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 the Claims
As directed by the amendment received on May 1, 2026, claims 1 and 11 have been amended, and claims 8 and 10 have been canceled. Accordingly, claims 1-7 and 9, and 11-31 are currently pending in this application with claims 6-7, 11-12, and 14-31 being withdrawn from further consideration.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed with the written response received on May 1, 2026, have been considered and an action on the merits follows. Any objections and rejections previously put forth in the Office Action dated February 2, 2026, are hereby withdrawn unless specifically noted below.
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 (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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5, 9, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2019/0274370 to Zhu (hereinafter, ‘Zhu”), in view of US 2022/0248775 to Todaro et al. (hereinafter, “Todaro”), and in view of US 2006/0030238 to Jagaric et al. (hereinafter, “Jagaric”).
Regarding claim 1, Zhu teaches an upper-body support garment (See Zhu, Figs. 1-3; garment (100)) comprising: a chest-covering portion comprising: a first material layer comprising an outer face and an inner face (See Zhu, Figs. 1-4; front fabric portion (104) is a material layer having outer face (110a) and inner face (110b); Examiner notes that the term "portion" is very broad and merely means "a section or quantity within a larger thing; a part of a whole" (Defn. No. 1 of "American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition" entry via TheFreeDictionary.com)); and an additional layer affixed adjacent the inner face, the additional layer comprising a peripheral region and a central region at least partially circumscribed by the peripheral region (See Zhu, Figs. 1-3 and annotated Fig. 3 of Zhu below; bra cup (114a) affixed adjacent inner face (110b) and including a central region circumscribed by a peripheral region; Examiner notes that the term "adjacent" is very broad and merely means "close to; lying near". (Defn. No. 1 of "American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition" entry via TheFreeDictionary.com); Examiner notes that the term "region" is very broad and merely means "any large, indefinite, and continuous part of a surface or space" (Defn. No. 1 of "Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014" entry via TheFreeDictionary.com)); wherein the first material layer is affixed to the peripheral region along a seam; the additional layer comprises a layer outer face and a layer inner face (See Zhu, Figs. 1-3; front fabric portion (104) is connected to peripheral region of bra cup (114a) along a seam; bra cup (114a) includes outer face facing inner face (110b) and an interior facing inner face opposite the outer face; [0028]).
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Annotated portion of Fig. 3 of Zhu
That said, although Zhu teaches an additional layer adjacent the inner face of the garment, Zhu is silent to this additional layer being a laminate.
However, Todaro, in a related upper body support garment art, is directed to a brassiere having breast cups with a layered design (See Todaro, Figs. 1-7). More specifically, Todaro teaches a laminate (See Todaro, Figs. 1-7; breast cup (16) is a laminated structure having a foam layer laminated between fabric layers and is affixed adjacent inner face of outer layer (50)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to form the inner bra structure of Zhu from the laminated inner bra structure disclosed by Todaro for a variety of reasons including for example, but not limited to, providing a more dense, supportive foam pad structure (See Todaro, [0062]).
That said, the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu (i.e., Zhu in view of Todaro, as discussed above) is silent to the peripheral region being thinner than the central region, the laminate inner face comprises a shoulder that transitions from the peripheral region to the central region, and the laminate outer face is flat at a portion of the layer outer face that is opposite the shoulder when the upper-body support garment is in an unworn state.
However, Jagaric, in a related upper body support garment art, is directed to a breast-covering garment having varying thickness across a bread pad (See Jagaric, Figs. 1-9; abstract). More specifically, Jagaric teaches the peripheral region being thinner than the central region and the laminate inner face comprises a shoulder that transitions from the peripheral region to the central region (See Jagaric, Figs. 7-9; formed pads have a central, summit region (17) surrounded by a thinner peripheral region (19) and a shoulder transition in between; [0052]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have a thicker central region in the breast cup of the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu as disclosed by Jagaric for a variety of reasons including for example, but not limited to, providing a thicker portion to conceal the usual location of the nipple of a wearer when the garment is worn (See Jagaric, [0006], [0022]; abstract). As a result of the above modification, the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu (i.e., Zhu in view of Todaro and Jagaric, as discussed above) would further teach the laminate outer face is flat at a portion of the layer outer face that is opposite the shoulder when the upper-body support garment is in an unworn state (See Zhu, Figs. 1-3; portion of bra cup (114a) opposite the shoulder, i.e., the central region of bra cup (114a), is flat in an unworn state such as the unworn state as depicted in the Figs. 1-3; no wrinkling, puckering, or other distortions are shown on bra cup (114a) in the figures).
