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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I: Figs. 3-4 in the reply filed on 07/01/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 3 and 10-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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 03/0/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 7-8 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 7 recites “maximum stress in an elastic region of a composite cushioning portion configured by arranging the first cushioning portion and the second cushioning portion in parallel in a direction facing the electronic device is larger than the maximum stress of the second cushioning portion, and the slope in the plastic region of the composite cushioning portion takes a positive value larger than the value of the slope of the first cushioning portion”, this is unclear. Is the composite arrangement a different arrangement of the first and second cushioning portions than previously recited? So that the first and second cushioning are on top of each other so as to be parallel in the direction facing the electronic device? Are they parallel next to each other so as to meet the previous limitation of being fixed to the support plate? Is this anything more than the inherent properties of the materials disclosed in the specification? Is this claiming the interaction when the electronic device hits both cushioning sections at the same time? It is unclear if this is directed towards the elected species or if this arrangement is shown in the figures.
Claims not specifically mentioned are included due to their dependencies.
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) 1-2, 4-6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hibino JP 2010-274936A in view of Hayashida JP H05178372A, herein after referred to as Hibino and Hayashida respectively.
Regarding claim 1 Hayashida discloses a cushioning material configured to cushion an external force applied to an electronic device (paragraph [0001], the cushioning material comprising:
a support plate (2 support material, Figs. 1-31) configured to support the electronic device; and
a cushioning portion (1 cushioning portion) provided at the support plate (2) and configured to cushion an external force applied to the electronic device, the cushioning portion including:
a first cushioning portion (1, paragraph [003 ) including a first surface fixed to the support plate and a second surface facing the electronic device (Figs 1, 3 and 7).
Hayashida is silent to a second cushioning portion including a third surface fixed to the support plate and a fourth surface facing the electronic device and wherein in a graph in which a vertical axis represents an external force applied to the electronic device and a horizontal axis represents time from when the external force starts to be applied to the electronic device, types of waveforms of the graph are different between the first cushioning portion and the second cushioning portion.
Hibino teaches a cushioning material configured to cushion an external force applied to an electronic device (paragraph [0001]) with a first cushioning portion with a first lower surface and a second upper surface facing the electronic device made of made from corrugated cardboard (2 corrugated block and 3 corrugated board block, Figs. 7-9) and a second cushioning portion with a third lower surface and a fourth upper surface facing the electronic device made from a foamed resin material (foamed resin 11 constituting the cushioning material 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the cushioning of Hayashida to include the first and second cushioning portions as taught by Hibino as doing so is well known in the art and would yield predictable results. Further the first and second portions of cushioning as taught by Hibino allows for cushioning that will maintain superior strength while reducing manufacturing costs and environmental load.
Hayashida as modified discloses wherein in a graph in which a vertical axis represents an external force applied to the electronic device and a horizontal axis represents time from when the external force starts to be applied to the electronic device, types of waveforms of the graph are different between the first cushioning portion and the second cushioning portion (the materials used for the first cushioning portion and the second cushioning portion are different, corrugated cardboard and a foamed resin material and will have different waveforms. Further as stated in the specification the waveforms of the graphs of corrugated cardboard and foamed resin are different).
Regarding claim 2 Hayashida as modified discloses the cushioning material according to claim 1 and further discloses wherein the first cushioning portion (2, Hibino) and the second cushioning portion (1, Hibino) are arranged in contact with each other (Figs. 8-9 Hibino).
Regarding claim 4 Hayashida as modified discloses the cushioning material according to claim 2 and further discloses wherein the second surface and the fourth surface are flush with each other (Fig. 8 Hibino).
Regarding claim 5 Hayashida as modified discloses the cushioning material according to claim 1 and further discloses wherein the first cushioning portion (2) includes a material of which the waveform is a trapezoidal wave, and the second cushioning portion (1) includes a material of which the waveform is a half-sine wave (as applicant has admitted in the specification the wave form of corrugated cardboard is a trapezoidal wave and the waveform of foamed resin is a half-sine wave, as such as the cushioning is made from the same materials they will have the same waveforms).
Regarding claim 6 Hayashida as modified discloses the cushioning material according to claim 1 wherein a material of the first cushioning portion is a corrugated cardboard material, and the second cushioning portion is made of a foamed resin material (paragraph [0023] Hibino).
Regarding claim 9 Hayashida as modified discloses the cushioning material according to claim 1 and further discloses wherein the electronic device is a recording device (the cushion is capable of being used with electronic appliances of which a recording device falls into that category thusly the cushion is capable of being used with a recording device. Further Hibino discloses being used with copying machine, facsimile or printer).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lauren Kmet whose telephone number is (313)446-4834. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Stashick can be reached at (571) 272-4561. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/L KMET/ Examiner, Art Unit 3735
/Anthony D Stashick/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3735
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