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 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.
DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to Application filed on 2/25/2025 in which claims 1-20 were presented for examination.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species C, Figs. 7-12 in the reply filed on 2/5/2026 is acknowledged.
Specification
This application discloses and claims only subject matter disclosed in prior Application No. 17/742,563. Accordingly, this application may constitute a divisional. Applicant is claiming, in this application, the noise cancelling system, which was not claimed in the parent application. It is respectfully requested to change the priority to divisional in the specification and the ADS form.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7, 9-15 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Westgate (U.S. Patent No. 4,700,410).
Regarding claim 1, Westgate discloses a helmet with passive noise cancellation (See Figs. 1-3 identifier 10), the helmet comprising:
a helmet shell (12) configured (capable) to be worn on a head of a user (when worn);
an earmuff (24, 26) disposed in an interior of the helmet shell, the earmuff including:
an external housing (28) surrounding an ear cavity (which is the space inside pad 44 as shown in Fig. 2); and
a bladder (46, 50) within the external housing and at least partially surrounding the ear cavity (See Fig. 2); and
a pump (52) in communication with the bladder (46, 50 as shown clearly in Fig. 3), the pump (52) being configured to inflate the bladder (Col. 4, lines 16-30), the recitation “the inflation of the bladder being configured to push the external housing toward a portion of the head proximate an ear of the user to increase passive noise cancellation for the user” is considered functional, the device of the prior art discloses substantially all of the claimed structural elements and therefore fully capable to perform the claimed function, also see Col. 4, lines 16-30.
Regarding claim 2, Westgate discloses a helmet wherein the pump (52) is coupled to an interior surface of the helmet shell near a lower end of the helmet shell, such that the helmet shell conceals the pump (See Fig. 1 and claim 3).
Regarding claim 3, Westgate discloses a helmet wherein the earmuff (24, 26) further includes earmuff foam (36, 38) configured (capable) to contact the head of the user and surround the ear of the user (when worn) (See Fig. 2), the recitation “the inflation of the bladder being configured to push the earmuff foam toward the head of the user to increase the passive noise cancellation for the user” is considered functional, the device of the prior art discloses substantially all of the claimed structural elements and therefore fully capable to perform the claimed function, also see Col. 4, lines 16-30.
Regarding claim 4, Westgate discloses a helmet further comprising:
a pressure release valve (68) in communication with the bladder (See Fig. 3) and configured (capable) to at least partially deflate the bladder to relax the earmuff foam relative to the portion of the head proximate the ear of the user to decrease the passive noise cancellation for the user (See Col. 4, lines 16-30).
Regarding claim 5, Westgate discloses a helmet wherein the pressure release valve (68) is coupled to an interior surface of the helmet shell near a lower end of the helmet shell (See Fig. 1 shown in dotted line), such that the helmet shell conceals the pressure release valve.
Regarding claim 6, Westgate discloses a helmet wherein the pressure release valve (68) is further configured (capable) to at least partially deflate the bladder in preparation for removal of the helmet shell from the head of the user (also see Col. 4, lines 16-30).
Regarding claim 7, Westgate discloses a helmet further comprising:
a biasing element (70) coupled to the bladder (See Figs. 1 and 3) and configured to bias the bladder to a deflated position (See claim 1).
Regarding claims 9-12, Westgate discloses a helmet having a right and left mirror image elements that are identical, having a pump and a valve that are connected to the right and left bladders (first and second), meaning that the pump and valve will simultaneously operate the two bladders at the same time as clearly shown in Fig. 3.
Regarding claims 13-15, Westgate has been previously discussed, but their teachings will again be summarized below. Westgate teaches a helmet with passive noise cancellation system having two bladders, a pump and a valve to press the earmuff closer to the ear of the wearer. Under the principles of anticipation, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would inherently perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device will perform the claimed process. In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 231 USPQ 136 (Fed. Cir.1986). MPEP 2112.02.
Regarding claim 17, Westgate discloses a helmet with passive noise cancellation (See Figs. 1-3 identifier 10), the helmet comprising:
a helmet shell (12) configured (capable) to be worn on a head of a user (when worn);
an first earmuff (24) disposed in an interior of the helmet shell, the first earmuff including:
a first external housing (28 right) surrounding an ear cavity (which is the space inside pad 44 as shown in Fig. 2); and
a first bladder (46) within the external housing and at least partially surrounding the ear cavity (See Fig. 2), the first bladder (46) being inflatable (and capable) to push the first external housing toward a portion of the head proximate a first ear of the user to increase passive noise cancellation for the user; and a second earmuff disposed in the interior of the helmet shell (See Col. 4, lines 16-30), the second earmuff including:
a second external housing (28 left) surrounding a second ear cavity (which is the space inside pad 44 as shown in Fig. 2); and
a second bladder (50) within the second external housing (See Fig. 2) and at least partially surrounding the second ear cavity (See Fig. 2), the second bladder (50) being inflatable (and capable) to push the second external housing toward a portion of the head proximate a second ear of the user to increase passive noise cancellation for the user, the first bladder and the second bladder being coupled to inflate simultaneously (See Col. 4, lines 16-30, also see Fig. 3 illustrating that the pump and the valve are connected to both bladders).
Regarding claim 18, Westgate discloses a helmet further comprising:
a pump (52) in communication with the first and second bladders (46, 50 as shown clearly in Fig. 3), the pump (52) being configured to inflate the bladder (Col. 4, lines 16-30), the pump being configured (capable) to simultaneously inflate the first bladder and the second bladder (See Col. 4, lines 16-30), the helmet shell concealing the pump (See Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 19, Westgate discloses a helmet further comprising:
a pressure release valve (68) in communication with the first bladder and the second bladder (See Fig. 3), the pressure release valve (68) being configured (capable) to simultaneously at least partially deflate the first bladder and the second bladder to decrease the passive noise cancellation for the user, the helmet shell concealing the pressure release valve (See Col. 4, lines 16-30).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 16 and 20 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered (See PTO-892) pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/KHALED ANNIS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732