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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 8, 15 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
1) In claim 1, line 9; claim 8, line 8 and in claim 15, line 9: The term --mini-- should be inserted before the term “buckling”.
2) Claim 17 should be cancelled (since the limitations recited in this claim have already been recited in independent claim 15, lines 7-9).
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-9 and 11-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0235212 to Krtek et al. in view of U.S. Patent No. 11,229,299 to Peterson. With respect to claims 1, 8, 15 and 18, Krtek et al. ‘212 discloses the claimed limitations of a pocketed comfort layer (16) configured to overlay a core (12) of a bedding or seating cushion product (10) (as shown in Figure 1 and as described on page 3, in paragraph 0049), the pocketed comfort layer (16) comprising: pocketed mini coil spring members (28) arranged in rows and columns, each of the mini coil spring members being contained in a pocket (44) of fabric between first (22) and second (24) plies of fabric (as shown
in Figures 4-5A and as described on page 3, in paragraph 0053), each pocket (44) having circular weld seams (30) joining the first (22) and second (24) plies of fabric, each of the circular weld seams comprising arcuate weld segments (26) with gaps (31) therebetween (as shown in Figures 4-5 and as described on page 3, in paragraph 0053), and each pocket (44) having intersecting linear weld seams (70) joining the first (64) and second (66) plies of fabric, and each of the linear weld seams comprising straight weld segments (68) with gaps therebetween (as shown in Figures 9-10A and as described on page 4, in paragraph 0068 and on page 5, in paragraphs 0072 & 0073). However, with further respect to claims 1, 8 and 15, and with respect to claims 2-7, 9, 11-14, 16, 17 and 19, Krtek et al. ‘212 does not specifically disclose wherein the pocketed comfort layer (16) also comprises mini buckling members; wherein each of the mini buckling members is a unitary member having an outer wall, internal ribs extending inwardly from the outer wall to a center, an open top and an open bottom defining passages between the internal ribs; each of the mini buckling members being made of one of the following: acrylic rubber, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber, butyl rubber, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVM) rubber, halogenated nitrile rubber, isoprene rubber, natural rubber, neoprene, polythiolethers, silicone rubber, styrene-butadiene, styrene copolymers, polystyrene, thermoplastic elastomers, vinyl methyl silicone, silicone, gel elastomer, polyurethane elastomer, polyurea elastomer, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene and blends thereof; wherein at least some of the mini buckling members contain at least one of the following additives: phase change materials, plant-based fibers, synthetic fibers, fragrances, slow-release fragrances, organic and inorganic antimicrobial additives, color additives, thermochromic materials, conductive additive solids, powders,
particles, flakes, density reducing agents or gas generating materials; wherein at least some of the mini buckling members have a different firmness than other mini buckling members; wherein each of the mini buckling members has a uniform height or the same height; wherein at least some of the mini buckling members have at least three internal ribs; and wherein at least some of the mini buckling members have an outer wall which is circular in cross-section. Peterson ‘299 provides the basic teaching of a pocketed spring assembly (12) comprising pocketed coil spring members (28) arranged in rows and columns (as shown in Figures 1-1C and as described in column 5, lines 57-61), each of the coil spring members (28) comprising a pocket of fabric (34) containing a coil spring (82) and a buckling member (55) (as shown in Figures 2, 3A & 3B and as described in column 6, lines 55-59); wherein each of the buckling members is a unitary member having an outer wall (57), internal ribs (63) extending inwardly from the outer wall to a center (65), an open top (71) and an open bottom (73) defining passages (75) between the internal ribs (as shown in Figures 2-2B and as described in column 7, lines 20-32); each of the buckling members (55) being made of one of the following: acrylic rubber, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber, butyl rubber, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVM) rubber, halogenated nitrile rubber, isoprene rubber, natural rubber, neoprene, polythiolethers, silicone rubber, styrene-butadiene, styrene copolymers, polystyrene, thermoplastic elastomers, vinyl methyl silicone, silicone, gel elastomer, polyurethane elastomer, polyurea elastomer, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene and blends thereof (as described in column 7, lines 55-58); wherein at least some of the buckling members (55) contain at least one of the following additives: phase