Regarding claim 2, the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu (i.e., Zhu in view of Todaro and Jagaric, as discussed with respect to claim 1 above) further teaches wherein the laminate comprises a first laminate layer, a second laminate layer, and a foam layer between the first laminate layer and the second laminate layer (See Todaro, Fig. 3; breast cup (16) construction, as applied in the modification above, includes foam layer (34) between inner liner (30) and outer liner (32); layers (30, 32, 34) are laminated together; [0045]).
Regarding claim 3, the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu (i.e., Zhu in view of Todaro and Jagaric, as discussed with respect to claims 1-2 above) further teaches wherein the laminate further comprises a perimeter terminal edge around the peripheral region, and wherein the perimeter terminal edge is affixed to the first material layer along the seam (See Zhu, Figs. 1-3; bra cup (114a) includes perimeter edge around outside of peripheral region which is connected to front fabric portion (104) along seam; [0028]).
Regarding claim 4, the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu (i.e., Zhu in view of Todaro and Jagaric, as discussed with respect to claims 1-3 above) further teaches wherein the perimeter terminal edge comprises the foam layer laminated between the first laminate layer and the second laminate layer (See Todaro, Fig. 3; breast cup (16) construction, as applied in the modification above, includes foam layer (34) between inner liner (30) and outer liner (32); layers (30, 32, 34) are laminated together; [0045]).
Regarding claim 5, the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu (i.e., Zhu in view of Todaro and Jagaric, as discussed with respect to claims 1-4 above) further teaches wherein the perimeter terminal edge is affixed to the first material layer along the seam and around an entirety of the laminate (See Zhu, Figs. 1-3; bra cup (114a) includes perimeter edge around outside of peripheral region having top, side, and bottom portions connected at least indirectly to front fabric portion (104) along seams via panels (116a, 116b, 140); [0028]).
Regarding claim 9, the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu (i.e., Zhu in view of Todaro and Jagaric, as discussed with respect to claim 1 above) further teaches wherein: the peripheral region comprises a thickness in a range of about 0.8 mm to about 1.2 mm (See Jagaric, Figs. 1-9; thinner peripheral region is 1 mm in thickness; [0052]); and the central region comprises a thickness in a range of about 1.8 mm to about 2.2 mm (See Jagaric, Figs. 1-9; thicker central region includes 2 mm transition region before tapering down to 1 mm thick peripheral region; [0052]).
Regarding claim 13, the modified upper-body support garment of Zhu (i.e., Zhu in view of Todaro and Jagaric, as discussed with respect to claim 1 above) further teaches wherein a perimeter of the central region is fully circumscribed by the peripheral region (See annotated Fig. 3 of Zhu above; central region is fully circumscribed by peripheral region).
Response to Arguments
In view of Applicant’s amendment, the search has been updated, and new prior art has been identified and applied. Applicant’s arguments, filed May 1, 2026, with respect to the rejection of the claims under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection, as Applicant’s arguments appear to be drawn only to the newly amended limitations and previously presented rejections.
In response to Applicant’s arguments with respect to the phrase “in an unworn state”, Examiner notes that support for Applicant’s statement that the now-recited claim language excludes external manipulation to achieve the recited configuration cannot be found in the amended claims or in Applicant’s original disclosure. Examiner further notes that Applicant has not defined “an unworn state” as excluding external manipulation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. USPN 4,956,878 to Boynton; USPN 7,887,389 to Lacambra; USPN 9,661,880 to Waller et al.; USPN 4,372,320 to Silber; USPN 6,846,217 to Struble et al.; and US 2010/0022165 to Silverman et al. are each directed to upper body support garments.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW R MARCHEWKA whose telephone number is (571) 272-4038. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00AM-5:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CLINTON T OSTRUP can be reached at (571) 272-5559. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW R MARCHEWKA/Examiner, Art Unit 3732
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