October 17, 2025
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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 11-20 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.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 10/08/2025. These drawings are approved.
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.
Claims 11-12 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hosoe et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0290539 A1).
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As for claim 11, Hosoe et al. teach seating system, the seating system comprising: a base 9 extending from a lower end to an upper end;
a lower body support 3 coupled to the base proximate the upper end of the base 9, the lower body support 3 for supporting a lower body of a user
a mount 5,11extending from a lower end to an upper end, the lower end being coupled to the base 9 proximate the upper end of the base (see Fig. 1(B);
and an upper body support 4 having a user side 36 being shaped to receive an upper body of the user and a mounting side 35, the mounting side of the upper body support being removably coupled to the mount proximate the upper end of the mount, wherein the mount has a plurality of first mounting members 51, the mounting side 35 of the upper body support has a plurality of second mounting members 9the holes that receive the vis 51
and the upper body support is removably couplable to the mount by concurrently coupling each of the first mounting members 51 to a respective one of the second mounting members.
As for claim 12, Hosoe et al. teach that one of the plurality of first mounting members and the plurality of second mounting members comprises locating pins 51 and the other of the plurality of first mounting members and the plurality of second mounting members on mounting side 35 comprises bores correspondingly shaped to receive the plurality of locating pins.
As for claim 18, Hosoe et al. further comprises a mounting plate 43 coupled to the upper end of the mount, the mounting plate having the plurality of first mounting members 51, wherein the upper body support is removably coupled to the mounting plate 43.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-17 and 19 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.
Claims 1 and 4-10 are allowed.
Conclusion
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 Rodney B. White whose telephone number is (571)272-6863. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
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/Rodney B White/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636