DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Claims 1 and 6-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bainbridge et al.
(US 5,920,915). Bainbridge et al. (hereinafter Bainbridge) discloses a protective device/kneepad (10)/helmet (5) including a layer of material (54) having an outer surface and an inner surface configured to be closer to a user when the protective device is worn by the user; a liner/casing (20,30) disposed on the inner surface of the layer (54), the liner being configured to absorb energy from an impact, col. 5, lines 5-32. Further, a bladder/pad (8) coupled to an inner wall of the liner includes a base portion coupled to a domed wall facing the user defines an internal cavity of the bladder, wherein the internal cavity contains a plurality of three-dimensional resilient pellets (22), col. 4, lines 12-31 and as shown in figure 2. The base portion includes a peripheral flange as also shown in figure 2. Furthermore, the resilient pellets of Bainbridge within the internal cavity of the bladder are nonspherical/nonuniform/irregularly shaped and shaped differently from each other, col. 8, lines 17-38 and as shown in figure 23.
However, Bainbridge does not show the internal cavity of the bladder being vented to atmosphere.
Col. 3, lines 56-57 of Bainbridge discloses the outer casing of the bladder made of
a porous, breathable and flexible material. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention that the internal cavity having the
pellets of Bainbridge having the bladder being porous is substantially vented to atmosphere to
dissipate body heat when the device is worn.
With regard to claim 6, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the
effective date of the claimed invention that the base portion and the domed wall of Bainbridge
are substantially unitary as shown in figure 2.
With regard to claims 8-9, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the
effective date of the claimed invention that the base portion of Bainbridge is coupled to the inner wall via but not limited to a hook-and-loop fastener, etc. to maintain the bladder in a substantially fixed position to the protective device for optimum impact protection while allowing air from internal cavity to be vented through the porous material or depending on end use thereof.
Furthermore, with regard to claims 11 and 12, Bainbridge discloses the outer casing of
the bladder made of a porous, breathable and flexible material. Therefore, it would have been
obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention that the
internal cavity having the pellets of Bainbridge having the bladder can be made but not limited to
a resilient silicone material, etc. so that that the device is durable and properly conforms about
the body when worn.
With regard to claim 17, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art
before the effective date of the claimed invention that the resilient pellets of Bainbridge can be
made but not limited to silicone, etc. as known in the protective art.
Further, with regard to claim 18, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art
before the effective date of the claimed invention that the liner of Bainbridge can be made but not limited to foam, etc. to provide additional impact protection or depending on end use thereof.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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. Claims 2-5 are allowable because the prior art does not teach or suggest the recitation therein including a protective device having an internal cavity of a bladder being vented with pellets therein in combination a sealing cap coupled to an opening of a base portion having an aperture therethrough for venting the internal cavity to atmosphere.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Each of the prior art references cited on PTO 892 each discloses a protective device having
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February 18, 2026 /TAJASH D PATEL/ Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 3732