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, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kohani . The reference to Kohani teaches structure as claimed including a system for supporting a surgeon, comprising: an operating chair (14) with a base frame (at least fig 1) which can be placed on a floor, with a seat for the surgeon supported on the base frame (3); and a restraining device (10A) for the surgeon, having a harness system (38, 40) which has at least a first and a second restraining belt which are connected to at least a first suspension point and a second suspension point (the connections of clips 24, 24) of a traction device (the spacing of the straps on the structure 26A), the first suspension point being spaced-apart from the second suspension point, wherein the traction device is arranged to set the a distance between the first suspension point and the second suspension points, the harness system further comprises a first shoulder strap(38) connected to a first upper suspension point and a first lower suspension point of the traction device) at a distance from each other, and a second shoulder strap(40), which is connected to a second upper suspension point and a second lower suspension point of the traction device at a distance from one another, the harness system has a waist strap (54) which is connected to the first lower suspension point and the second lower suspension points on the traction device, the traction device has at least a first dimensionally stable support element (the spacing and connection of the straps on structure 26a at a width difference) which bridges the distance between the first suspension point and the second suspension point, the traction device has a second dimensionally stable support element which defines the distance between the first lower suspension point and the second lower suspension points at which the harness system is connected to the traction device) and bridges the distance (the spacing and connection of the straps on structure 26a at a height difference), the a traction element connects the support unit to an abutment(20), the operating chair has a height-adjustable column between the seat and the base frame, at the an upper end of which the seat is arranged to be inclinable (at least figs 1, 8), the operating chair has, at a lower end of the height adjustable column, a joint device which forms a pivot axis about which the operating chair(2) is designed to pivot laterally, a first dimensionally stable support element which bridges the distance between the first and the second suspension point, the traction device has a second dimensionally stable support element which defines the distance between the first lower suspension point and the second lower suspension point at which the harness system is connected to the traction device and bridges the distance, the first support element and the second support element form a, preferably integral, support unit which defines and bridges a distance between the first upper suspension point and the first lower suspension point, and a distance between the second upper suspension point and the second lower suspension point, a traction element connects the support unit to an abutment.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The references cited teaches structure similar to applicant’s including chair harness structure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSE V CHEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6865. The examiner can normally be reached m-f, m-w 5:30-3:00, th5:30-2:00.
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/JOSE V CHEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637