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
Applicant’s amendment, filed 22 April 2026, is reviewed and entered. This Office Action is a final rejection.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Status of Claims
Amended
1
Newly Added
8-11
Withdrawn
5, 7
Canceled
2-4
Pending
1, 5-11
Presented for Examination
1, 6, 8-11
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 22 April 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Drawing Objections
The objection stands. Please see the drawing section below.
Claim Objections
Overcome by the amendment and withdrawn.
112(b) Rejections
Overcome by the amendment and withdrawn.
102 Rejections
Overcome by the amendment and withdrawn.
The arguments are drawn to newly added subject matter and are addressed in the rejection below.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's previous election with traverse of Species 7 shown in FIGS 5A-5C and 9 in the reply filed on 04 November 2025 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “102” has been used to designate both waist and waistband portion. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
This objection may be overcome by replacing “waist 102” in para. 0050 with –waistband portion 102--.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 518, 519. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the knee-region structure (claim 1), knee-region ring structure (claim 1), finger-like reinforced projections (claim 1), recesses (claim 1), upper and lower reinforced segments (claim 8), medial and lateral side portions (claim 9), upper-medial, upper-lateral, lower-medial, and lower-lateral projections (claim 11) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Providing one or more of existing FIGS 5A-5C and 9 with reference numbers for the above-listed features, and by providing a corresponding specification amendment for the reference numbers would be sufficient to overcome this objection.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: knee-region structure (claim 1), knee-region ring structure (claim 1), finger-like reinforced projections (claim 1), recesses (claim 1), upper and lower reinforced segments (claim 8), medial and lateral side portions (claim 9), upper-medial, upper-lateral, lower-medial, and lower-lateral projections (claim 11).
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: insert –the—before “first and second support elements”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a)
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 6, and 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The new matter is knee-region structure (claim 1), knee-region ring structure (claim 1), finger-like reinforced projections (claim 1), recesses (claim 1), upper and lower reinforced segments (claim 8), medial and lateral side portions (claim 9), upper-medial, upper-lateral, lower-medial, and lower-lateral projections (claim 11).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 6, and 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is rendered indefinite by the recitation “finger-like.” The term " finger-like" is indefinite as it is not clear what structure the term encompasses. To what extent must an element look like a finger in order to be considered " finger-like?"
Claim 10 is indefinite because it cannot be determined to which or all of the plurality of finger-like projections “the finger-like… projections” is referring.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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 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, 6, 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii (US 7229390 B2).
As to claim 1, Fujii discloses a garment (“Tights-type leg support garment,” title, and particularly the embodiment shown in FIGS 49-52) comprising:
a base layer extending down from a waistband portion past a knee portion (the base layer is the unshaded portions of the garment shown in FIGS 49-52, where the upper portion of the garment is the waist of the base layer and the portion of the garment at and around 1 is the knee portion of the base layer), the base layer also having left and right hip portions (see annotated portions of FIGS 49-50 below), and left and right leg portions that include left and right thigh portions (the leg portions are the pant legs, see annotated portions of FIGS 49-50 below),
wherein:
the left and right thigh portion are each reinforced in a selected pattern to provide reinforced portions configured to increase resistance to stretching (124’ in FIG 49; 121, 122, 6, 9, 14, and 124’ in FIG 50; 121, 2, 3, and 5 in FIG 51; and 121, 122, 9, 7, 8, 124’ 14, and 15 in FIG 52, which are configured to increase resistance to stretching and intended to increase resistance to stretching, due to having a “relatively great straining force”);
a first pair of sagitally mirrored anchor points, positioned on the left and right hip portions (indicated by stars in the portions of annotated FIG 49 below; Examiner notes that the term "point" is very broad and merely means "a location, spot, or position" (Defn. No. 2 of "Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014" entry via TheFreeDictionary.com));
a second pair of sagitally mirrored anchor points, positioned on the left and right thigh portions (indicated by stars in the portions of annotated FIG 49 below; Examiner notes that the term "point" is very broad and merely means "a location, spot, or position" (Defn. No. 2 of "Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014" entry via TheFreeDictionary.com));
a first support element (145 and 146 in FIG 49; 147 and 148 in FIG 50; 145, 146, and 148 in FIG 52), where a first end of the first support element is attached to the left hip portion and a second end extends to the left thigh portion, such that a path of the first support element extends from the left hip portion, around a back portion of the left leg to the left thigh portion (FIG 52, the first end is at/ around 148 and the second end is at/ around 145, and the path extends from hip portion around back to thigh); and
a second support element (145 and 146 in FIG 49; 147 and 148 in FIG 50; 145, 146, and 148 in FIG 52), where a first end of the second support element is attached to the right hip portion and a second end extends to the right thigh portion, such that a path of the second support element extends from the right hip portion, around a back of the right leg, to the right thigh portion (FIG 52, the first end is at/ around 148 and the second end is at/ around 145, and the path extends from hip portion around back to thigh).
