DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species VII, Figures 39-40 and claims 1-20 in the reply filed on 12/02/2025 is acknowledged.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: The specification lacks proper antecedent basis for the claim limitation “detection mechanism”. For purposes of examination, the examiner will treat “detection mechanism” to be the sensor.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claim limitation “detection mechanism” is vague and indefinite. It is not clear what structure is encompassed by such language. For purposes of examination, the examiner will treat “detection mechanism” to be the sensor.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter 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 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Liu (US 6,691,433) in view of DiBenedetto et al. (Pub. No. US 2007/0000154, herein after DiBenedetto).
With respect to claim 1, Liu discloses a lacing engine for an automated footwear platform (The system includes a control system, a power source electrically coupled to the control system, an adjustable element, a driver coupled to the adjustable element for adjusting the adjustable element in response to a signal from the control system, and at least one user interface, see figures 1-4), the lacing engine comprising:
a housing (housing 341, see figures 3-4);
lace spool (spool 45 mounted rotatably in the housing 41) at least partially disposed within the housing (Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the drive unit 40 is mounted in the heel portion 111 of the sole 11, and includes a housing 41, a spool 45 mounted rotatably in the housing 41, a pair of pull strings 46 and a motor unit), the lace spool (45) adapted to collect a portion of a lace cable in response to rotation in a first direction during tightening of the footwear platform (motor unit is operable so as to drive rotation of the spool 45 in the housing 41 to wind the pull strings 46 on the spool 45 for pulling the second fastener 32 toward the first fastener 31 in order to engage the fastener engaging portion 321 with the fastener engaging section 311, thereby resulting in automated tightening of the shoe 100); and
a detection mechanism (control switch 60 is capable of activating the motor unit for driving the spool 45 to wind the pull strings 46 when pressure is applied on the control switch 60 by the foot that is slipped into the upper 12).
Liu as described above discloses all the limitations of the claims except for the detection mechanism to directly measure a characteristic of the lace cable while the lace cable is manipulated by the lacing engine.
DiBenedetto discloses an intelligent systems for articles of footwear that adjust automatically in response to a measured performance characteristic. The intelligent systems include one or more adjustable elements coupled to a mechanism that actuates the adjustable elements in response to a signal from a sensor/detection mechanism to modify the performance characteristic of the article of footwear. The sensor/detection mechanism may be a pressure sensor, a force transducer, a hall effect sensor, a strain gauge, a piezoelectric element, a load cell, a proximity sensor, an optical sensor, etc. A driver coupled to the sensor and an adjustable element coupled to the driver. The system may include a limiter for limiting a range of motion of the adjustable element. In one embodiment, a performance characteristic of the article of footwear is modified in response to a signal from the sensor. Therefore, it would obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a sensor/detection mechanism that directly measures a characteristic of the adjustable element/lace cable while the lace cable is manipulated by the lacing engine of Liu, as taught by DiBenedetto, a performance characteristic of the article of footwear is modified in response to a signal from the sensor/detection mechanism, thereby resulting in automated tightening/loosing of the footwear.
With respect to claim 2, DiBenedetto discloses wherein the sensor may be a pressure sensor, a force transducer, a hall effect sensor, a strain gauge, a piezoelectric element, a load cell, a proximity sensor, an optical sensor, an accelerometer, a hall element or sensor, a capacitance sensor, an inductance sensor, an ultrasonic transducer and receiver, a radio frequency emitter and receiver, a magneto-resistive element, or a giant magneto-resistive element. In various embodiments, the driver may be a worm drive, a lead screw, a rotary actuator, a linear actuator, a gear train, a linkage, a cable driving system, a latching mechanism, a piezo material based system, a shape memory material based system, a system using a magnetorheological fluid, a system using an inflatable bladder(s), or combinations thereof. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a detection mechanism that includes a lever including a free end adapted to follow a contour of the lace spool and a pivot end for the lacing engine of Liu/DiBenedetto, since DiBenedetto discloses a variety of detection mechanism such as an optical sensor, accelerometer that can be used with a variety of different lace spools such as gear train or a worm drive, that are art equivalent.
With respect to claim 3, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the lace spool includes a divot adapted to receive a portion of the free end of the lever (the control switch 60 is capable of activating the motor unit for driving the spool 45 to wind the pull strings 46).
With respect to claim 4, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the detection mechanism includes a sensor to detect when the free end of the lever is received within the divot.
With respect to claim 5, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses
5. (Original) The lacing engine of claim 3, wherein the lace spool is adapted to collect the lace cable upon rotation in a first direction, and where upon collecting at least a first portion of the lace cable the free end of the lever cannot be received within the divot.
With respect to claim 6, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the detection mechanism includes a cut-off switch (cut-off switch 70 is capable of deactivating the motor unit when the fastener engaging portion 321 engages the fastener engaging section 311) activated upon receiving the free end of the lever in the divot.
