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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species VIII, figs. 21-33, cls. 1-15 and 17 in the reply filed on 11/14/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 16 and 18-20 are withdrawn.
Remarks
This communication is in response to Application No. 18/743,534 filed on 06/14/2024.
Claims 1-15 and 17 are currently pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 06/14/2024, 11/27/2024, 01/17/2025, 11/14/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed 06/14/2024 are acceptable.
Claim Interpretation Under 35 USC § 112
No claim elements in this application are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3 and 10-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
As to claim 3, “the first connecting part” lacks antecedent basis.
As to claim 10, the claim recites “a second connecting part” yet fails to recite a first connecting part thus the claim is unclear because “second” implies a first but with no “first” recited it is unclear how a “second” is determined. Thus the metes and bounds of the claim are unclear.
For the purpose of examination the following interpretation is used “a [[second]] connecting part”.
Claims 11-16 are rejected via dependency.
NOTE: any prior art rejection provided below is made as best understood in view of the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) issues above.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 10,952,544, hereinafter D1.
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As to claim 1.
D1 discloses a mounting base (one of a pair of 556 in fig. 10) adapted to be mounted on a child containment body (502), wherein the mounting base (one of a pair of 556 in fig. 10) comprises at least two first connecting parts (portions of 556 receiving 552 and 560), and each of the at least two first connecting parts (portions of 556 receiving 552 and 560) is adapted to be connected to a second connecting part (portions of 552 and 560 received by 556) of a connecting base of a carrier accessory (550 and 570), so that the mounting base is capable of being connected to at least two carrier accessories simultaneously (fig. 10 where 556 connects to 570 and 550; note the phrase “capable of” is typically used to connect structure to a function, similar to the word “for.” “Capable of” (for) usually means the structure can perform the function with no additional modification therefore this recitation is interpreted as a functional recitation. While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally; apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does. MPEP 2114).
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 10, 11, 12, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 7,458,114, hereinafter D2.
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As to claim 1.
D2 discloses a mounting base (one of a pair of clips 10 in figs. 10-11) adapted to be mounted on a child containment body (300 in fig. 10), wherein the mounting base (one of a pair of clips 10 in figs. 10-11) comprises at least two first connecting parts (each clip 10 includes brackets 50, 52), and each of the at least two first connecting parts (each clip 10 includes brackets 50, 52) is adapted to be connected to a second connecting part (figs. 3-4 show insertion of mating piece into clips 10) of a connecting base of a carrier accessory (310 and 66), so that the mounting base (one of a pair of clips 10 in figs. 10-11) is capable of being connected to at least two carrier accessories simultaneously (fig. 11 where 10 connects to 310 and 66; note the phrase “capable of” is typically used to connect structure to a function, similar to the word “for.” “Capable of” (for) usually means the structure can perform the function with no additional modification therefore this recitation is interpreted as a functional recitation. While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally; apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does. MPEP 2114).
As to claim 2.
D1 discloses the mounting base of claim 1, and further discloses wherein at least one of the at least two first connecting parts (each clip 10 includes brackets 50, 52) is adapted to be slidably connected to the corresponding second connecting part (figs. 3-4 show insertion of mating piece into clips 10); and/or the mounting base is provided with at least one first limiting structure (70), and the first limiting structure is adapted to cooperate (fig. 3) with a second limiting structure (58) of the corresponding connecting base (10) to restrict the relative position of the first connecting part to the second connecting part (figs. 3-4).
As to claim 4.
D1 discloses the mounting base of claim 2, and further discloses wherein each of the at least two first connecting parts (each clip 10 includes brackets 50, 52) comprises a slide groove (70) configured to be slidably connected to the second connecting part (figs. 3-4), and each slide groove (70) comprises a base wall and a mounting port opposite to the base wall (70 has wall defining port permitting passage of 56); and/or the first limiting structure comprises a limiting groove, and the limiting groove is recessed relative to both a top wall of the mounting base and a side wall adjacent to the top wall of the mounting base.
As to claim 10.
D2 discloses a connecting base (60 in figs. 3-4) adapted to be mounted on a carrier frame (66) of a carrier accessory (collectively 60 and 66), wherein the connecting base (60) comprises a second connecting part (56), and the second connecting part (56) is adapted to be connected to one of at least two first connecting parts (70) of a mounting base (one of a pair of clips 10 in figs. 10-11) on a support member (24) of a child containment body (300 in fig. 10).
As to claim 11.
D2 discloses the connecting base of claim 10, and further discloses wherein the second connecting part (56) is adapted to be slidably connected (via insertion per figs. 3-4 and col. 4, ln. 65+) to the corresponding first connecting part (70 in figs. 3-4); and/or the connecting base is provided with a second limiting structure, and the second limiting structure is adapted to cooperate with a first limiting structure of the mounting base to restrict the relative position of the second connecting part to the first connecting part.
As to claim 12.
D2 discloses the connecting base of claim 11, wherein the second connecting part (56) comprises a slide rail (slide rail portion of 56 as in annotated fig. 3) or a slide groove extending in a first direction and configured to slidably cooperate with the first connecting part (50, 52); the slide rail (see annotated figure 3) or the slide groove has a shape in cross-section capable of restricting the relative movement of the second connecting part (56) to the first connecting part (70) in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (limited to direction shown by arrow and restricted in a direction perpendicular to the arrow).
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As to claim 17.
D2 discloses a child containment device (fig. 10), comprising a child containment body (fig. 10) and the mounting base of claim 1 (see explanation for claim 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9 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.
Claims 3 and 13-15 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record on the attached PTOL-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as each further discloses a state of the art.
The examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record in the body of this action for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. Applicant should consider the entire prior art as applicable as to the limitations of the claims. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the response, to consider fully the entire reference as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or pointed out by the examiner.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to J. T. Newton, Esq. whose telephone number is (313)446-4899. The examiner can normally be reached 0700-1500 M-F.
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, SPE Justin Mikowski can be reached at (571) 272-8525. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J. T. Newton/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673 22 January 2026
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