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 .
This Action is responsive to the application filed 01 April 2024. Claims 1-6 are pending. Claim 1 has been written in independent form.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 USC § 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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 USC § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by FURUMOTO, JP 2004322714 A (hereinafter called FURUMOTO).
Regarding claim 1, FURUMOTO teaches a conveyance seat, comprising:
a seat body (See e.g., FIGS. 2, 4 & 6 element 10) in which an occupant is seated;
a slide mechanism (See e.g., FIGS. 4A-4C element 20) that moves the seat body in a sliding manner;
a rotation mechanism (See e.g., FIGS. 4A-4C element 30) that rotationally moves the seat body with an up to down direction as a rotation axis;
a control unit (See e.g., ¶ [0011]) that controls an operation of the slide mechanism and the rotation mechanism; and
an operation unit (See e.g., FIG. 3 element 60) that instructs the control unit to start control,
wherein when the control unit receives an instruction from the operation unit, the control unit sets a transition start time of each of the slide mechanism and the rotation mechanism (See e.g., ¶s [0022]-[0026]).
Regarding claim 2, FURUMOTO teaches wherein the control unit is capable of causing each of the slide mechanism and the rotation mechanism to transition from a current state to a target state (See e.g., ¶ [0026]), and
when the control unit receives the instruction from the operation unit, the control unit causes one of the slide mechanism and the rotation mechanism to start transitioning, and causes the other mechanism to start transitioning before the transition of the one mechanism is completed (See e.g., ¶s [0025]-[0026]).
Regarding claim 3, FURUMOTO teaches wherein the control unit receives the instruction from the operation unit, the control unit calculates a predicted transition completion time for each of the slide mechanism and the rotation mechanism to transition from the current state to the target state, and sets the transition start time of the other mechanism to a time before the predicted transition completion time of the one mechanism (See e.g., ¶s [0025]-[0026]).
Regarding claim 4, FURUMOTO teaches wherein when the control unit receives the instruction from the operation unit, the control unit causes one of the slide mechanism and the rotation mechanism to start transitioning, and causes the other mechanism to start transitioning after the transition of the one mechanism is completed (See e.g., ¶s [0025]-[0026]).
Regarding claim 5, FURUMOTO teaches wherein when the control unit receives the instruction from the operation unit, a transition of the slide mechanism and a transition of the rotation mechanism are started at the same time (See e.g., ¶s [0025]-[0026]).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FURUMOTO, and further in view of KIMURA, JP 2021-104705 A (hereinafter called KIMURA).
Regarding claim 6, FURUMOTO teaches the operation unit (See e.g., FIG. 3 element 60) and the control unit (See e.g., ¶ [0011]) causes the slide mechanism to start transitioning (See e.g., ¶s [0022]-[0026]), and the control unit causes both the slide mechanism and the rotation mechanism to start transitioning (See e.g., ¶ [0026]).
But FURUMOTO does not teach the operation unit is a rotation lever, and when a rotation angle of the rotation lever is less than a predetermined angle, and when the rotation angle is greater than or equal to the predetermined angle.
However, KIMURA teaches the operation unit is a rotation lever (See e.g., FIGS. 3 & 17 element 91), and when a rotation angle of the rotation lever is less than a predetermined angle, and when the rotation angle is greater than or equal to the predetermined angle (See e.g., page 8, the paragraph listed under and including The operation unit 15 will be described with reference to FIG. and page 9 the first full paragraph).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan in the art having the prior art of FURUMOTO and KIMURA before him, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the conveyance seat of FURUMOTO to incorporate the operation unit is a rotation lever, and when a rotation angle of the rotation lever is less than a predetermined angle, and when the rotation angle is greater than or equal to the predetermined angle, as taught by the analogous art of KIMURA. The skilled artisan in the art would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, to provide a lightweight seat device making it easier to adjust the various mechanisms used to execute the various manipulations of the vehicle seat, as suggested by KIMURA (See e.g., Abstract).
Conclusion
It is noted that any citation to specific pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the references should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33, 216 U.S.P.Q. 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 U.S.P.Q. 275, 277 (C.C.P.A. 1968)).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to TERRI L FILOSI whose telephone number is (571)270-1988. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00 AM -3:30 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Timothy D Collins can be reached at 571-272-6886. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TERRI L FILOSI/
Examiner
Art Unit 3644
04 October 2025
/TIMOTHY D COLLINS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3644