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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/26/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 21 does not contain the correct status identifier. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1, 7, 9, 10, 13, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Willet, Jr. (US 10,390,602).
Willet, Jr. discloses a first hair weft unit (10), comprising a first hair strand (Fig. 3), and a hair transplantation base, wherein said first hair strand is fixed to said hair transplantation base (col. 7, lines 55-65), wherein said hair transplantation base comprises a mesh (col. 7, lines 67 “manufactured as a mesh internal structure”) and a glue layer (col. 7, lines 65-col. 8, lines 1-5; “a mesh internal structure that is coated with a surface formulation that creates a surface that will grip the user’s skin”) applied on said mesh to form an integral layer with the mesh embedded (col. 7,lines 65-col. 8 lines 1-4) and hidden in the glue layer, wherein said glue layer comprise polyurethane (col. 7,lines 60-65), wherein said integral layer is a flat sheet having a top edge and a bottom edge parallel to the top edge (Fig. 3), wherein a front surface of said hair transplantation base and a rear surface of said hair transplantation base are respectively flat surfaces formed by a glue material of said glue layer, wherein said first hair strand comprises a first hair strand body and a first root portion integrally extended from said first hair strand body (Fig. 3), wherein said first root portion is penetrating through said glue layer of said hair transplantation base for a single time and adhered to said hair transplantation base wherein said first hair strand body of said first hair strand is extended from said front surface of said hair transplantation base (col. 7, lines 55-65), wherein said first root portion is adhered to said rear surface of said hair transplantation base, wherein said first hair strand comprises a plurality of first hair elements, wherein a top row of said first hair elements is extended from the top edge of said integral layer of said hair transplantation base and is naturally draping over said hair transplantation base and a bottom row of said first hair elements which is extended from a bottom edge of said integral layer of said hair transplantation base (Fig. 3).
Willet, Jr. does not disclose the mesh being Korean silk and the flat sheet being rectangular. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the mesh be Korean silk, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. In this instance case, both mesh and Korean silk offer small porous holes to aid in ventilation and allow for natural looking pores. The instant claim differs from Willet in that the flat sheet is has rounded corners rather than rectangular. Modifying Willet’s body to have a rectangular shape would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention because such modification constitutes a change in shape that does not affect the function of the device. The rectangular corners would perform the same weft function as the rounded corner configuration. Altering the shape of a known device where the modification yields predictable results is considered an obvious matter of design choice. See MPEP 2144.04. Therefore, the difference between the claimed rectangular shape and Willet’s rounded corners is merely a predictable variation and does not patentably distinguish the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument that Willet does not disclose the glue-layer structure of the hair transplantation base is not persuasive. Willet teaches a mesh layer “a mesh internal structure” which constitutes applicant’s hair transplantation base, Willet further teaches a polyurethane layer that is coated over the mesh, “coated with a surface formulation” the drawings further show that no part of the internal mesh structure is visible, therefore, meeting the claim limitation “mesh embedded and hidden in the glue layer”.
In response to applicant’s argument that a coating on a mesh does not necessarily result in the mesh being embedded and hidden within the coating, is not persuasive. The drawings of Willet do not disclose or show the mesh structure. Willet discloses “a mesh internal structure that is coated” Examiner maintains the position that the internal mesh element of Willet would meet the limitation of embedded and hidden within the coating. Furthermore, the patentability of a 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)
In response to applicant’s argument that Willet does not disclose the hair strand body extends from one side of the base and the corresponding root portion remains on and is adhesively fixed to the opposite side of the base is not persuasive. Willet teaches the hair is “partially or entirely injected with hair or embedded with hair or punched with hair or with hand sewn hair protruding out from the material on one side and a flat smooth surface on the opposite side of the material.” See Figure 4. One having ordinary skill in the art would understand the manufacturing process associated with injecting or punching hair into the hair transplantation base meets the limitation of first root portion is adhered to said rear surface of the hair transplantation base.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL RUNNING STEITZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1917. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm EST.
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/RACHEL R STEITZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3772
9/29/2026
