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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, Claims 1-3, and newly filed claims 20-22, is acknowledged. All other claims have been withdrawn from further consideration.
Drawings
The drawings filed December 20, 2023 are approved.
Information Disclosure Statement
Applicant has filed 14 separate Information Disclosure Statements with more than 870 citations, including more than 440 foreign language and non-patent literature documents. The volume of citations appears excessive and is overwhelming to the examination process. While the Office wants Applicants to file relevant documents that they become aware of, the filing of an IDS which blindly lists documents without apparent thought to what relevance may or may not exist to the claims of the instant application does not assist in examination and raises the question if there is intent to bury a relevant reference. Cloaking of a clearly relevant reference by inclusion in a long list of citations may not comply with the Applicant’s duty to disclose.
The information referred to in the IDS filed August 11, 2025 has been considered with the exception of Foreign Patent Documents Cite Nos. 1-3, 5-8, 14-15, 17-30, and 32-37, which are foreign language documents without corresponding statements of relevancy; and Foreign Patent Documents Cite Nos. 4 and 31, which lack a corresponding copy. Additionally, Foreign language document DE202018104691U1 has not been considered as it is not listed on the IDS, and lacks a corresponding statement of relevancy.
The information disclosure statement fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(3)(i) because it does not include a concise explanation of the relevance, as it is presently understood by the individual designated in 37 CFR 1.56(c) most knowledgeable about the content of the information, of each reference listed that is not in the English language.
The information disclosure statement also fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(1), which requires the following: (1) a list of all patents, publications, applications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office; (2) U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications listed in a section separately from citations of other documents; (3) the application number of the application in which the information disclosure statement is being submitted on each page of the list; (4) a column that provides a blank space next to each document to be considered, for the examiner’s initials; and (5) a heading that clearly indicates that the list is an information disclosure statement.
Requirement for Information Under 37 CFR 1.105
Applicant and the assignee of this application are required under 37 CFR 1.105 to provide the following information that the Examiner has determined is reasonably necessary to the examination of this application.
A partial review of the documents in the 14 separate Information Disclosure Statements filed in this application reveals that many have no relevance to the claimed invention. Examples are as follows:
McCorkle et al (US9617021), Apparatus For Bagging A Bale and Method of Bagging Such Bale;
Murray (US9771174), Flexible Funnel For Filling A Pouch With A Product;
Lisseman et al (US20180332663), Systems and Methods For Heating And Sensing Proximity To Vehicle Components;
Peterson (USD948764), LED Light Source With Clip On Holder;
Cardno (US7158968), Database Query System and Method;
Shimizu et al (US20050030011), Rotation Angle Detector;
Von Arx et al (US6766201), Telemetry Apparatus and Method For An Implantable Medical Device;
Muskat (US2630968), Electrical Calculator For Solving Phase Equilibrium Problems;
Catlin (US5819408), Recyclable, Low Cost, Collision-Resistant Automobile Chassis and Body;
Helmenstein (US20130164123), Air Conveyor;
Logan, Jr. et al (US20140029900), Advanced Fiber-Optic Contact and Method; and
Koelling (US20150219136), Push Fastener.
For each document cited in the thirteen remaining Information Disclosure Statements (note consideration of the IDS filed August 11, 2025) that Applicant wants considered, the following factual information is reasonably necessary to the examination of the application and is required to be provided under 37 CFR 1.105. Applicant must provide the factual basis that caused each document in the IDS to be disclosed to the Office. This factual basis may include an explanation of how each document bears upon the claimed invention and/or citations to the pertinent portions of the documents, by column/page and line number, that caused Applicant to submit the document for consideration.
Applicant is reminded that the reply to this requirement must be made with candor and good faith under 37 CFR 1.56. Where the applicant does not have or cannot readily obtain an item of required information, a statement that the item is unknown or cannot be readily obtained may be accepted as a complete reply to the requirement for that item.
This requirement if an attachment to the enclosed Office action. A complete reply to the enclosed Office action must include a complete reply to this requirement. The time period for reply to this requirement coincides with the time period for reply to the enclosed Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 20, 21 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TW1631005B in view of JP2001341248A.
The primary reference shows all claimed features of the instant invention with the exception of the mesh of strands being of expanded thermoplastic resin (claim 1); wherein the strands are extruded (claim 22).
In the primary reference, note a product comprising: a body with a nonrectangular cross section (note arcuate lines perimeter lines, as shown in Figures 5, 10 and 11) comprising a mesh (see Figure 5) of strands (note elastic filaments, as set forth in the abstract) of thermoplastic resin (note “PE, EVA, PP, PVC, PET or a mixture thereof”, as disclosed in the last paragraph on page 2 of the translation); wherein a density (see paragraph 2 of page 6 of the translation) of the mesh of strands about a perimeter (51 and 51, as shown in Figure 5) of the nonrectangular cross section is greater than within the perimeter (52, as shown in Figure 5), and wherein the perimeter includes at least one recess (note 90 in Figure 10, or 930 in Figure 11) formed therein.
Regarding claim 2, note the density of the mesh of strands about the perimeter of the nonrectangular cross section comprises as a plurality of rows of strands. Note the two rows formed by 51 and 51, as shown in Figure 5.
Regarding claim 3, note a seat frame; and a cushioning pad, wherein the body of claim 1 is sized to provide the cushioning pad. Note that the body is a cushioning pad (note line 1 in the abstract of the translation), therefore is necessarily sized to provide a cushioning pad. Also note a seat frame is suggested throughout. Note, e.g. reference to a “chair cushion” in paragraph 2 on page 2 of the translation; “a cushion of a seat” for a “pilot” in the last paragraph on page 7 of the translation. Each of these types of seating apparatus would necessarily have or constitute a seat frame.
Regarding claim 20, note the recess is physically capable of receiving a plurality of seat components. Note that the plurality of seat components has not been positively claimed, and therefore carry no patentable weight.
Regarding claim 21, note the plurality of seat components is capable of comprising at least one of: a seat frame, a wire, and a duct. Note that the plurality of seat components has not been positively claimed, and therefore carry no patentable weight.
Regarding claim 22, note the strands comprise three-dimensional (necessarily) filament loops (note “twisted and twisted”, as discussed in the last paragraph on page 2 of the translation, and “twisted and wound”, as discussed in the second paragraph on page 3 of the translation, and additionally see the loops in Figure 5) formed from a thermoplastic polymer selected from a group comprising polyolefins, polystyrene-based thermoplastic elastomers, polyester-based thermoplastic elastomers, polyurethane-based thermoplastic elastomers, and polyamide-based thermoplastic elastomers. Note that at least polypropylene (PP) is a polyolefin.
The secondary reference teaches configuring a product for using in a vehicle as a unitary mesh (see ¶ 0010 of the translation) of expanded thermoplastic resin strands (see ¶ 0008 and ¶ 0065 of the translation). The secondary reference also teaches forming the strands as extruded from the thermoplastic resin (see ¶ 0049).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the primary reference in view of the teachings of the secondary reference by configuring the mesh of thermoplastic resin as a mesh of expanded thermoplastic resin (regarding claim 1); and further forming the strands as extruded (regarding claim 22). Configuring the mesh of thermoplastic resin as expanded (regarding claim 1), and extruded (regarding claim 22) provides conventionally used profiles for thermoplastic resin strands, while maintaining its durability and suitability for the environment in which it is intended to be used. These modifications are representative of simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.
Conclusion
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mn /MILTON NELSON JR/April 21, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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