With respect to claim 7, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the cut-off switch (cut-off switch 70 is capable of deactivating the motor unit when the fastener engaging portion 321 engages the fastener engaging section 311) operates to cut- off power to a motor operating the lacing engine.
With respect to claim 8, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the sensor/detection mechanism includes a cut-off switch (cut-off switch 70 is capable of deactivating the motor unit when the fastener engaging portion 321 engages the fastener engaging section 311) and a split portion of the lace spool.
With respect to claim 9, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the split portion of the lace spool (45) includes a curved section of the lace spool pivotably coupled to the lace spool (see figure 3).
With respect to claim 10, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses
wherein the lace cable is fixed to a first end of the split portion, wherein the first end is opposite a second end that is pivotably coupled to the lace spool (each of the pull strings 46 has a first anchored end connected to the spool 45, a second anchored end 461 (see FIG. 2) connected to a corresponding string hole 325 in the second fastener 32, and an intermediate string portion between the first and second anchored ends).
With respect to claim 11, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses
wherein the cut-off switch is positioned along the housing such that a first end of the split portion of the lace spool contacts the cut-off switch when the lace cable is in a first state (Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the drive unit 40 further includes a cut-off switch 70 provided in the first fastener 31 and coupled to the motor unit).
With respect to claim 12, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein when the lace cable reaches the first state continued rotation of the lace spool causes the split portion to pivot radially outward into contact with the cut-off switch ( cut-off switch 70 is capable of deactivating the motor unit when the fastener engaging portion 321 engages the fastener engaging section 311; control switch 60 and the cut-off switch 70 are connected in series between the motor 42 and the power source 43 of the motor unit).
With respect to claim 13, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the detection mechanism includes an optical sensor adapted to sense a characteristic of the lace cable.
With respect to claim 14, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the optical sensor can sense a transition from a first section of the lace cable to a second section of the lace cable.
With respect to claim 15, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the colors of the lace cable of Liu/DiBenedetto to have the first section of the lace cable to be a first color and the second section of the lace cable to be a second color, since this would be a design choice. Matters relating to ornamentation only which have no mechanical function cannot be relied upon to patentably distinguish a claimed invention from the prior art. The selection of color would have been obvious at the time of invention as an aesthetic design choice. One of ordinary skill in the art would have appreciated that the choice of color would have been a routine procedure without expected results.
With respect to claim 16, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the first section of lace cable to include a first pattern within the lace cable and the second section includes to include a second pattern within the lace cable, since this would be a design choice. Matters relating to ornamentation only which have no mechanical function cannot be relied upon to patentably distinguish a claimed invention from the prior art. The selection of pattern would have been obvious at the time of invention as an aesthetic design choice. One of ordinary skill in the art would have appreciated that the choice of a pattern would have been a routine procedure without expected results.
With respect to claim 17, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses that optical sensor can detect an end portion of the lace cable.
With respect to claim 18, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the end portion of the lace cable to include a unique color or a unique pattern in reference to the remainder of the lace cable, as a design choice. Matters relating to ornamentation only which have no mechanical function cannot be relied upon to patentably distinguish a claimed invention from the prior art. The selection of color/pattern would have been obvious at the time of invention as an aesthetic design choice. One of ordinary skill in the art would have appreciated that the choice of color/pattern would have been a routine procedure without expected results.
With respect to claim 19, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the detection mechanism can include a force sensor to detect tension on the lace cable (DiBenedetto discloses the sensor may be a pressure sensor, a force transducer, a hall effect sensor, a strain gauge, a piezoelectric element, a load cell, a proximity sensor, an optical sensor, an accelerometer, a hall element or sensor, a capacitance sensor, an inductance sensor, an ultrasonic transducer and receiver, a radio frequency emitter and receiver, a magneto-resistive element, or a giant magneto-resistive element).
With respect to claim 20, Liu as modified by DiBenedetto discloses wherein the detect mechanism can include a pin or a pulley receiving a portion of the lace cable (DiBenedetto discloses the sensor may be a pressure sensor, a force transducer, a hall effect sensor, a strain gauge, a piezoelectric element, a load cell, a proximity sensor, an optical sensor, an accelerometer, a hall element or sensor, a capacitance sensor, an inductance sensor, an ultrasonic transducer and receiver, a radio frequency emitter and receiver, a magneto-resistive element, or a giant magneto-resistive element).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shown are lacing engines for article of footwear analogous to applicant’s instant invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JILA M MOHANDESI whose telephone number is (571)272-4558. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thurs. 7:00-5:00 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alissa J Tompkins can be reached at 571-272-3425. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JILA M MOHANDESI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732
JMM
01/20/2026