed in paragraph [0053] to be a hook and loop type fastener to secure the cover, as seen in Applicant’s Fig. 6; Luff does not provide such a fastener to secure the top cover, however mattress toppers are well known in the art of beds, as taught by Poston in Fig. 1; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the bed of Luff with the mattress topper of Poston order to optimize a user’s comfort, as discussed by Poston in paragraphs [0003]-[0004]; furthermore, since doing so would have simply been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable and obvious results; additionally, Poston teaches in paragraph [0019] that hook and loop fasteners can be used to secure the mattress topper, which reads on Applicant’s “auxiliary connection part”).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 6,079,065 to Luff et al. (“Luff”) in view of US Patent Application Publication 2018/0220805 to Rawls-Meehan et al. (“Rawls-Meehan”).
Claim 8. The mattress assembly of claim 6, wherein the body unit further comprises: a fixing part provided on an inner surface of the frame part and selectively attached to the pressure regulator such that the pressure regulator is fixed to the frame part (Applicant’s claim is directed toward a hook and loop type fastener to attach the air components; Luff discloses a bracket #132 in Fig. 2, but Luff does not disclose the use of a hook and loop fastener; however, various types of fasteners are known in the art of beds; Rawls-Meehan teaches various types of fasteners in paragraph [0008] and teaches both a bracket and a hook-and-loop fastening element; therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the bracket of Luff with a hook and loop fastener as taught by Rawls-Meehan, since doing so would have simply been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable and obvious results and additionally because these two types of fasteners are art recognized equivalents as evidenced by the disclosure of Rawls-Meehan).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 6,079,065 to Luff et al. (“Luff”) in view of Official Notice.
Claim 11. Furniture comprising: the mattress assembly of claim 1; and a backrest disposed on one side of the mattress assembly (Applicant’s backrest is commonly known as a headboard; Examiner takes Official Notice that headboards are well known in the prior art of beds, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a headboard for the bed of Luff; see MPEP§2144.03).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MYLES A THROOP whose telephone number is (571)270-5006. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Troutman can be reached at 571-270-3654. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MYLES A THROOP/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3679