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 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) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ceccotti (WO 2013021264).
Regarding Claim 1, Ceccotti teaches a chin guard gap adjustment means (11) for a helmet, wherein the chin guard gap adjustment means is mounted in the helmet (fig. 1 shows the gap adjustment means being mounted to the helmet) comprising a helmet body (2, 4), and a chin guard (3) which is rotatably coupled to the helmet body and is rotatable from a front side of a wearer's chin to a rear side or an upper side of the helmet body (figs. 1-2 shows the chin guard being rotatably coupled to the helmet body (2) and rotating from the front to the rear of the helmet body), wherein the chin guard gap adjustment means (11) is coupled to the chin guard (fig. 1 shows the gap adjustment means (11) being coupled to the chin guard (2) to adjust a space between the chin guard and the helmet body (pg. 6 teaches “advantageously, the chin rest 3 also comprises in the seat 13 an elastic seal 11, made, for example, of rubber, sponge rubber or plastic, for further improving the coupling with the lower portion 4a of the visor 4,” therein the space between the chin guard and the helmet body is clearly adjusted).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9 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.
Conclusion
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/HALEY A SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732