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 § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 7 recites a tether connecting the standing wall to each other. However, there is no support for this limitation in the specification.
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.
(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) 1-3, 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sekido et al. (4,920,591).
Regarding claim 1, Sekido et al. disclose a seat cushion airbag 1 (figure 7) connected to an inflation fluid generation source 3 and configured to be expanded and inflated by an inflation fluid being supplied to an inside of the seat cushion airbag, the seat cushion airbag being disposed, in a seat portion of a seat A for a vehicle, in a region below a seat surface and between a center portion and a front end portion in a front-rear direction of the seat portion (see figure 28), and in expansion and inflation, having a side portion (see figure A below) between a top portion 1a and a bottom portion 1b, and having, in at least two opposing regions in the side portion, a standing wall (see figure A below) extending in an up-down direction.
Regarding claim 2, Sekido et al. disclose a longitudinal direction thereof extends along a width direction of the seat portion (see figure 28).
Regarding claim 3, Sekido et al. disclose the top portion 1a has bulge portions (see figure A below) at both end parts in the longitudinal direction, and each bulge portion is at a position higher in an upward direction than a center part in the longitudinal direction in expansion and inflation.
Regarding claim 6, Sekido et al. disclose a tether 2 connecting the top portion and the bottom portion to each other.
Regarding claim 7, Sekido et al. disclose a tether 2 connecting the standing walls to each other.
Regarding claim 8, Sekido et al. disclose a seat cushion airbag device 1 comprising: an inflation fluid generation source 3; and a seat cushion airbag connected to the inflation fluid generation source and configured to be expanded and inflated by an inflation fluid being supplied to an inside of the seat cushion airbag, the seat cushion airbag being disposed, in a seat portion of a seat A for a vehicle, in a region below a seat surface and between a center portion and a front end portion in a front-rear direction of the seat portion, and in expansion and inflation, having a side portion between a top portion 1a and bottom portion 1b, and having, in at least two opposing regions in the side portion, a standing wall extending in an up-down direction.
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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.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sekido et al. in view of Baker (5,096,529).
Regarding claim 4, Baker discloses the standing wall 28 has a gusset shape (appears to have triangular shape from outside view) formed separately from the top portion 26 and the bottom portion 26 and integrated (attached with sealing process) with the top portion and the bottom portion.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Baker and place a gusset shaped side wall with the top and bottom portion in the invention of Sekido et al. in order to keep the manufacturing process simple and efficient.
Regarding claim 5, Sekido et al. as discloses in a normal state before expansion and inflation, the standing wall is folded back (Sekido et al. show in figure 15 the walls 2a, 2b with crease line for folding. Similar crease lines are present on the side wall of figure 7 which operates similarly).
Conclusion
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/SYED A ISLAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636