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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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 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.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by USPAP 2019/0112733 to Abouraddy or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over USPAP 2019/0112733 to Abouraddy in view of USPN 11,542,636 to Bowles and/or EP 2157221 to Yui.
Claims 1 and 9, Abouraddy discloses an article, comprising: a cloth comprising a first yarn, wherein the first yarn is treated with a thermochromic pigment, and the first yarn has the characteristic of changing from a first color to a second color upon reaching a temperature threshold (see entire document including [0037], [0039], [0045], [0053], [007] and [0080]). In the event that it is shown that the applied prior art does not disclose the claimed embodiment with sufficient specificity, the invention is obvious because the prior art specifically discloses the claimed constituents.
Claims 2, 10 and 17, the temperature threshold is from about 37° C to about 39° C [0045].
Claims 3, 11 and 18, the temperature threshold is from about 34° C to about 36° C [0045].
Claim 4, 6, 12 and 14, the yarns comprises natural fibers, synthetic fibers, or a combination thereof ([0039], [0053] and [0079]).
Claim 5, the cloth further comprises a second yarn, wherein the second yarn is interwoven with the first yarn ([0053] an [0079]).
Claims 7, 13 and 19, Abouraddy discloses that various weaving and knitting techniques may be used to arrange the color-changing fibers [0080] but does not appear to specifically mention plating stitch. Yui discloses that it is known in the art to construct a plating stitch fabric using different color yarns for the front and back (see entire document including [0002]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to construct the article with any suitable construction, such as the claimed plating stitch, to provide a fabric with different colors surfaces.
Claims 8, 15 and 20, the article is an article of clothing [0036].
Claim 9, Abouraddy discloses that the cloth may comprise a primary layer and at least one additional layer wherein the primary layer comprises the thermochromic yarn [0090]. Plus, Bowles discloses that it is known in the art to construct a multi-layer fabric with thermochromic yarns in one layer (see entire document including column 1, lines 16-49 and column 3, line 53 through column 4, line 34). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to construct the article with the claimed multi-layer construction, based on the intended application and the desired use.
Claim 16, Abouraddy discloses a method, comprising: interweaving a first yarn and a second yarn together to produce a primary layer of a cloth, wherein the first yarn is treated with a thermochromic pigment and the first yarn changes from a first color to a second color upon reaching a temperature threshold; and interweaving a third yarn to produce at least one additional layer of the cloth (see entire document including [0037], [0039], [0045], [0053], [007] and [0080]).
Conclusion
The following patents are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to an article comprising a cloth comprising yarns treated with a thermochromic pigment: USPN 4,681,791 to Shibahashi and USPAP 2013/0263352 to Crockett.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW T PIZIALI whose telephone number is (571)272-1541. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7am-5pm.
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, Marla McConnell can be reached at 571-270-7692. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANDREW T PIZIALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
Prosecution Insights