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 .
Requirement for Information Under 37 CFR 1.105
Applicant and the assignee of this application are required under 37 CFR 1.105 to provide the following information that the examiner as determined is reasonably necessary to the examination of this application.
A partial review of the documents in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on September 6, 2024 reveals that many have no relevance to the claimed seat assembly and clip. For example, the first 20 entries include patents directed to footwear, three-dimensional netted structures, and methods of making foam.
For each document cited in the thirteen IDS filed in this application that applicant still wants considered, the following factual information is reasonably necessary to the examination of this application and is required to be provided under 37 CFR 1.105. Applicant must provide the factual basis that caused each document in the IDS to be disclosed to the Office. This factual basis could include an explanation of how each document bears upon the claimed invention and/or citations to the pertinent portions of the documents, by column/page and line number, that caused the applicant to submit the document for consideration.
The applicant is reminded that the reply to this requirement must be made with candor and good faith under 37 CFR 1.56. Where the applicant does not have or cannot readily obtain an item of required information, a statement that the item is unknown or cannot be readily obtained may be accepted as a complete reply to the requirement for that item.
This requirement is an attachment of the enclosed office action. A complete reply to the enclosed office action must include a complete reply to this requirement. The time period for reply to this requirement coincides with the time period for reply to the enclosed office action.
Information Disclosure Statement
The thirteen information disclosure statements filed between 6 September 2024 and 11 August 2025 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(3)(i) because it does not include a concise explanation of the relevance, as it is presently understood by the individual designated in 37 CFR 1.56(c) most knowledgeable about the content of the information, of each reference listed that is not in the English language. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “100” has been used to designate both the funnel in figure 3 and the clip in other figures beginning with figure 4, as well as throughout the specification. 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. 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.
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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki (US-20220410775-A1) in view of Hamlin (US-10933783-B1).
Aoki discloses a vehicle seat that includes a pad, a skin material, and a skin locking clip embedded in the pad. Hamlin discloses a vehicle seat assembly including a cushion cover attachment part.
Claim 1 – Aoki teaches a clip (element 10 in figures 8A and 8B) comprising:
a spine (element 11 in figures 8A and 8B);
a mount extending from the spine (element 17 in figures 8A and 8B);
first and second barbs extending from the mount (element 13 in figures 8A and 8B); and
a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]), but does not explicitly teach a hook strip or a loop strip of a hook and loop fastener extending from the mount.
Hamlin teaches a hook strip or a loop strip of a hook and loop fastener extending from the mount (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending from the mount elements 82A and 82B of figure 7).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 2 – Aoki teaches the first and second barbs extend from opposite sides of the mount (figures 8A and 8B).
Claim 3 – Aoki teaches the first and second barbs extend away from a bottom side of the spine (figures 8A and 8B).
Claim 4 – Aoki teaches the first barb comprises a first lateral side and a second lateral side, wherein the first and second lateral sides are disposed opposite each other and become closer together as the first lateral side and the second lateral side extend away from the mount (figures 8A and 8B).
Claim 5 – Aoki teaches the mount extends away from a bottom side of the spine (figures 8A and 8B).
Claim 6 – Aoki teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]) and teaches the mount that faces away from the bottom side of the spine (element 17 in figures 8A and 8B), but does not teach the hook strip or the loop strip of the hook and loop fastener extends from a top side of the mount.
Hamlin teaches the hook strip or the loop strip of the hook and loop fastener extends from a top side of the mount (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending from the top side of the mount elements 82A and 82B of figure 7).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 7 – Aoki teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]), but does not teach the hook strip or the loop strip of the hook and loop fastener extends along a first mount side of the mount that faces toward the first barb.
Hamlin teaches the hook strip or the loop strip of the hook and loop fastener extends along a first mount side of the mount that faces toward the first barb (element 94A of figure 8 being the hook strip extending along a first mount side that faces toward the first barb at the end of element 82A of figure 7).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 8 – Aoki teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]), but does not teach the hook strip or the loop strip of the hook and loop fastener extends along a second mount side of the mount that faces toward the second barb.
Hamlin teaches the hook strip or the loop strip of the hook and loop fastener extends along a second mount side of the mount that faces toward the second barb (element 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending along a second mount side that faces toward the second barb at the end of element 82B of figure 7).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 9 – Aoki teaches the mount comprises first and second retention features extending away from a bottom side of the spine and cooperating to define a gap (figures 8A and 8B).
Claim 10 – Aoki teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]), but does not teach the hook strip or the loop strip of the hook and loop fastener extends from the first and second retention features.
Hamlin teaches the hook strip or the loop strip of the hook and loop fastener extends from the first and second retention features (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending from the first and second retention features elements 82A and 82B of figure 7).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claims 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki (US-20220410775-A1) in view of Takashi (JP-3686692-B2), further in view of Hamlin (US-10933783-B1).
Takashi discloses a method of manufacturing a cushion body for various vehicle seat pads.
Claim 11 – Aoki teaches a seat assembly (figure 1) comprising:
A mesh member comprising a first side (element 52 in figure 13);
a trim cover (element 33 in figure 13);
a clip (element 10 in figures 8A and 8B) disposed in a mesh member (paragraph [0122] teaches the clip as being “embedded in the pad”), the clip comprising:
a spine (element 11 in figures 8A and 8B); and
a first clip segment comprising:
a mount extending from the spine (element 17 in figures 8A and 8B); and
first and second barbs securing the first clip segment to the mesh member, wherein the first and second barbs extend away from the spine and toward the first side of the mesh member (element 13 in figures 8A and 8B); and
a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]).
