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 .
Response to Amendment
The claims filed on December 22, 2024 and March 3, 2026, have been entered. Claims 1 – 35 have been canceled. Claims 36 – 50 have been added. Therefore, claims 36 – 50 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 36 – 50 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Emden et al. (2008/0096001A1) in view of Perera et al. (2023/0052244).
Emden et al. discloses a fabric with wicking properties comprising an exterior, or upper layer, of hydrophobic yarns and an interior, or lower layer, of hydrophilic yarns (paragraphs 14 – 22). The textile can be made by weaving or knitting the wicking yarns (which are hydrophilic yarns) with hydrophilic yarns (paragraph 29 – 31). Emden et al. discloses that the knitted fabric can be a double knit fabric with a layer of hydrophobic yarns and a layer of wicking, or hydrophilic yarns, joined together by a third, binder yarn, equivalent to the connecting yarn (paragraphs 80 – 81). The hydrophobic yarns can be chosen from polyester yarns, polyamide yarns, elastane fibers or combinations thereof and can include hydrophobic yarns that have been rendered hydrophobic by a water repellent finish (paragraph 35). The hydrophobic yarns can be treated with a coating, additive, or finish (paragraph 31). The wicking fibers are inherently hydrophilic yarns or yarns that have been rendered hydrophilic by a hydrophilic additive, coating, or treatment (paragraph 34). The wicking fibers can include cotton yarns or cellulosic man-made fibers or polyamide or polyester fibers which have been rendered hydrophilic by a treatment (paragraph 44, 46, and 65).
Emden et al. teaches that the fabric may have a double-knit structure selected from, for example: a double jersey jacquard, double pique, or double twill knits, or double jersey or birds eye knit or interlock or piquette (paragraph 77). Thus, it would have been obvious to use various double knit structures including knit structures with raised and recessed areas on both the face and back side of the fabric. Further, it would have been obvious to use double knit structures having yarns that form the face layer or the back layer also form connections with the opposite face such as a double jersey structure. Also, Emden teaches that the fabric can be made from double woven fabrics wherein yarns from one layer in the double layer fabric interlace with the other fabric layer or a third finer warp can be used to interlace the layers together (paragraphs 72 and 73). When the woven or knit fabrics use a middle layer formed by a yarn to connect the two outer layers together these middle layers are known to be produced by a single knitting bar or a shuttle such that it is produced from a single continuous yarn.
Further, the different knit and weave structures suggested by the applicant inherently require multiple sets of yarns. For instance, the double weave structure shown in Figure 1 have a set of warp yarns and a set of weft yarns in the face layer, i.e., two different sets of yarns, and a set of warp yarns and weft yarns in the back layer, i.e., two different sets of yarns, making up the double weave fabric, for a total of four sets of yarns. The white yarns are designated as wicking fibers and the black yarns are hydrophobic yarns (paragraph 26). Further, the wicking yarns include cellulosic cotton and rayon yarns (paragraph 65). Further, double pique knit patterns and other double knit patterns mentioned by Emden require multiple sets of yarns to produce the face layer and the back layer of the fabric. Thus, it would have been obvious to use multiple sets of yarns in the face and or back layer of the fabric taught by Emden.
Further, since Emden teaches to have a hydrophilic layer and a hydrophobic yarns made from different hydrophobic materials or to have combinations thereof (paragraph 35). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to make the different sets of yarns within the inner fabric layer from the same or similar types of fiber materials (i.e., all hydrophilic materials in the inner layer), based on the Emden disclosure that the inner layer should have hydrophilic properties to obtain the desired moisture management properties and the suggestion that the layers can be made from different materials and that the layers can include more than one set of yarns to form the finished structure. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to make the different sets of yarns within the outer fabric layer from the same or similar types of fiber materials (i.e., all hydrophobic materials in the outer layer), based on the Emden disclosure that the outer layer should have hydrophobic properties to obtain the desired moisture management properties and the suggestion that the layers can be made from different materials and that the layers can include more than one set of yarns to form the finished structure.
Further, Emden et al. suggests that elastane can be added to the fabric layers to add flexibility/stretch into the layer (paragraph 173). However, Emden et al. fails to teach how elastane is added into the layers. Perera et al. is drawn to a knitted wicking fabric with a spacer structure, i.e., a technical face layer, a technical back layer and a spacer yarn connecting the face and back together (paragraph 48). Perera et al. discloses that the knit structure includes a second, elastic yarn plaited into the technical face and back of the knitted structure (401a and 402a). Perera et al. discloses that the rate of moisture wicking is influenced by the amount of pressure acting on the wearer (paragraph 39). Specifically, when one, two or three, of the face, back, or spacer layer contain an elastic yarn it is noted to result in the moisture wicking occurring only in one direction from the inside surface to the outer surface (paragraph 39). Thus, it would have been obvious to include an elastane yarn plated to the exterior and interior layers taught by Emden et al. to not only enhance stretch and flexibility, but to also add pressure or tension to the structure to help force moisture to the outer surface of the composite fabric during use. Further, it would also be obvious to use an elastane yarn as the binder yarn of Emden et al., as taught by Perera et al .to further enhance the pressure on the user and enhance the moisture wicking capabilities of the composite fabric as taught by Perera et al.
Further, Emden et al. fails to teach the size of elastane fibers in the fabric. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to choose elastane with a denier between 10 and 70, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 105 USPQ 233 (CCPA 1955). Therefore, claims 10 and 18 are rejected.
Emden et al. discloses that the wicking yarns can be made from low denier fibers, preferably less than 1.2 denier or made from even smaller microfibers in the yarns (paragraph 102 – 103). Additionally, the examples teach using a polyester yarn having a size of 110 decitex with 90 filaments, and a polyamide yarn having a size of 110 decitex with 68 filaments (paragraph 281 – 282). 110 decitex is equivalent to 99 denier and the yarns would include filaments having a size of less than 1.5 denier each. However, while Emden et al. discloses that the yarns are made from polyamide materials in general, Emden et al. fails to teach the yarn is specifically nylon 6,6. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to choose a nylon 6,6 fiber since nylon 6,6 is the most common nylon used in textile garments. Thus, claim 40 is rejected.
Additionally, Emden et al. discloses that the fabric can be brushed on the wicking surface to enhance the wicking performance of the fabric (paragraphs 34, 77). Thus, claim 41 is rejected.
Conclusion
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jlj
May 16, 2026
/JENNA L JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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