DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-19 are pending and examined on the merits.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-3, 5-12, and 15-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,121,431. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the patented claim 1 recites all of the limitations in the current claims 1-4 plus the additional limitation that the crotch portion has a minimum width of 8 cm. The patented claims 2-3, 5-12, and 15-19 read on the current claims 5-19, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-19 are contain allowable subject matter. Note the nonstatutory double patenting rejection of all claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
No prior art is found to disclose, inter alia, a crotch portion of a durable underwear comprising a Poisson Contraction Effect upon lateral stretching, i.e., a ratio between the elongation in one direction and the contraction in a perpendicular direction, to have the claimed range of 0.40 or less.
Dunbar (US 2014/0039432) is considered to be the closest prior art.
Dunbar discloses a durable underwear brief panty (e.g., 100) adapted to accommodate an absorbent component (e.g., [0010] "the undergarment includes one or more pad pockets that each allows a pad to be inserted therein"), comprising:
a front waist portion (seen on the left in Fig. 1A) with a front waist edge and left and right front leg opening edges;
a rear waist portion (see in the middle in Fig. 1A) with a rear waist edge and left and right rear leg opening edges;
a crotch portion (crotch area 110) with a forward portion meeting the front waist portion, a rearward portion meeting the rear waist portion, and left and right crotch leg opening edges; and
left and right hip side portions joining the front waist portion to the rear waist portion and thereby forming a waist opening (waist opening 106) with a waist opening edge comprising the front waist edge and the rear waist edge, and left and right leg openings (a pair of leg openings 108) each comprising a respective left or right front leg opening edge, crotch leg opening edge and rear leg opening edge;
wherein, when the panty is in an opened configuration in which the front waist portion and rear waist portion are separated at the hip side portions, the panty has a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis, with an intersection thereof, the intersection occurring in the crotch portion.
Dunbar does not disclose a Poisson Contraction Effect and do not recognize that a fabric has anisotropic properties such that elongation in one direction would cause contraction in a perpendicular direction.
Anderson et al. (US 2005/0142331) discloses a nonwoven web having low Poisson ratio of less than 0.3 ([0092]) but does not disclose where and how such a nonwoven may be used.
Redwine et al. (US 6,393,621) discloses an undergarment designed to be used with an absorbent pad, wherein the undergarment crotch region can comprise woven, nonwoven, or knit material (Col. 11 lines 50-51) and has a lateral stretch modulus of 0.04 gf/mm to 1.97 gf/mm (Col. 11 lines 40-43), which is close to but outside of the currently claimed range. Redwine does not disclose a longitudinal stretch modulus for the entire crotch region but instead discloses a longitudinal stretch control member (52) used in the crotch region, wherein the control member has a longitudinal stretch modulus of 1.97 gf/mm to 19.7 gf/mm (Col. 12 lines 25-29). It is not readily clear how this longitudinal stretch modulus of a single control member would affect that of the crotch portion. Redwine also discloses that angled stretch control members (54) are used in the crotch region to creates forces in the crotch panel (50) such that “Poisson narrowing is minimized” (col. 15 lines 42-45). Redwine does not disclose a longitudinal or lateral elongation of the crotch portion.
Conclusion
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/SUSAN S SU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3781
6 June 2026
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