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 .
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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/6/2026 has been entered.
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) 13, 14 and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sedlack (US 20120292977).
Claim 13- Sedlack discloses a child car seat for a vehicle, the child car seat comprising:
a main body (14) comprising a seatback (16, 18) that extends in a vertical direction and at least one attachment member (22) that extends forward from the seatback in a front-rear direction (figs. 4- 5b, 7); and
a booster seat (12) comprising a seating surface (62, 104), a recess (72) below the seating surface that is configured to receive the at least one attachment member (figs. 3- 4, 6a- 7), and at least one foot (114) that extends downwards from the seating surface and into the recess at a rear end of the seating surface (figs. 3, 6a), the at least one foot configured to support the rear end of the seating surface when the booster seat is decoupled from the at least one attachment member (the ridges 114 are structurally capable of functioning as the claimed “foot”, ¶ 52).
Claim 14- Sedlack discloses the child car seat of claim 13, wherein the at least one attachment member (22) comprises at least one opening (fig. 3, 5b, 7) that is configured to receive the at least one foot (114) when the booster seat is coupled to the at least one attachment member (fig. 3 shows that the ridges 114 are disposed between the base beam portions 26).
Claim 16- Sedlack discloses the child car seat of claim 13, wherein: the booster seat (12) defines a pair of lap belt openings that extend into a rear end of the booster seat (figs. 2 & 4 show that each armrest 54 defines a belt opening that extends down and rearward into the booster seat’s sidewalls), the lap belt openings each being configured to receive a lap belt portion of a harness of the child car seat (figs. 1b- 2 show the vehicle seatbelt provides a harness for the car seat); and the at least one foot (114) is disposed between the pair of lap belt openings (figs. 3, 6a).
Claim 17- Sedlack discloses the child car seat of claim 13, wherein the recess (72) extends into a rear end of the booster seat towards a front end of the booster seat, and into a lower end of the booster seat towards the seating surface (the recess is a connection support box with a substantially rectangular structure that “extends” as claimed, figs. 3-4 & 5d-6a).
Claim 18- Sedlack discloses the child car seat of claim 13, wherein: the at least one attachment member (22) has opposed outer sides, each outer side defining at least one engagement surface (fig. 5b shows one outer engagement surface of the member’s base beam portion 26); and the booster seat (12) comprises opposed inner side surfaces, each defining at least one engagement surface (fig. 6a shows one of the inner engagement surfaces of the seat’s sidewalls 96) that is configured to engage a corresponding one of the at least one engagement surface of the at least one attachment member (fig. 3) so as to guide movement of the booster seat towards the at least one attachment member as the booster seat is coupled to the at least one attachment member (figs. 3, 7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 are allowed.
Claim 15 is 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 19-25 remain allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/6/2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant's amendment to claim 1 has overcome the rejection of claims 1-10 under 35 USC 102.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 13-18 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/T.A./Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636
