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 Nihonmatsu et al (20120032058). The reference to Nihonmatsu et al teaches structure as claimed including a vehicle seat comprising: a first rail assembly including a first fixed rail (12) and a first translatable rail (29); a second rail assembly including a second fixed rail (13a) and a second translatable rail (29); at least one locking device coupled to at least one of the first rail assembly and the second rail assembly, wherein the at least one locking device includes a locking lever (51, 56) and the at least one locking device is configured to selectively change between a locked state, in which the at least one locking device locks at least one of the first translatable rail and the second translatable rail to the first fixed rail and the second fixed rail, respectively, and an unlocked state in which the at least one locking device permits one of the first translatable rail and the second translatable rail to translate in a longitudinal direction along the one of the first fixed rail and the second fixed rail, respectively; and an actuation assembly (50) configured to rotate to actuate the locking lever to change the at least one locking device from the locked state to the unlocked state, wherein the actuation assembly is further configured to be fixed to the first and second rail assemblies by inserting the actuation assembly in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction and between the first rail assembly and the second rail assembly.
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.
Claims 10-20 are allowable over the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The references cited teach structure similar to applicant’s including actuation structure for locking and locking translatable seat structure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSE V CHEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6865. The examiner can normally be reached m-f, m-w 5:30-3:00, th5:30-2:00.
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/JOSE V CHEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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