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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/26/2024 and 07/18/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hideyuki (WO 2015/151700).
Regarding claim 1, Hideyuki discloses, an eyewear (Figs. 1-11) comprising:
a front (see 10B and 10C); and
a pair of temples (41A, 41B, 41C, 42A, 42B, 51A, 51B, 51C) connected to the front in a hingeless manner (20A, 20B, 20C, 30A, 30B, 30C) not to include a hinge structure (Pages 3, lines 9-13 and 31-43), the hinge structure having a rotation axis (see Figs. 1-11), and the pair of temples having flexibility (Abstract), wherein
each of the temples has a front (see portion of 41C, 51C) on a front side and a rear region (see 42C, 43C, 52C, 53C) on a rear end side opposite to the front side,
the front region has a protrusion portion (see 23B, 23C, 33B, 33C) that protrudes in at least one of an inner direction or an outer direction of the temple,
the rear region has
a groove portion (55A, 55B, 55C) that is recessed from one surface toward the other surface of the temple in an up-down direction and penetrates the temple in an in-out direction, and
a recess portion (54A, 54B, 54C) that is disposed on an outer side surface of the temple, is recessed in the inner direction of the temple, and communicates with the groove portion (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11), and
the pair of temples are configured such that the groove portion of the rear region of one temple is fitted into a portion of the front region of the other temple (see 18A, 19B, 20B, 30B, 30C) that is closer to the front side than the protrusion portion and are further slid along the front region to a protrusion portion side (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11), and thus the protrusion portion of the other temple is accommodated in the recess portion of the one temple (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11).
Regarding claim 2, Hideyuki discloses, the recess portion has a top surface, a bottom surface, and a back surface (see 54A, 54B, 54C), and an opening communicating with the groove portion is formed between the top surface and the bottom surface (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11).
Regarding claim 3, Hideyuki discloses, the recess portion has a side surface on a side opposite to the opening (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11).
Regarding claim 4, Hideyuki discloses, the recess portion is configured such that the protrusion portion is movable in the recess portion (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11).
Regarding claim 5, Hideyuki discloses, the recess portion is configured to be fitted to the protrusion portion (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11).
Regarding claim 6, Hideyuki discloses, the protrusion portion has a triangular prism shape having a triangular shape in a top view of the temple (see 23B and 33B of Fig. 5 and see 23C and 33C of Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 7, Hideyuki discloses, the protrusion portion protrudes only in the inner direction of the temple and has a length in the up-down direction that is the same as or shorter than a length of the temple in the up-down direction (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11).
Regarding claim 8, Hideyuki discloses, the protrusion portion protrudes only in the inner direction of the temple and has a length in the up-down direction that is the same as or shorter than a length of the temple in the up-down direction (Page 2, lines 9-38, Page 3, lines 20-29 and see Figs. 1-11).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kanatani (US 2015/0219922) discloses eyewear that includes a front, a pair of temples, each of the temples has a front region and a rear region, the front region has a protrusion portion, the rear region has a groove portion and a recess portion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAWAYNE A PINKNEY whose telephone number is (571)270-1305. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at 571-270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAWAYNE PINKNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 08/11/2026
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