change materials, plant-based fibers, synthetic fibers, fragrances, slow-release fragrances, organic and inorganic antimicrobial additives, color additives, thermochromic materials, conductive additive solids, powders, particles, flakes, density reducing agents or gas generating materials (as described in column 7, lines 62-67 and in column 8, lines 1-2); wherein at least some of the buckling members (55) have a different firmness than other buckling members (55) (as shown in Figure 8 and as described in column 10, lines 56-67 and in column 11, lines 1-4); wherein each of the buckling members (55) has a uniform height or the same height (as shown in Figures 3A & 3B); wherein at least some of the buckling members (55) have at least three internal ribs (63) (as shown in Figures 2-2B and as described in column 7, lines 25-27); and wherein at least some of the buckling members (55a, 55b) have an outer wall (57a, 47b) which is circular in cross-section (as shown in Figures 12A & 12B and as described in column 12, lines 48-54 & 64-67 and in column 13, lines 1-3). The skilled artisan would have found it obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the pocketed comfort layer disclosed in Krtek et al. ‘212 with the buckling members taught in Peterson ‘299 with a reasonable expectation of success because this would have achieved the desirable result of providing enhanced pressure relief and support for a user positioned on the buckling members as taught by Peterson ‘299, thereby imparting enhanced user comfort (Figure 3B and column 9, lines 14-23).
Claims 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krtek et al. ‘212 in view of Peterson ‘299 as applied to claims 9 and 15 above, and further in view of U.S.
Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0088072 to Stojanovic et al. Krtek et al. ‘212 as modified by Peterson ‘299 does not specifically disclose a condition wherein at least some of the mini buckling members (55) contain phase change materials. Stojanovic et al. ‘072 provides the basic teaching of a bedding or seating product (10) comprising: a pocketed spring assembly
(12) comprising a plurality of parallel strings (26) of springs (28), each of said strings being
joined to at least one adjacent string (as shown in Figures 1, 4 & 5 and as described on page 4,
in paragraphs 0065-0067, 0072 & 0073, each of said strings (26) comprising a piece of fabric
surrounding a plurality of inner pocketed springs (82), a plurality of cushion pads (54) and a
plurality of buckling members (55) (as shown in Figures 2, 3 & 8 and as described on page 5, in
paragraphs 0074-0076 and on page 7, in paragraphs 0103-0105), first (47) and second (49)
opposed plies of fabric being on opposite sides of the inner pocketed springs (82), cushion pads
(54) and buckling members (55) (as shown in Figure 2 and as described on page 5, in paragraph 0086), and wherein at least some of the buckling members (55) contain phase change materials (as shown in Figures 2, 2B & 2C and as described on page 5, in paragraphs 0079 & 0081). The skilled artisan would have found it obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the pocketed comfort layer disclosed in Krtek et al. ‘212 as modified by Peterson ‘299 with the buckling members containing phase change materials taught in Stojanovic et al. ‘072 with a reasonable expectation of success because this would have achieved the desirable result of regulating the body temperature of a user disposed on the pocketed comfort layer, thereby further imparting enhanced user comfort as taught by Stojanovic et al. ‘072 (page 1, paragraph 0011).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure: U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2026/0130523, 2026/0130522, 2025/0268393, 2025/028390, 2025/0268389; U.S. Patent Nos. 12,604,993, 12,593,930 and 12,453,426; and foreign patent documents WO 2026/043572 A1 and WO 2025/183842 A1 as listed in the attached PTO-892 Notice of References Cited form all disclose the use of pocketed buckling member assemblies. Lastly, all of the remaining U.S. and foreign patent documents listed in the attached PTO-892 Notice of References Cited form disclose the use of pocketed spring assemblies comprising circular weld seams each including arcuate weld segments with gaps therebetween, and also comprising interesting linear weld seams each including straight weld segments with gaps therebetween.
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/ROBERT G SANTOS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673
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