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 Group I (claims 8 – 13) in the reply filed on 03/30/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 18 – 27 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Groups, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/30/2026.
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.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0150791 A1 to Schwartz et al. (hereinafter “Schwartz”).
Regarding Claim 8, Schwartz teaches a method for producing custom-formed sole portions insertable into footwear (see abstract, see paragraph [0009] describing a method and an apparatus for generating a custom made orthotic or insole for footwear) comprising:
capturing a weight-bearing scan of a foot of a wearer while standing upon a first scanning component (see pressure sensor 10, Fig. 1 and paragraph [0032] describing the pressure sensor 10 arranged for taking foot pressure measurements and coupled to a processor 12, see paragraph [0033] describing flow chart of Fig. 2 that includes the steps performed by the system of Fig. 1 to create the custom orthotic or insole and further states “At step 20, a foot is placed on the pressure sensor and it takes pressure reading corresponding to the foot, and outputs the pressure data to the processor”);
generating an electronic pressure footprint depicting multiple individual pressure areas of the foot having a differing pressure contact thereof upon the first scanning component (see paragraph [0023] describing pressure measurements of an individual’s foot are mapped to create a data model of the foot after the individual stands on an electronic pressure plate, see also paragraph [0033] which states “At step 22 the processor receives the pressure data and uses a stereolithography process to transform the pressure data to 3D printer data that will instruct a 3D printer how to create the custom orthotic or insole”, hence reading on the invention as claimed);
determining a required stiffness of sole portion contact areas to support the pressure areas and to determine a required positioning of the contact areas upon the sole portions to support the individual pressure areas using the electronic pressure footprint (see paragraph [0024] which states “Utilizing the pressure-point analysis readings from the electronic pressure plate measurements, readings from each sensor determine the hardness of various areas on the orthotic or insole. Softer areas of the orthotic or insole unload pressure in those spots to the harder areas of the orthotic or insole” and further states “Certain areas of the foot orthotic or insole can utilize either harder and/or softer materials to accommodate for various pressure readings of the individual's foot. The orthotic material can be softer in locations where foot pressure measurements read higher to help unload and alleviate excessive pressure and transfer pressure to other areas”, hence reading on the invention as claimed); and
forming the sole portions (see paragraph [0023] stating “manufacture a custom foot orthotic or insole through 3D printing based upon pressure measurements of an individual's foot”, see also Figs. 3 – 6 illustrating producing of the insole), the sole portions comprising a plurality of unit cells forming a matrix (see different types of compression cell structures 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314, 316, 318 and 320, Fig. 3 see paragraph [0034]) having a top surface for positioning the foot thereon with the contact areas supporting the individual pressure areas using a 3D printer (see paragraphs [0033] – [0034] which describes the step 24 “the 3D printer data is received by the 3D printer, and creates a custom orthotic based on the 3D printer data”), wherein the sole portions are configured to be inserted within a footwear body such that the foot of the wearer wearing the footwear is supported atop the sole portion with the contact areas supporting the pressure area (see paragraph [0009] which states “method and apparatus for generating a custom made orthotic or insole for footwear. The inventive method and apparatus use information relating to the pressure applied by the sole of a person's foot to custom produce an orthotic or insole for the person by using different structural components, selectively located at pressure points of a particular individual, to unload pressure on the foot at those points”, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schwartz in view of DE 202010013176 U1 (hereinafter “DE ‘176”).
Note: machine translated document of DE ‘176 is attached to this office action for easier reference.
Regarding Claim 9, Schwartz teaches the claimed invention except for further comprising capturing an electronic temperature footprint of the foot using a temperature scanner, the temperature footprint depicting different areas of the foot having differing temperatures therein.
DE ‘176, in the field of protective devices such as shoe insole for diabetic foot, teaches that it is known to capture an electronic temperature footprint of the foot using a temperature scanner, the temperature footprint depicting different areas of the foot having differing temperatures therein (see temperature sensors 3, Fig. 2, see also paragraphs [0008], [0012], [0033] describing pressure and temperature sensors 3 arranged in the sole 1 to measure pressure and temperatures of the respective areas of the foot).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the temperature sensors of DE ‘176 into Schwartz, in order to obtain temperature measurement of the foot which are attributable to blood circulation. The modification provides a self-contained and compact measurement acquisition and evaluation system (see additional advantages at paragraphs [0011] – [0014]).
Schwartz in view of DE ‘176 as modified above further teaches
determining a required stiffness of secondary sole portion contact areas to support the different areas of the foot having the differing temperatures using the electronic temperature footprint, wherein the wearer wearing the footwear is supported atop the sole portions with the secondary sole portion contact areas supporting the areas of the foot having differing temperatures (see DE ‘176 describing use of both pressure and temperature data of the insole 1, see also paragraph [0024] of Schwartz which states “Utilizing the pressure-point analysis readings from the electronic pressure plate measurements, readings from each sensor determine the hardness of various areas on the orthotic or insole. Softer areas of the orthotic or insole unload pressure in those spots to the harder areas of the orthotic or insole” and further states “Certain areas of the foot orthotic or insole can utilize either harder and/or softer materials to accommodate for various pressure readings of the individual's foot. The orthotic material can be softer in locations where foot pressure measurements read higher to help unload and alleviate excessive pressure and transfer pressure to other areas”, hence reading on the invention as claimed).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 (including all dependent claims thereof i.e., 11 – 13) 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. However, an updated search will again be made upon applicant’s response.
Regarding Claim 10, the prior art of record do not teach “employing a second scanning component to capture an electronic topographical footprint of an exterior surface of the foot; and determining projections and recesses to form on the top surface in positions thereon which are complimentary to contours and protrusions depicted in the electronic topographical footprint using the electronic topographical footprint, wherein the foot of the wearer wearing the footwear is supported atop the sole portions with the projections surrounded by the recesses and complimentary sole portion contours surrounding any of the protrusions” in combination with the remaining limitations of claim 8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form accompanying this office action which includes the following prior art:
Antonetti et al. (U.S. 2018/0055140 A1) teaches insole for controlling and adjusting the temperature of the foot.
Lee et al. (U.S. 2017/0238870 A1) teaches intelligent insole which includes an insole body, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor and a signal collector. The pressure sensor, the temperature sensor and the humidity sensor are formed on the surface of the insole body, and the above sensors and the insole body are manufactured via the same 3D printing process. The pressure sensor senses the pressure signal from the insole body in contact with the foot. The temperature sensor and the humidity sensor respectively sense the temperature signal and the humidity signal of the insole body.
Kalpaxis et al. (U.S. 2008/0306410 A1) teaches a sensing system has a foot force transducer to continually measure pressure of each point in the number of points in an area of interest. The transducer includes a compressible layer between two flexible conductive layers. A transmitting/receiving device is arranged proximate to the transducer to wirelessly transmit the measured data.
Van Heijkamp et al. (U.S. 10,517,356 B2) teaches a method of preparing insoles and to a system for preparing insoles. The invention uses a machine for imaging the foot inserted in the footwear, designs an insole and produces the insole for instance with a three dimensional printer.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARRIT EYASSU whose telephone number is (571)270-1403. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 9:00AM - 6:00PM.
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/MARRIT EYASSU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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