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(s) 1-10, 14-21, and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being
unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 2009/0066130 to Shafer et al. in view of U.S. Pub. No.
2006/0279117 to Munn et al., and further in view of U.S. Pat. No. 3,006,688 to Ouellette.
Claim 1, Shafer discloses a device comprising a frame surrounding walls 20
defining a receiving area for an infant. Shafer is silent to a support plate. Munn
discloses an infant support with a support plate comprising a plate body (12,16,18,80);
and at least a reinforcing member defined by a plurality of ribs (80-83)[0029]; and the reinforcing member is fixed in place with respect to the plate body. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the support plate and reinforcing members of Munn with the frame of Shafer with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided greater strength to the frame of Shafer. Shafer is silent to the plate body having a plurality of through holes that extend through the plate body. Ouellette discloses a body 10 having a plurality of through holes defined by slots 38 that extend through the plate body. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the through holes of Ouellette with the frame of Shafer with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided greater resiliency and ventilation to the frame of Shafer.
Claim 2, Munn discloses the device, wherein the plate body has a transverse direction
and a longitudinal direction, and the reinforcing member is provided on the plate body
along the transverse direction and/or the longitudinal direction (fig. 1 & 5).
Claim 3, Munn discloses the device, wherein a plurality of reinforcing members is
provided, the plurality of reinforcing members includes at least one transverse support
bar and at least one longitudinal support bar, and the transverse support bar is arranged
along the transverse direction and the longitudinal support bar is arranged along the
longitudinal direction.
Claim 4, Munn discloses the device wherein one of the transverse support bar 83 and
the longitudinal support bar (64,66,81,82,83), and the other one of the transverse
support bar and the longitudinal support bar is made of plastic material [0021][0024].
Munn is silent to the support bar being made of a metal material. Selecting from a
plethora of known material and selecting a thickness for loading member is considered
an obvious modification and it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in
the art before the effective filing date of the invention to select a metal material for the
support bar of Munn with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have
provided an equivalent and alternative material for the device of Munn.
Claim 5, Munn discloses the device wherein the transverse support bar and the longitudinal support bar are integrally formed from a monolithic element.
Claim 6, Munn discloses the device wherein the plate body and the plurality of rips are integrally formed inside the plate body. With regards to the support plate being formed by injection molding, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production, such as being formed in a sheet of material. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.
Claim 7, Munn discloses the device wherein one of the plate body and the reinforcing member is provided with a male engaging section 742 while the other one of the plate body and the reinforcing member is provided with a female engaging section (642,643,663), and the male engaging section and the female engaging section are correspondingly configured to be engaged with each other [0033].
Claim 8, Munn discloses the device wherein the reinforcing member (64,83) is provided at two ends of the reinforcing member with a male fastening section 742 and a female fastening section (642,643,663), respectively, and the reinforcing member (78,79) is bent from one surface of the plate body to another surface of the plate body, and thus the male fastening section and the female fastening section are engaged with each other, thereby fixing the reinforcing member in place on the plate body [0032].
Claim 9, Munn discloses the device wherein the plate body has two end sections located opposite to each other, an end of the reinforcing member defined by a plurality of transverse and longitudinal rips are connected to one of the two end sections, and
another end of the reinforcing member is connected to the other one of the two end sections (fig. 5).
Claim 10, Munn discloses the device wherein the reinforcing member of the head rest is fixed to the plate body via a fastening element 74.
Claim 14, Munn discloses the device further comprising a connection section (41,42), and the support plate is connected to an external device 14 via the connection section. Claim 15, Shafer discloses a device comprising a frame surrounding walls 20 defining a receiving area for an infant. Shafer is silent to a support plate. Munn discloses a device for an infant support defined by a seat base 14 wherein the support plate is mounted to the seat base and the support plate comprises a plate body (12,16,18,80) being provided with a plurality of through holes (641-643) and comprising a loading member defined by flexible tether's (78,79); and a supporting member defined by a plurality of ribs (80- 83)[0029] wherein the flexible tether is fixed on the supporting member, and the flexible tether has a rigidity that is less than that of the supporting member [0027]. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the support plate and reinforcing members of Munn with the frame of Shafer with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided greater strength to the frame of Shafer.
Claim 16, Munn discloses the device wherein the supporting member comprises a flat surface portion and outer and inner peripheral bent portions, the bent portion is arranged around an outer periphery of the flat surface portion and is bent relative to the flat surface portion, and the outer periphery of the loading member is flush with the bent portion (fig. 5).
Claim 17, Munn discloses the device wherein the plate body has a transverse direction and a longitudinal direction, the supporting member further comprises a plurality of ribs, the ribs are raised relative to the flat surface portion and are connected to the bent portion, and the ribs are arranged along the transverse direction and/or the longitudinal direction (fig. 5).
Claim 18, Munn discloses the device wherein the plate body is further provided with a plurality of notches, the loading member is provided with an indicative bend, and the indicative bend is located adjacent to one of the plurality of notches (fig. 6-9).
Claim 19, Munn discloses the device wherein the supporting member is made of plastic material. Munn is silent to the loading member being made of foam material. Selecting from a plethora of known material and selecting a thickness for loading member is considered an obvious modification and it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to select a foam material and a larger thickness for the loading member of Munn with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have provided an equivalent and alternative material and thickness for the device of Munn.
Claim 20, Munn discloses the device further comprising a fastening element 74, and the loading member is fixed to the supporting member via the fastening element (fig. 6).
Claim 21, Mun discloses the device wherein the loading member and the supporting member are integrally formed. With regards to the support member being formed by insert-molding, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production, such as being formed in a sheet of material. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same
as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the
prior product was made by a different process.
Claim 24, Shafer, as modified, discloses the device wherein the support plate of Munn
has an upper surface and a lower surface, and the reinforcing member is positioned on
the lower surface of the support plate (fig. 5).
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S.
Pub. No. 2009/0066130 to Shafer et al. in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0279117 to Munn
et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,006,688 to Ouellette, and further in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2011/0062752 to Kho et al.
Claim 23, Shafer, as modified, discloses the device, but is silent to a fabric cover.
Kho discloses a fabric cover for a device [0008]. It would have been obvious for one
having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine
the fabric cover in Kho with the device of Munn with a reasonable expectation of
success because it would have provided a comfortable seating area for the infant.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-10, 14-21, and 23 have been
considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any
reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically
challenged in the argument.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to
applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 2002/0145318 to Asbach et al. discloses an infant support having a plurality of through holes.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,610,868 to Zhang discloses an infant support having a plurality of through holes.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FREDRICK C CONLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-7040. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm.
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/FREDRICK C CONLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673