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 .
Status of the Application
Claims 1-12 and 14-19 are pending and have been examined in this application. As of the date of this application, the Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 04/11/2024, 08/01/2024, 10/02/2025, 03/25/2026, 05/11/2026 has/have been taken into account.
Response to Amendment
In the amendment dated 04/24/2026, the following has occurred: Claims 1, 3, 5-6, 10, 11-12, 14-15, 17, and 19 have been amended; Claims 13 and 20 have been canceled; No claims have been added. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-12 and 14-19 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.
Applicant's arguments filed 04/24/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument that: “To advance prosecution of the Application, Claim 1 is currently amended to include the additional elements of a plurality of first apertures formed within the swivel plate and a plurality of second apertures formed within the bottom support. Support for these amendments may be found in paragraphs [0014], [0015], and [0056] of the Application as filed. Applicant submits that this is different from Wilson in that Wilson only discloses one hole (81) (i.e. aperture) in the rotatable disc (38) (i.e. swivel plate). Amended claim 1 includes the elements that both the swivel plate and the bottom support include a plurality of apertures.” – While Wilson does not disclose a plurality of apertures on its swivel plate, the newly added language reciting this in the claims is not supported by the specification and as such applicants argument is based on unsupported subject matter and is therefore not persuasive.
Additionally, the amendment has overcome the objections and 112 rejections set forth in the previous action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-12 and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 12 each recite “a plurality of first apertures formed therein; a bottom support of a seat frame with a plurality of second apertures formed therein” and “a locking pin configured to insert into through one of the plurality of first apertures and into one of the plurality of second apertures” / “the biasing member and cable being configured to extend and retract the locking pin through one of the plurality of first apertures and into one of the plurality of second apertures”. In regards to the apertures, the specification recites in paragraph [0056]:
“To keep seat frame 20 from swiveling, locking pin 160 may be extended downwardly from housing 170 through the aperture 159 in swivel plate 80 and into a corresponding aperture 161” and “In some embodiments, apertures 161 may be formed along the outer edge of bottom support 48 and spaced apart at increments of approximately nine degrees apart such that swivel locking may occur at different orientations of the seat relative to the bottom support 48.” (emphasis added).
This paragraph provides support for a plurality of apertures formed only on the bottom support and shows that the rotational adjustment of the system is enacted due to a swivel plate rotating with respect to the bottom support and being locked by passing through a single aperture on the swivel plate and being placed into a corresponding aperture of the bottom support. While paragraph [0015] recites a plurality of apertures in the swivel plate, paragraph [0014] recites a first aperture formed in the bottom support but as this first aperture is later stated in the specification and claims to be the aperture of the swivel plate, it is clear that apertures are being attributed to incorrect plates. Regardless, paragraphs [0014]-[0015] and [0056] only provide support for one element having a single aperture and the other element having a plurality of apertures. The specification does not provide support for both elements having a plurality of apertures and therefore the claims fail to comply with the written description requirement.
Claims 2-11 and 14-19 are rejected as being dependent on, and failing to cure the deficiencies of, rejected claims 1 and 12.
[Note: It should be noted that the examiner is interpreting the “plurality of first apertures” of the swivel plate as being apertures which the pin could potentially pass through and not as any aperture in the plate. If the latter interpretation was used, previously applied reference Wilson would read on the claims as its plate had multiple apertures passing through it. But applicants arguments show that the former interpretation is intended and as such the above rejection applies.]
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Taylor Morris whose telephone number is (571)272-6367. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10AM-6PM PST / 1PM-9PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at (571) 272-8227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Taylor Morris/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631
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