Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 5/13/25 and 1/23/26 are noted. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the examiner is considering the information disclosure statements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yim (WO 2014/137146 A1) in view of Park (KR 102275164 B1) and Walters, Jr. (US 2019/0357661 A).
Regarding claim 1, Yim discloses a holder for a portable information terminal comprising: a mounting portion configured to be attached to a case (1) for a portable information terminal in which a portable information terminal is held (neither the case nor the portable informational terminal currently being claimed in combination due to the functional language “configured to be attached”); and a hand-side holding portion (30) configured to be attached to the mounting portion and to come into contact with a finger or a back of a hand, wherein the hand-side holding portion (30) has both end portions thereof respectively connected to the mounting portion by a ring-shaped member (42 in Figure 1 or 33/42 in Figure 2).
Yim fails to disclose the mounting portion being a band portion fixed to the case by an elastic force of the band portion. Yim discloses the mounting portion as a plate (10) adhesively attached to the case but discloses no criticality to such design.
Park teaches that it was also known in the art for a mounting portion (300) to be attached to a case using a strap member (100). Park discloses the strap being adhesively attached (via 120) to the case and fails to disclose the strap specifically being elastic (see “The strap body 110 may be made of synthetic fibers or natural fibers, and any material having a predetermined width, such as synthetic resin material, metal material, or leather material, may be applied.)
Walters teaches that it was already known in the art for a strap like that of Park to be elastic (see “elastic” in [0038]-[0044]) and to be attached to the case by feeding the elastic strap through an interior of the case and securing the elastic strap ends together (see Figures 6 and 7) so that no tools or adhesives are needed in attachment of the strap to the case (see [0047]).
Considering these references in their entirety, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time Applicant’s invention was effectively filed to have replaced the mounting plate of Yim with a mounting strap, as taught by Park, and to have made the mounting strap elastic with releasably attachable ends in order to allow the strap to be mounted to the case without the need for any adhesives, as taught by Walters. To be very clear, the result of this modification would maintain the structure shown in Figure 3(1) of Yim where the plate (10) has been replaced with an elastic strap like that of Walters.
Regarding claim 2, Yim as modified above would include the holder for a portable information terminal according to claim 1, but so far fails to include wherein the hand-side holding portion is composed of a fabric member including a core material. Yim is silent as to the material structure of the hand-side holding portion (30). Walters teaches that it was already known for a hand strap like that of Yim to be formed of fabric with a core material (see [0038]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time Applicant’s invention was effectively filed to have made the strap (30) of Yim from fabric with a core material, where such material was already known to be suitable for such use, as taught by Walters. 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.
Regarding claim 3, Lim as modified above would include the holder for a portable information terminal according to claim 2, wherein the hand-side holding portion (30) includes the fabric member formed of a long fabric, as taught by Yim, formed into a loop shape (at either end of 30, as originally taught by Yim, see Figures), and wherein two sheets of the fabric are superposed (at either end of 30, as originally taught by Yim, see Figures) into an arc shape (see arc shape of 30 originally taught by Yim).
Regarding claim 4, Yim as modified above would include the holder for a portable information terminal according to claim 3, wherein Yim discloses the ring-shaped member is held by a tubular portion formed at both end portions of the fabric member having the arc shape (see Figure 3(1)).
Regarding claim 5, Yim as modified above would include the holder for a portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein Yin discloses the ring-shaped member (33) includes an opening and closing mechanism (see Figure 2).
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MATTHEW LARSON whose telephone number is (571)272-8649. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7am-3pm. 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, Nathan Newhouse can be reached at (571)272-4544. 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.
/JUSTIN M LARSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734 1/30/26