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 .
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.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
a plurality of coupling mechanisms, a first coupling mechanism, a second coupling mechanism and a third coupling mechanism in claims 1 and 14
a connection element in claims 2 and 12
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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, 2, 6, 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 4,628,930 to Williams (Williams) in view of US 2006/0101558 A1 to Coleman et al. (Coleman).
Regarding claim 1, Williams teaches a heating garment (title “Soothing Comfort Girdle”) comprising a first piece of material (11) coupled with a second piece of material (20), wherein a pocket is defined between the first piece of material and the second piece of material (Col. 2, lines 39-45), a plurality of heating elements (the turns of electrical resistance wire 18) disposed in the pocket defined between the first piece of material and the second piece of material (Col. 2, lines 39-45), the plurality of heating elements configured to run from a top of the heating garment to a bottom of the heating garment (Fig. 5), wherein the heating garment forms a torso opening and two leg openings (Fig. 5).
However, Williams does not teach a plurality of coupling mechanisms formed on the heating garment, wherein the plurality of coupling mechanisms comprises a first coupling mechanism formed on a first external surface of the first piece of material, a second coupling mechanism formed on a second external surface of the second piece of material, and a third coupling mechanism formed on the second external surface of the second piece of material.
Coleman teaches an analogous garment (title “Brief with Pockets for Thermal Inserts”) including a plurality of fastening mechanisms (27a and 27b) formed on the heating garment (Fig. 1), wherein the plurality of coupling mechanisms comprises a first coupling mechanism formed on a first external surface of the first piece of material ([0020]), a second coupling mechanism formed on a second external surface o the second piece of material ([0020]), and a third coupling mechanism formed on the second external surface of the second piece of material ([0020]), wherein the heating garment is configured to operate between an uncoupled mode and a coupled mode, wherein, in the coupled mode, the second coupling mechanism and the third coupling mechanism are configured to mate with the first coupling mechanism, forming a torso opening (Fig. 1) and two leg openings (22, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the plurality of fastening mechanisms of Coleman to allow for ease of donning and securing garment to the user (abstract).
Regarding claim 2, the combination teaches the heating garment of claim 1 as well as Williams teaching a connection element positioned on one of the first external surface or the second external surface (Fig. 13), the connection element configured to interface with the plurality of heating elements (Col. 2, lines 33-39).
Regarding claim 6, the combination teaches the heating garment of claim 1 as well as Coleman teaching one or more additional pockets (abstract which states in part “a pocket may be provided in either the front panel, crotch area, and/or the rear panel of the device…” and [0002] which states in part “a panty that has pockets for heating or cooling pads.”). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams with the additional pockets of Coleman to allow for additional treatment as taught by Coleman (abstract and [0002]).
Regarding claim 8, the combination teaches the heating garment of claim 1 as well as Williams teaching wherein the plurality of heating elements is disposed in a serpent-like design (Fig. 13).
Regarding claim 9, even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process. In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698; 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). Here the claimed product is the same as the prior art product.
Claim(s) 3-5, 7 and 11-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams and Coleman as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of US 2018/0193185 A1 to Thomas et al. (Thomas).
Regarding claim 3, Williams in view of Coleman teaches the heating garment of claim 2, but not wherein the connection element comprises an input port configured to interface with a controller. Thomas teaches an analogous heating garment (title “Heating Devices”) to that of Williams and including a connection element comprises an input port (battery connector 309) configured to interface with a controller (PCB 306). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the input port of Thomas to allow for control of the device heating profile as taught by Thomas (abstract which states in part “The device electronics are coupled to the heating element and are configured to store a first heating profile that includes data indicating how power should be delivered to the heating element over a first period of time.”).
Regarding claim 4, the combination teaches the heating garment of claim 3 as well as Thomas teaching wherein the controller is configured to control an operating temperature of the heating garment by increasing or decreasing an amount of current provided to the plurality of heating elements ([0023] which states in part “the device electronics may control heat by controlling power (e.g., current or voltage) delivered to the heating elements 204).
