DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 6/12/24. Claims 1-15 are pending. Claims 1-15 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 § 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 1, and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 7,694,372 to Boyd.
Claim 1. An inflatable product (Boyd, Fig. 2) comprising: an inflatable body (Boyd, Fig. 2, #50); a tensioning structure (Boyd, Fig. 2, #80) disposed in and connected to the inflatable body, for controlling expansion of the inflatable body when the inflatable body is inflated; wherein the tensioning structure comprises a plastic portion (Boyd, Fig. 4, #90) connected to the inflatable body by fusion or gluing (Boyd does not explicitly discuss the connection method of structures #90 and 92 in Fig. 4, however Boyd does disclose various known attachment methods for other connection points, and states in column 6, lines 42-45 that “the flange member 132 can be attached to the vertical member 80 and internal horizontal layer 82 by sewing, sonic welding, dielectric seaming, or other known method”; 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 use any of these methods for any of the connection points in the air mattress since doing so would have simply been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable and obvious results), and a fabric portion (Boyd, Fig. 4, #92; also see column 5, lines 10-45) connected to the plastic portion by sewing or gluing (Boyd does not explicitly discuss the connection method of structures #90 and 92 in Fig. 4, however Boyd does disclose various known attachment methods for other connection points, and states in column 6, lines 42-45 that “the flange member 132 can be attached to the vertical member 80 and internal horizontal layer 82 by sewing, sonic welding, dielectric seaming, or other known method”; 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 use any of these methods for any of the connection points in the air mattress since doing so would have simply been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable and obvious results).
Claim 12. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fabric portion is a sheet (Boyd, Fig. 4, #92 is considered to be “a sheet”).
Claim 13. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fabric portion comprises a plurality of straps disposed in parallel (see at least Boyd, Fig. 2).
Claim 14. See rejection of claim 1, above. Regarding “a first plastic portion, a second plastic portion” and “a first fabric portion, and a second fabric portion”, Boyd discloses multiple internal vertical members in Fig. 2 at #80)
Claim 15. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first plastic portion comprises a first strap connected to the first fabric portion by sewing or gluing, and a second strap disposed in parallel to the first strap and connected to the second fabric portion by sewing or gluing (Boyd, Fig. 2, #80, the internal vertical members of Boyd are considered to be “a first strap” and “a second strap”)
Claims 2-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 7,694,372 to Boyd in view of US Patent Application Publication 2008/0148488 to Wu.
Claim 2. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plastic portion is connected to the inflatable body along a line, and the line has a closed shape (Boyd does not teach a weld line with a closed shape; however Wu teaches a weld line in a closed loop shape as seen in Fig. 2 at #60; 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 closed loop weld shape of Wu in order to provide a different or more firm surface of the mattress, or alternatively as an obvious matter of design choice for aesthetic purposes; additionally, Examiner notes that Applicant has indicated this configuration as prior art in Applicant’s Fig. 1).
Claim 3. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plastic portion comprises a first strap, a second strap disposed in parallel to the first strap, a third strap disposed perpendicular to the first strap and the second strap, and a fourth strap disposed in parallel to the third strap (see Wu Fig. 1 which discloses multiple structures #6, each of which is considered to be two vertical straps).
Claim 4. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first strap is longer than the third strap, the second strap and the first strap are substantially equal in length, and the fourth strap and the third strap are substantially equal in length (it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the spacing of straps in Boyd Fig. 2 or in Wu Fig. 2 to be either closer or farther apart in order to provide a desired amount of firmness to the mattress).
Claim 5. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 3, wherein the third strap adjoins the first strap and/or the second strap, and the fourth strap adjoins the first strap and/or the second strap (see Wu Fig. 2, #6).
Claim 6. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first strap, the second strap, the third strap and the fourth strap are spaced from each other (see Wu Fig. 2, #6; each of the four sides of the structure is considered to be a strap).
Claim 7. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plastic portion is a sheet (Boyd Fig. 4, #90 attaches to upper surface #70 in Fig. 2; Boyd also discloses in column 1, lines 45-65 that this surface is made of vinyl material).
Claim 8. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the plastic portion comprises a first strap, and a second strap disposed in parallel to the first strap; the first strap is connected to the inflatable body along a first line; the second strap is connected to the inflatable body along a second line (see Wu Fig. 2, #6, the vertical straps form a first and second line; compare to Applicant’s Fig. 3).
Claim 9. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first line and the second line are similar in shape and are disposed in a symmetrical arrangement (see Wu Fig. 2, #6, compare to Applicant’s Fig. 3).
Claim 10. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first line and the second line are identical in shape (see Wu Fig. 2, #6, compare to Applicant’s Fig. 3).
Claim 11. The inflatable product as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first line and the second line are curved at ends thereof (as best understood, Applicant is claiming a rounded corner on weld line #50 as seen in Applicant’s Fig. 3; see Wu Fig. 2, #60)
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, Justin Mikowski can be reached on 571-272-8525. 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 3673