As best understood, Fujii’s FIG 49-52 embodiment does not disclose the reinforced portions further include, at each knee portion, a reinforced knee-region structure extending generally circumferentially around an anterior knee area ofthe base layer to form a reinforced knee-region ring structure, wherein an inner edge of the reinforced knee-region ring structure includes a plurality offinger-like reinforced projections, the projections separated by recesses and extending toward the anterior knee area ofthe base layer.
Fujii discloses another embodiment in FIGS 45-48 comprising the reinforced portions (shaded portions) further include, at each knee portion (at and around 1), a reinforced knee-region structure extending generally circumferentially around an anterior knee area ofthe base layer to form a reinforced knee-region ring structure (the terms “structure” and “ring structure” do not lend any particular structure to the garment, and Applicant’s disclosure is silent as to these features, so to the degree disclosed by Applicant, Fujii’s garment is interpreted such that the “structure” at the garment portion at and around 1 is the “reinforced knee-region structure” and the “ring structure” is the ring of “structure” at and around 1), wherein an inner edge of the reinforced knee-region ring structure includes a plurality offinger-like reinforced projections (the inner edge being the edge of 142, 143, etc. that is closest to the centerline of the leg portion, 32 and 33 are considered “finger-like reinforced projections”), the projections separated by recesses and extending toward the anterior knee area ofthe base layer (the white space between 32 and 33 is the recess, there are fingers on each lateral side of 1 and each leg portion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the “structure,” “ring structure,” “reinforced projections,” and “recesses” of the FIG 45-48 embodiment with the reinforced portions of the FIG 49-52 embodiment, in order to support the wearer’s legs (Fujii abstract).
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As to claim 6, Fujii discloses the garment of claim 1 wherein first and second support elements extend from respective locations adjacent an inner thigh portion (see portion of annotated FIG 49 above, all of the components of the garment are “adjacent” one another, either directly or indirectly, and at least portions of the support elements are “adjacent” the inner thigh portion).
As to claim 8, Fujii discloses the garment of claim 1, wherein the reinforced knee-region structure includes an upper reinforced segment disposed above the anterior knee area and a lower reinforced segment disposed below the anterior knee area (to the degree disclosed by Applicant, the “upper reinforced segment” is “segment” of the garment above the area at and around 1 and the “lower reinforced segment” is the “segment” of the garment below the area at and around 1).
As to claim 9, Fujii discloses the garment of claim 8, wherein the upper reinforced segment and the lower reinforced segment are joined at medial and lateral side portions of the knee portion (all of the components of the garment are directly or indirectly “joined” to form a single garment).
As to claim 10, Fujii discloses the garment of claim 1, wherein the finger-like reinforced projections extend inward toward the anterior knee area (this is the result of the modification presented in the rejection of claim 1 above, see Fujii FIG 46).
As to claim 11, Fujii discloses the garment of claim 1, wherein the finger-like reinforced projections include at least an upper-medial projection, an upper-lateral projection, a lower-medial projection, and a lower-lateral projection relative to the anterior knee area (at least to the degree disclosed by Applicant, Fujii FIG 46 shows each leg portion has four finger-like reinforced projections, and the two projections above 1 are the respective upper-medial and upper-lateral and the two projections below 1 are the respective lower-medial and lower-lateral projections).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SALLY HADEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6731. 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, Clinton Ostrup can be reached at 571-272-5559. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SALLY HADEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3732
/SALLY HADEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732
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