DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-final Office Action on the merits for U.S. App. 17/827,928. Receipt of the RCE filed on 05/26/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1, 3, 5-10, 13-18, and 20-25 are pending.
Claims 2, 4, 11, 12, and 19 are cancelled.
Claims 1, 3, 5-10, 13-18, and 20-25 are examined.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/26/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5-10, 13-18, and 20-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 defines “running between the lateral juncture and the end edge” in lines 18-19, which renders the claimed invention indefinite since an end edge has been defined for both the seat member and the back member and thus one of ordinary skill in the art would not know what end edge of what element is being referred back to. For examining purposes and in light of the specification and drawings, “the end edge” of line 19 is considered to refer back to --the end edge of the back member--. Moreover, claims 3, 5-10, 13-18, and 20-25 are rendered indefinite for depending upon claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3, 5-10, 13-18, and 20-25 would otherwise be allowable if the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections above were remedied.
Conclusion
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/THEODORE V ADAMOS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635
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