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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “a recliner plate with a recliner attached thereto, the recliner being fixed to a cushion frame” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information referred to in the IDS filed September 18, 2024 has been considered.
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 1-6 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “a recliner plate with a recliner attached thereto, the recliner being fixed to a cushion frame” in lines 3 to 4. This limitation does not appear consistent with Figure 1, which shows the recliner plate (32A) and not the recliner (61) as fixed to the cushion frame (31). This inconsistency renders the claim as vague. Clarification is required.
Claims 2-6 are indefinite as each depends from an indefinite claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-3, as best understood with the above cited indefiniteness, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ohba et al (US7578556).
Note a vehicle seat configured to be mounted in a vehicle, the vehicle seat comprising: a recliner plate (2) with a recliner (7) attached thereto, the recliner being fixed to a cushion frame (1); a hinge pin (5) configured to cause the recliner to perform a release operation; and a bushing (40) forming a plain bearing that rotatably supports the hinge pin, the bushing being fixed to the recliner plate, the bushing having a block shape with a through hole (40b) which the hinge pin passes through, and the bushing being directly fixed to the recliner plate.
Regarding claim 2, note a cable operation bracket (15) to which an operation cable (11) is coupled, the cable operation bracket being configured to be rotatable around a center axis of the hinge pin; and a flange (13, 46) provided on the hinge pin, the flange protruding outward from the hinge pin, wherein the cable operation bracket is interposed between the flange and the bushing in such a manner that the cable operation bracket is in sliding contact (at 18, 19) with the flange and the bushing.
Regarding claim 3, note a cover member (4) configured to inhibit the hinge pin from falling out of the through hole, the cover member being fixed to the recliner plate, wherein the cover member is arranged opposite to the cable operation bracket with the flange in between.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. A vehicle seat having a cable operated recliner assembly is shown by each of Naik et al (US11260777), DE102006015183A!, and Becker et al (US7434885).
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mn /MILTON NELSON JR/March 6, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636