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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mari Tsuruta et al. U.S. Patent 8,985,691 B2 (Tsuruta).
Regarding claim 1, Tsuruta discloses an operator seat (Element 1) of a work vehicle, comprising: a seat base (Element 3) having a base frame (Figure 4 Element 3F); a support (Figure 6 Element 3FS) extending upward from a rearward portion of the seat base; a backrest (Element 2) rotatably coupled to the seat base with the support and reclinable relative to the seat base (Figure 3); a flange (Figure 5 Element 5) coupled to the support and rotatable relative to the support around a first axis; and a suspension apparatus (Element 10 and 20) coupled between the flange and the backrest to provide rotation between the flange and the backrest around the first axis; wherein rotation of the flange rotates the suspension apparatus.
Regarding claim 2, Tsuruta discloses the operator seat wherein the suspension apparatus comprises: a bracket (Figure 5 Element 11) coupled to a side of the backrest, rotatable with the flange with a suspension (Element 23) allowing a limited rotation relative to the flange around the first axis, and having an aperture; a fastener (Element 5A); and a retaining piece (Figure 5 Element 5C) connected to the flange by the fastener passing through the aperture of the bracket; wherein the bracket is positioned between the flange and the retaining piece (Figure 5-8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-15 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHIN H KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-7788. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-6PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHIN H KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636