February 9, 2026
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 1 in the reply filed on 01/27/2026 is acknowledged.
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 1 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by XU, Fajun (WO 2020191823 A1).
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As for claim 1, XU teaches a quick-detachable and foldable inflatable seat, comprising a first inflatable plate and a second inflatable plate, wherein the first inflatable plate and the second inflatable plate, after being inflated, are assembled to form an inflatable seat by folding, the first inflatable plate being divided into a left support plate 5, a rear support plate 6, and a right support plate 5, with creases 8 arranged between the left support plate 5 and the rear support plate 6 and between the rear support plate 6 and the right support plate 5, and the second inflatable plate 2, 3 being divided into a back plate 3 and a seating plate 3, with a crease arranged 8 therebetween, the first inflatable plate or upper and lower portions of the second inflatable plate being connected via sewing threads at the creases (see the specification where it reads “In order to facilitate the folding and forming of the sofa body 1, folding seams 8 are sewn at the joints of the armrests 5, the sofa bottom 7 and the sofa back 6. The arrangement of the folding seams is convenient for the armrests 5 and the sofa bottom 7 to be flipped along the folding seams. fold.
Folding suture thread 8 uses high-strength silk thread, whose material is polyester; there are two folding suture threads 8, and the distance between the two folding suture threads is 0.5 to 1.5 cm, so as to avoid excessive air pressure at the suture position in the No. 1 air chamber during inflation. The phenomenon of fracture. The position of the folding seam 8 will have slight air leakage, so an airtight strip is pasted on the outside of the folding seam 8 to seal the position of the folding seam 8 to ensure the air tightness of the No. 1 air chamber of the sofa body 1.”), and sealing strips being arranged on upper and lower sides of the sewing threads at the creases (see the specification where it reads “The position of the folding seam 8 will have slight air leakage, so an airtight strip is pasted on the outside of the folding seam 8 to seal the position of the folding seam 8 to ensure the air tightness of the No. 1 air chamber of the sofa body 1.”).
As for claim 5, XU teaches that materials for making the first inflatable plate and the second inflatable plate comprise wire drawing cloth and sealing cloth, the sealing cloth being wrapped around the wire drawing cloth to connect upper and lower surfaces of the wire drawing cloth in a sealing manner to form hermetically sealed inflatable chambers (see the Abstract where it reads “Disclosed are a high-strength inflatable sofa and production process; the inflatable sofa comprises a sofa body, an inflatable seat cushion, an inflatable seat back cushion, and sofa legs; the inflatable seat cushion and inflatable seat back cushion are arranged on the upper part of the sofa body, and the sofa legs are arranged on the bottom part of the sofa body; the sofa body, inflatable seat cushion, and inflatable seat back cushion all are made of integrated wire-drawn air cushion; the outer edge of the wire-drawn air cushion is sealed by means of a mesh fabric; the process of production of the inflatable sofa is completed by means of a plurality of steps of production of the inflatable sofa. “).
As for claim 6, XU teaches that a first inflatable port is disposed on one of the left support plate, the rear support plate and the right support plate of the first inflatable plate.
As for claim 7, XU teaches that a second inflatable port is disposed on the back plate or the seating plate of the second inflatable plate.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by XU, Fajun (WO 2020191823 A1).
XU teaches the structure substantially as claimed including that the sewing threads are a plurality of columns, two columns (as shown in Fig. 3), of sewing threads but is silent as to whether or not the sealing strips are a plurality of layers of sealing strips. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to a plurality of layers of sealing strips to create a stronger seal. Additionally, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily know that a plurality of layers of sealing strips allows for a backup sealing strip in case of failure of one of the sealing strips. Furthermore, it has been found that the duplication of parts involves only routine skill in the art, and in this case it is asserted that to provide a plurality of sealing strips does not provide any unexpected result. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (Claims at issue were directed to a water-tight masonry structure wherein a water seal of flexible material fills the joints which form between adjacent pours of concrete. The claimed water seal has a "web" which lies in the joint, and a plurality of "ribs" projecting outwardly from each side of the web into one of the adjacent concrete slabs. The prior art disclosed a flexible water stop for preventing passage of water between masses of concrete in the shape of a plus sign (+). Although the reference did not disclose a plurality of ribs, the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced.).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by XU, Fajun (WO 2020191823 A1) in view of Ferro (U.S. Patent No. 4,945,587).
Xu teaches the structure substantially as claimed but does not teach that the quick-detachable and foldable inflatable seat includes webbing hanging buckles arranged on the left support plate and the right support plate of the first inflatable plate.
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However, Ferro teaches the concept of including buckles 44,50 on an inflatable seat to be old. It would have been obvious and well within the level of ordinary skill in the art to modify the quick-detachable and foldable inflatable seat, as taught by Xu, to include webbing hanging buckles, as taught by Ferro, since it would allow the use of strap members and/or webbing to fit around and releasably secure the quick-detachable and foldable inflatable seat to a supporting frame.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure because it teaches structures and concepts similar to those of the present invention.
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David R. Dunn can be reached at (571) 272-6670. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Rodney B White/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636