Prior art

I will now search the USPTO database for patent number 9078488 and identify the most relevant prior art.

US Patent 9078488, titled "Article of footwear incorporating a lenticular knit structure," was issued on July 14, 2015, from an application filed on November 7, 2014. It claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/057,264, filed on September 30, 2014, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/057,293, also filed on September 30, 2014.

The patent describes an article of footwear with an upper that includes a knitted component having color-shifting properties. These properties are generated by one or more lenticular knit structures, which are formed of unitary knit construction with the rest of the knitted component. The lenticular knit structures have portions formed with different yarns, where the different yarns on these portions create a visual effect that changes the color of the footwear depending on the viewing angle.

Based on the patent's own citations, the most relevant prior art references are:

1. U.S. Pat. No. 6,931,762 to Dua

   • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 6,931,762
   • Publication/Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided text, but it is cited as prior art.
   • Brief Description: This patent is cited as disclosing examples of various configurations of knitted components and methods for forming knitted components with unitary knit construction.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent could potentially anticipate claims related to the general unitary knit construction of footwear components (e.g., portions of claims 1, 10, and 17 that refer to "formed of unitary knit construction") if it teaches the specific arrangement of knit structures described in 9078488.

2. U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,011 to Dua, et al.

   • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,011
   • Publication/Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided text, but it is cited as prior art.
   • Brief Description: Similar to U.S. Pat. No. 6,931,762, this patent is also cited for disclosing examples of various configurations of knitted components and methods for forming knitted components with unitary knit construction.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent could potentially anticipate claims related to the general unitary knit construction of footwear components (e.g., portions of claims 1, 10, and 17 that refer to "formed of unitary knit construction") if it teaches the specific arrangement of knit structures described in 9078488.

3. U.S. Pat. No. 8,490,299 to Dua et al.

   • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 8,490,299
   • Publication/Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided text, but it is cited as prior art.
   • Brief Description: This patent is another reference for various configurations of knitted components and methods for forming knitted components with unitary knit construction.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent could potentially anticipate claims related to the general unitary knit construction of footwear components (e.g., portions of claims 1, 10, and 17 that refer to "formed of unitary knit construction") if it teaches the specific arrangement of knit structures described in 9078488.

4. U.S. Pat. No. 8,839,532 to Huffa et al.

   • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 8,839,532
   • Publication/Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided text, but it is cited as prior art.
   • Brief Description: This patent also discloses various configurations of knitted components and methods for forming knitted components with unitary knit construction.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent could potentially anticipate claims related to the general unitary knit construction of footwear components (e.g., portions of claims 1, 10, and 17 that refer to "formed of unitary knit construction") if it teaches the specific arrangement of knit structures described in 9078488.

5. U.S. Pat. No. 8,522,577 to Huffa

   • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 8,522,577
   • Publication/Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided text, but it is cited as prior art.
   • Brief Description: This patent describes a combination feeder and associated method of inlaying a tensile element into a knitted component.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent could potentially anticipate claims 13, 14, 20, 21, and 24 which relate to the inclusion of inlaid tensile elements within the lenticular knit structures, or the method of inlaying such elements.

6. U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/057,264

   • Full Citation: U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/057,264, filed on Sep. 30, 2014, and filed as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/535,413, on Nov. 7, 2014, and entitled “Article of Footwear Incorporating A Knitted Component with Inlaid Tensile Elements and Method of Assembly”.
   • Publication/Filing Date: September 30, 2014 (Provisional); November 7, 2014 (Non-Provisional).
   • Brief Description: This application describes suitable configurations of base portions, including webbed areas, and suitable tubular rib structures, including with or without inlaid tensile elements, that may be used to form lenticular knit structures.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This reference is highly relevant as it shares the priority date and describes aspects of knitted components, including base portions and tubular rib structures with or without inlaid tensile elements, which are fundamental to the lenticular knit structures of 9078488. This could potentially anticipate aspects of claims 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21.

7. U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/057,293

   • Full Citation: U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/057,293, filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Sep. 30, 2014 and entitled “Article of Footwear Incorporating a Lenticular Knit Structure”.
   • Publication/Filing Date: September 30, 2014.
   • Brief Description: This provisional application is the direct parent application for the lenticular knit structure aspect of US9078488.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This reference is directly related to the core subject matter of 9078488, specifically an "Article of Footwear Incorporating a Lenticular Knit Structure." It is likely to anticipate a wide range of claims, including but not limited to, claims 1, 10, and 17, as it covers the fundamental concept of a lenticular knit structure in footwear and its color-shifting properties.

It's important to note that the provided text is from the patent itself, so these are the references cited by the applicant/examiner. A full prior art search would involve examining these and potentially other relevant patents and publications not explicitly listed in the provided text.