Regarding claim 5, Williams in view of Coleman teaches the heating garment of claim 1, but not a microcontroller configured to interface with a client device to control an operating temperature of the heating garment. Thomas teaches an analogous device (title “Heating Devices”) to that of Williams including a microcontroller ([0070] which states in part “The heating device 400 includes a processing module 402 (e.g., a processor and/or microcontroller, communication module 404, an interface module 406, a power module 408, a heating control module 410, and a temperature sensing module 412.”) configured to interface with a client device (user device 102) to control an operating temperature of the heating garment ([0020] which states in part “the heating device 100 may include user input devices (e.g., manual controls) and/or be controlled via an external computing device 102, such as a user’s phone.” and [0075] which states in part “The communication module 404 can include circuits that provide wired and/or wireless communication with the user device 102). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams with the microcontroller of Thomas to allow for control of the device heating profile as taught by Thomas (abstract which states in part “The device electronics are coupled to the heating element and are configured to store a first heating profile that includes data indicating how power should be delivered to the heating element over a first period of time.”).
Regarding claim 7, Williams in view of Coleman teaches the heating garment of claim 1, but not a temperature sensor disposed in the pocket. Thomas teaches an analogous heating garment (title “Heating Devices”) including a temperature sensor (310 and [0063] which states in part “The device electronics 300 in FIG. 3C can also connect to a temperature sensor 310 included on the substrate 200.”) on the heating device. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the temperature sensor of Thomas to allow for an indication of the temperature of the heating device as taught by Thomas ([0063]).
Regarding claim 11, Williams teaches a heating system (title “Soothing Comfort Girdle”) comprising a heating garment (girdle 10) comprising a first piece of material (11) coupled with a second piece of material (20), wherein a pocket is defined between the first piece of material and the second piece of material (Col. 2, lines 39-45), a plurality of heating elements (the turns of electrical resistance wire 18) disposed in the pocket defined between the first piece of material and the second piece of material (Col. 2, lines 39-45), the plurality of heating elements configured to run from a top of the heating garment to a bottom of the heating garment (Fig. 5), wherein the heating garment forms a torso opening and two leg openings (Fig. 5).
However, Williams does not teach a plurality of coupling mechanisms formed on the heating garment, wherein the plurality of coupling mechanisms comprises a first coupling mechanism formed on a first external surface of the first piece of material, a second coupling mechanism formed on a second external surface of the second piece of material, and a third coupling mechanism formed on the second external surface of the second piece of material or a controller in communication with the heating garment and configured to control an operating temperature of the heating garment.
Coleman teaches an analogous garment (title “Brief with Pockets for Thermal Inserts”) including a plurality of fastening mechanisms (27a and 27b) formed on the heating garment (Fig. 1), wherein the plurality of coupling mechanisms comprises a first coupling mechanism formed on a first external surface of the first piece of material ([0020]), a second coupling mechanism formed on a second external surface of the second piece of material ([0020]), and a third coupling mechanism formed on the second external surface of the second piece of material ([0020]), wherein the heating garment is configured to operate between an uncoupled mode and a coupled mode, wherein, in the coupled mode, the second coupling mechanism and the third coupling mechanism are configured to mate with the first coupling mechanism, forming a torso opening (Fig. 1) and two leg openings (22, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the plurality of fastening mechanisms of Coleman to allow for ease of donning and securing garment to the user (abstract).
Thomas teaches an analogous heating garment (title “Heating Devices”) to that of Williams and including a controller (external computing device 102) in communication with the heating garment (Fig. 4), the controller configured to control an operating temperature of the heating garment ([0020] which states in part “the heating device 100 may include user input devices (e.g., manual controls) and/or be controlled via an external computing device 102, such as a user's phone (e.g., see FIG. 1C).” and [0024] which states in part “the device electronics may include electronics that can communicate with an external wired/wireless computing device 102, such as a user's cell phone (e.g., see FIG. 1C). In these implementations, the user may control/monitor the heat being generated by the heating device 100 using the external computing device 102.”). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the controller of Thomas to allow for control of the device heating profile as taught by Thomas ([0024, 0027, 0029]).
Regarding claim 12, the combination teaches the heating system of claim 11 as well as Williams teaching a connection element positioned on one of the first external surface or the second external surface (Fig. 13), the connection element configured to interface with the plurality of heating elements (Col. 2, lines 33-39).
