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
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 10154743 issued to Ferguson in view of Great Brittan Patent No. GB2548898 issued to Therese.
Regarding claim 1,
Ferguson discloses a bedding apparatus with partially detachable duvets, (Ferguson: FIG. 1, See also col. 4 lines 44-60 “Blanket 100 may be made of any material used for bed sheets, blankets, comforters, quilts, or other bedding, including cotton (pima, Egyptian, upland, SUPIMA, MICRO COTTON, and/or organic), cotton blends (cotton/rayon, cotton/polyester, cotton/bamboo), flannel, fleece, linen, satin, silk, bamboo, hemp, jute, ramie, rayon, polyester, and any combination of the above. “ The examiner notes that 110a, 110b may be interpreted as a pair of partially detachable duvets.) comprising: a flexible body (Ferguson: FIG. 1 (100) see also col. 2 lines 21-24 “In the preferred version of blanket 100, the bottoms of blanket sections 110a and 110b attach at or are integrally connected to the top of a blanket base 111.”) having a top face and a bottom face; (Ferguson: FIG. 1 (111) may be interpreted as a top face and the bottom where (110a) and (110b) are located at may be interpreted as a bottom face see col. 2 lines 21-24) a slit extending along the majority of the flexible body; (Ferguson: FIG. 1 (120) see also col. 2 lines 24-25 “Blanket base 111 extends the width of blanket 100; slit 120 ends at the top of blanket base 111. “) wherein the slit defines a first portion and a second portion; (Ferguson: FIG. 1 (110a, 110b) may be interpreted as first and second portions respectively.) wherein the first portion and the second portion are equivalent in area; (Ferguson: col. 2 lines 15-18 “In the preferred version of blanket 100, slit 120 is located halfway across the blanket's width, resulting in blanket sections 110a and 110b having approximately the same width.” See also FIG. 1 wherein (110a) and (110b) have approximately the same area) …
the plurality of fasteners extends along the slit; (Ferguson: FIG. 1 (130) see also col. 3 lines 6-12 “Fasteners 130 may encompass both single fasteners and pairs of complementary fasteners. Fasteners 130 may include, but are not limited to, a T-button and eyehole, a button and buttonhole, a male snap and female receiver, a zipper, a hook-and-loop fastener (e.g., VELCRO®), a hook-and-eye fastener, a pair of magnets, a pair of ties, a cord laced within eyelets, or any other fastener known in the art. Versions utilizing magnet fasteners 130 preferably sew pairs of magnets within opposing inner edges of blanket sections 110a and 110b”) and wherein the plurality of fasteners selectively connect the first portion to the second portion. (Ferguson: col. 2 lines 31-35 “Fastener 130 is attached to blanket section 110a or 110b, and may removably attach to the opposing blanket section 110b or 110a, so that blanket sections 110a and 110b may be removably attached together at desired locations.”)
Ferguson does not appear to disclose further comprising a placket extending along the slit to conceal a plurality of fasteners
However, Therese discloses further comprising a placket extending along the slit to conceal a plurality of fasteners (Therese: FIG. 2 (34b, 34a) see also page 8 lines 25-32, the fabric strips 34a, 34b appear to fold over the fasteners during use “To ensure that the zipper halves 24, 26 are hidden in use. Figure 2 shows detail of how the row of zipper teeth 26 situated along the bottom edge 20 of panel 12a are positioned between a pair of fabric strips 34a, 34b that extend from seam 28. The fabric strips 34a, 34b are formed from the same fabric material as the fabric cover materials 14, 16. Although not shown in detail in Figure 2, a similar configuration exists for the row of zipper teeth 24 situated along the top edge 18 of panel 12a, and on each top edge 18 and bottom edge 20 of panels 12b, 12c.” This is further discussed in another embodiment of Therese see FIG. 4 (35) and page 9 lines 24-31 “The skilled person will appreciate that when the full size sectionalised duvet 10 is assembled from panels 12a, 12b, 12c as shown in Figure 3, the concealment fabric strips 35 along the top edge of panel 12a, and the bottom edge 20 of panel 12c, can be rolled or folded inwards over the respective bias binding 40 containing the stud fasteners 36, 38 to conceal the stud fasteners 36, 38.”)
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ferguson directed to a pair of duvets by substituting the overlay strip of Ferguson for that of Therese as taught in Therese directed to a sectionalized duvet separated by slits with a reasonable expectation of success because the substitution would have yielded the predicted result of allowed for easier access to the fasteners by permitting the folding of the strips when it is desired to use the fasteners to fasten the sections of the duvet cover together.
Ferguson in view of Therese does not appear to disclose wherein the slit extends along two-thirds of the length of the flexible body.
However, Ferguson does contemplate different length sizes of the slits in col. 3 lines 24-30 of Ferguson.
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the slit of Ferguson to be 2/3s since Ferguson already contemplates different sized slits in col. 3 lines 24-30. It has been held that a change in dimension is obvious absent persuasive evidence, where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device In Gardner v. TEC Syst., Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984).
Regarding claim 2,
Ferguson in view of Thearse discloses the bedding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slit is disposed along the width of the flexible body (Ferguson: FIG. 1 (120) is disposed along the width of the flexible body (100))
Regarding claim 3,
Ferguson in view of Thearse discloses the bedding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fasteners is disposed along an inner edge of the second portion. (Ferguson: FIGS. 3A-3B show the fasteners being disposed along an inner edge of a second portion.)
Regarding claim 4,
Ferguson in view of Thearse discloses the bedding apparatus of claim 1, wherein a plurality of complementary openings is disposed on an inner edge of the first portion (Ferguson: FIG. 3A (132) the first portion (110b) has a complementary opening on its inner edge to receive a fastener (130, 131))
Regarding claim 5,
Ferguson in view of Thearse discloses the bedding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fasteners is selectively engaged and disengaged from the plurality of complementary openings; (Ferguson: FIGS. 3A-3B show fastener (131) engaging with a plurality of openings (132))
Regarding claim 6,
Ferguson in view of Thearse discloses the bedding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fasteners comprises buttons received through a complementary aperture on an opposing side of the slit; (Ferguson: see col. 3 lines 6-12 talks about using different types of fasteners which include a male snap and a female receiver on the other end which could be implemented in a similar manner shown in FIG. 3b by substituting the fastener (131) for a snap and substituting the slit (132) for its receiver.)
Regarding claim 7,
Ferguson in view of Thearse discloses the bedding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fasteners comprises snaps that engages a complementary receiver on an opposing side of the slit; (Ferguson: see col. 3 lines 6-12 talks about using different types of fasteners which include a male snap and a female receiver on the other end which could be implemented in a similar manner shown in FIG. 3b by substituting the fastener (131) for a snap and substituting the slit (132) for its receiver.)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM C ORTIZ whose telephone number is (303)297-4378. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 am-3:30 pm.
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/ADAM C ORTIZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673