Aoki does not teach the mesh member comprising a first side and a set of filaments of polymeric material, at least two members of the set of filaments are looped and bonded to each other, and does not teach the hook and loop fastener securing the trim cover to the clip.
Takashi teaches (in paragraph [0011]) the mesh member comprising a first side and a set of filaments of polymeric material (“thermoplastic elastic 300 denier or more continuous linear body of elastomeric resin”), at least two members of the set of filaments are looped and bonded to each other (“random loop form a three-dimensional network structure” with a specific density “obtained by fusing each contact portion of each loop).
Aoki and Takashi do not teach the hook and loop fastener securing the trim cover to the clip.
Hamlin teaches the hook and loop fastener securing the trim cover to the clip (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip and elements 82A and 82B of figure 7 being the loop strip, figure 8 teaches the pair mating to secure the trim cover to the clip).
Aoki discloses in paragraph [0094] the pad being made of foaming resin such as urethane foam. Takashi teaches, in paragraph [0003], that “the urethane foam is inferior in moisture permeability and water permeability and has a heat storage property, so that there is a problem that a part that comes into contact with the human body is easily steamed. Moreover, since urethane foam is not a thermoplastic resin, it is difficult to recycle by remelting”. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the urethane foam mesh member of Aoki with the filaments of polymeric material of Takashi.
Further, Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 12 – Aoki teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]) for securing the trim cover, but does not teach one of the hook strip and the loop strip is secured to the mount and the other of the hook strip and the loop strip is secured to the trim cover.
Hamlin teaches one of the hook strip and the loop strip is secured to the mount and the other of the hook strip and the loop strip is secured to the trim cover (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip and elements 82A and 82B of figure 7 being the loop strip secured to the trim cover).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 13 – Aoki teaches the barbs are received in the pad (figure 2), but does not teach a gap between members of the set of filaments.
Takashi teaches a gap between members of the set of filaments (figure 3, as well as paragraph [0007] teaches the filaments as random loops, which creates gaps for the barbs to be received in).
Takashi teaches, in paragraph [0003], that “the urethane foam is inferior in moisture permeability and water permeability and has a heat storage property, so that there is a problem that a part that comes into contact with the human body is easily steamed. Moreover, since urethane foam is not a thermoplastic resin, it is difficult to recycle by remelting”. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the urethane foam mesh member of Aoki with the filaments of polymeric material of Takashi, in turn securing the clip barbs in the gaps of the filaments.
Claim 14 – Aoki teaches the mesh member comprises a slit (element 8 in figure 2) extending from the first side, wherein the clip is disposed in the slit and is spaced apart from and does not extend to the first side (figure 2, the clip is spaced apart from and does not extend to the first side).
Claim 15 – Aoki teaches the mesh member comprises a second side opposite the first side, wherein the slit and the clip are spaced apart from and do not extend to the second side (lower side of figure 2, the clip is spaced apart from and does not extend to the second side).
Claim 16 – Aoki teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]) and teaches the mount of the clip disposed in the slit (element 8 in figure 2), but does not teach the hook and loop fastener extends from a top side of the mount.
Hamlin teaches the hook and loop fastener extends from a top side of the mount (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending from the top side of the mount elements 82A and 82B of figure 7).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 17 – Aoki teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]), but does not teach the hook and loop fastener extends along the mount away from the first side of the mesh member.
Hamlin teaches the hook and loop fastener extends along the mount away from the first side of the mesh member (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending along the mount elements 82A and 82B of figure 7 away from the first side of the mesh member).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 18 – Aoki teaches the mount (element 17 in figures 8A and 8B) comprises first and second retention features (element 18 in figures 8A and 8B) extending away from a bottom side of the spine (element 11 in figures 8A and 8B) and teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]), but does not teach the hook and loop fastener extends from the first and second retention features.
Hamlin teaches the hook and loop fastener extends from the first and second retention features (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending along the first and second retention features elements 82A and 82B of figure 7).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 19 – Aoki teaches a hook and loop fastener (paragraph [0122]), but does not teach the hook and loop fastener extends across a gap between the first and second retention features.
Hamlin teaches the hook and loop fastener extends across a gap between the first and second retention features (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending across the gap between the first and second retention features elements 82A and 82B of figure 7).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin to ensure the trim cover properly mates to the clip.
Claim 20 – Aoki teaches the clip comprises a second clip segment extending from the spine and separated from the first clip segment and teaches a hook and loop fastener extending between the clips (paragraph [0122]), but does not teach the hook and loop fastener extends from the tops of the first clip segment to the second clip segment.
Hamlin teaches the hook and loop fastener extends from tops of the first clip segment to the second clip segment (elements 94A and 94B of figure 8 being the hook strip extending from the tops of each clip).
Aoki teaches the hook and loop fastener but is silent on its placement being on top of the clips. It would have been obvious to use the hook and loop fastener of Aoki in the placement of Hamlin in conjunction with Aoki’s placement to ensure the trim cover properly mates along the entire length of the clip segments.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TROY A LIBBY whose telephone number is (571)272-6676. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri; 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM EST.
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, DAVID DUNN can be reached at (571) 272-6670. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/T.A.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636