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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 3/16/2026, have been fully considered and are persuasive. The Non-final mailed 1/12/2026 has been withdrawn. A new grounds of rejection is set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Freisleben et al. (US 2020/0163459 A1), hereinafter Freisleben, in view of Fingerhut et al. (US 2,815,801 A).
Regarding claim 1, Freisleben discloses a chair comprising:
a seat adapted to support a user sitting on the chair (seat 12, fig. 1B);
a base (frame 16, figs. 1A-1B) adapted to support the seat relative to a surface beneath the chair (as shown in figs. 1A-1B, & 3A); and
a connector configured to secure the seat to the base, the connector comprising:
a channel (receiving profile 22, fig. 4A) defined by the seat and configured to receive a cross-member of the base (Para. [0037], “the mounting strut 19 of the frame 16 and also the respective clamping strip 30, 31 are embedded in the receiving profile 22 of the seat shell 13”; as shown in figs. 3A-3C);
a retention cover (clamping strip 31, figs. 5A-5D) configured to extend into the channel to engage with the cross- member (Para. [0049], “[t]he clamping strip 31 has a receiving profile 33, which can substantially form-fittingly enclose a circumference of the mounting strut 19”; as shown in figs. 5A-5D).
Freisleben does not appear to specifically disclose a plurality of threaded inserts
coupled to the seat; and a plurality of fasteners configured to engage with the threaded inserts to couple the retention cover with the seat to hold the cross-member in the channel.
However, Fingerhut is in the same field of endeavor and teaches a plurality of threaded inserts coupled to the seat (as shown in figs. 5 & 7, there are a plurality of through holes 48 in the upper plate 41 which is coupled to the chair body 46); and a plurality of fasteners (plurality of stove bolts 57, figs. 5 & 7) configured to engage with the threaded inserts (fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Freisleben such that there were a plurality of threaded inserts and a plurality of fasteners configured to engage with the threaded inserts, as taught by Fingerhut, in order to ensure securement of the retention cover to the seat. As a result of the above modification, the plurality of fasteners would engage with the threaded inserts to couple the retention cover with the seat to hold the cross-member in the channel.
Regarding claim 2, Freisleben in view of Fingerhut discloses the invention in claim 1, but does not appear to specifically disclose wherein the retention cover includes a body and a plurality of holes extending through the body to receive the plurality of fasteners.
However, Fingerhut is in the same field of endeavor and teaches a retention cover that includes a plurality of holes extending through the body to receive the plurality of fasteners (as shown in figs. 2 & 3).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the retention cover of Freisleben such that the retention cover includes a plurality of holes as taught by Fingerhut, in order to secure the retention cover to the seat base.
Regarding claim 3, Freisleben in view of Fingerhut discloses the invention in claim 2, and further discloses wherein the seat includes a user-support portion and a seat-support portion coupled to the user-support portion to define an internal cavity of the seat between the user-support portion and seat-support portion (as shown in fig. 5B), wherein the fasteners extend through the holes in the retention cover to engage with the threaded inserts to hold the retention cover relative to the seat-support portion (as modified above). But does not appear to specifically disclose wherein a length of contact between the fasteners and the threaded inserts is at least 200% of a thickness of the seat-support portion.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Freisleben such that the length of contact between the fasteners and the threaded inserts is at least 200% of a thickness of the seat-support, in order to adjust to the desired weight capacity of the seat-support, since it has been held that where routine testing and general experimental conditions are present, discovering the optimum or workable ranges until the desired effect is achieved involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 20, Freisleben discloses a chair comprising:
a seat adapted to support a user sitting on the chair (seat 12, fig. 1B);
a base (frame 16, figs. 1A-1B) adapted to support the seat relative to a surface beneath the chair (as shown in figs. 1A-1B, & 3A); and
a connector configured to secure the seat to the base, the connector comprising:
a channel (receiving profile 22, fig. 4A) defined by the seat and configured to receive a cross-member of the base (Para. [0037], “the mounting strut 19 of the frame 16 and also the respective clamping strip 30, 31 are embedded in the receiving profile 22 of the seat shell 13”; as shown in figs. 3A-3C), the channel defined by a front surface and a spaced apart rear surface connected by a curved intermediate surface (as shown in fig. 3C);
a retention cover (clamping strip 31, figs. 5A-5D) configured to extend into the channel to engage with the cross- member (Para. [0049], “[t]he clamping strip 31 has a receiving profile 33, which can substantially form-fittingly enclose a circumference of the mounting strut 19”; as shown in figs. 5A-5D), the retention cover defining a face extending along a first side of the body, a groove extending along an opposite second side of the body configured to engage with the cross-member of the base (as shown in figs. 4B & 4C), a front wall and an opposite rear wall, the front and rear walls extend between the face and the groove (as shown in figs. 4B-4C, and fig. 5B); and
wherein at least a portion of the front surface of the channel is arranged between the cross- member of the base and the surface beneath the chair along a line perpendicular to the surface beneath the chair, and wherein at least a portion of the groove and front wall of the retention cover is arranged between the front surface of the channel and the cross-member along the line perpendicular to the surface beneath the chair (as shown in fig. 3C, 4A-4C, and figs. 5A-5D).
Freisleben does not appear to specifically disclose a plurality of fasteners configured to couple
the retention cover with the seat to hold the cross-member in the channel.
However, Fingerhut is in the same field of endeavor and teaches a plurality fasteners (plurality of stove bolts 57, figs. 5 & 7) configured to couple the retention cover with the seat to hold the cross-member in the channel (fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Freisleben such that there was a plurality of fasteners configured to couple the retention cover with the seat as taught by Fingerhut, in order to further secure the connection between the retention cover and the seat.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-19 are allowed.
Claims 4-17 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.
Conclusion
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/N.A./Examiner, Art Unit 3647 /JOSHUA J MICHENER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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