Regarding claim 13, the combination teaches the heating system of claim 12 as well as Thomas teaching wherein the connection element comprises an input port (battery connector 309) configured to interface with the controller. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the input port of Thomas to allow for control of the device heating profile as taught by Thomas (abstract which states in part “The device electronics are coupled to the heating element and are configured to store a first heating profile that includes data indicating how power should be delivered to the heating element over a first period of time.”).
Regarding claim 14, the combination teaches the heating system of claim 11 as well as Thomas wherein the controller is configured to control an operating temperature of the heating garment by increasing or decreasing an amount of current provided to the plurality of heating elements ([0024, 0027, 0029]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the controller of Thomas to allow for control of the device heating profile as taught by Thomas ([0024, 0027, 0029]).
Regarding claim 15, the combination teaches the heating system of claim 11 as well as Thomas teaching a microcontroller (PCB 306), the microcontroller configured to interface with the controller to control an operating temperature of the heating garment ([0057]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the microcontroller of Thomas to allow for control of the device heating profile as taught by Thomas ([0024, 0027, 0029]).
Regarding claim 16, the combination teaches the heating system of claim 15 as well as wherein the controller is a client device ([0020] which states in part “the heating device 100 may include user input devices (e.g., manual controls) and/or be controlled via an external computing device 102, such as a user's phone (e.g., see FIG. 1C).” and [0024] which states in part “the device electronics may include electronics that can communicate with an external wired/wireless computing device 102, such as a user's cell phone (e.g., see FIG. 1C). In these implementations, the user may control/monitor the heat being generated by the heating device 100 using the external computing device 102.”). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the client device of Thomas to allow for control of the device heating profile as taught by Thomas ([0024, 0027, 0029]).
Regarding claim 17, Williams in view of Coleman teaches the heating system of claim 11, but not a temperature sensor disposed in the pocket. Thomas teaches an analogous heating garment (title “Heating Devices”) including a temperature sensor (310 and [0063] which states in part “The device electronics 300 in FIG. 3C can also connect to a temperature sensor 310 included on the substrate 200.”) on the heating device. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the temperature sensor of Thomas to allow for an indication of the temperature of the heating device as taught by Thomas ([0063]).
Regarding claim 18, the combination teaches the heating system of claim 11 as well as Williams teaching wherein the plurality of heating elements is disposed in a serpent-like design (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 19, even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process. In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698; 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). Here the claimed product is the same as the prior art product.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams and Coleman as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2012/0143295 A1 to Moore (Moore).
Regarding claim 10, Williams in view of Coleman teaches the garment of claim 1, but not a hydrophobic or waterproof material disposed between the first piece of material, the second piece of material, and the plurality of heating elements to protect the plurality of heating elements. Moore teaches an analogous garment to that of Williams (title “Menstrual Relief Band”) including that under a layer of material (6) that covers the heating unit (5), there is a layer of material (12) that is used to insulate the resistance wire (11). This layer of insulation (12) helps distribute heat over the area evenly as well as provide a small amount of padding for wire protection and comfort reasons. The insulation layer (12) also provides waterproof qualities to prevent said wiring from getting wet due to rain, perspiration, and so on ([0023]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the insulation layer of Moore to provide a small amount of padding as well as protection from rain, perspiration, and so on as taught by Moore ([0023]).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams, Coleman and Thomas as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Moore.
Regarding claim 20, Williams in view of Coleman teaches the system of claim 11, but not a hydrophobic or waterproof material disposed between the first piece of material, the second piece of material, and the plurality of heating elements to protect the plurality of heating elements. Moore teaches an analogous garment to that of Williams (title “Menstrual Relief Band”) including that under a layer of material (6) that covers the heating unit (5), there is a layer of material (12) that is used to insulate the resistance wire (11). This layer of insulation (12) helps distribute heat over the area evenly as well as provide a small amount of padding for wire protection and comfort reasons. The insulation layer (12) also provides waterproof qualities to prevent said wiring from getting wet due to rain, perspiration, and so on ([0023]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Williams to include the insulation layer of Moore to provide a small amount of padding as well as protection from rain, perspiration, and so on as taught by Moore ([0023]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAITLYN E SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-5845. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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/KAITLYN E SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794
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