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.
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, 2, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (US-10183596-B2) in view of Yamabe (WO-2017086211-A1).
Watanabe discloses a vehicle seat cushion frame and seat back frame. Yamabe discloses a vehicle seat cushion frame and seat back frame.
Claim 1 – Watanabe teaches a vehicle seat (figure 1), comprising:
a seat cushion frame (element F1 in figure 2); and
a seat back frame rotatably supported by the seat cushion frame (element F2 in figure 2),
wherein the seat cushion frame includes:
left and right side members extending in a front-and-rear direction (elements 13 and 14 in figure 2);
a front member extending in a lateral direction and coupled to a front portion of each of the side members (element 15 in figure 2);
a rear member extending in the lateral direction and coupled to a rear portion of each of the side members (element 16 in figure 2); and
support members coupled to a rear end of each of the side members and extending upward (element 26 figure 2),
at least one of the support members includes:
a support member lower portion coupled to a laterally outer surface of the side member (figure 2); and
a support member upper portion extending upward and laterally inward from the support member lower portion and rotatably supporting the seat back frame (figure 2), and
when viewed in an up-and-down direction, the support member upper portion overlaps with the side member (element 26 moves upward and laterally inward, overlapping the side members when viewed from above),
the support member is formed of a sheet metal member (in the final paragraph of the Connecting Device section of the Description of the Preferred Embodiment(s), the “lower hinge member 26 which is made of sheet metal”),
edge walls protruding laterally outward and extending from the support member lower portion to the support member are provided on front and rear edges of the support member (element 26, on the left side of figure 4, has edge walls protruding laterally outward).
Watanabe does not teach a reinforcement plate is provided on a laterally outer surface of the support member, and does not teach the reinforcement plate is coupled to the front and rear edge walls.
Yamabe discloses a vehicle seat cushion frame and seat back frame. Yamabe teaches a reinforcement plate (element 14 in figure 7) on a laterally outer surface of the support member (element 13 in figure 7), and the reinforcement plate is coupled to the front and rear edge walls (figure 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a reinforcement plate as taught by Yamabe, formed in the shape of the support member, including the edge walls, in the seat of Watanabe to ensure the support member does not bend or break.
Claim 2 – Watanabe teaches the side member includes:
a side member body extending in the front-and-rear direction (figure 2); and
a side member extension protruding upward from a rear end of the side member body (in figure 2, Watanabe teaches that the side members 13 and 14 extend upward as they move towards the rear of the seat),
the support member lower portion is coupled to the side member extension (figure 2), and
when viewed in the up-and-down direction, the support member upper portion overlaps with the side member extension (element 26 moves upward and laterally inward, overlapping the side members when viewed from above).
Claim 7 – Watanabe teaches the support member upper portion is provided with a bulging portion bulging laterally inward (element R in figure 2),
the seat back frame is rotatably supported by the bulging portion (figure 2), and
the bulging portion is spaced upward relative to an upper edge of the side member extension (figure 2).
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (US-10183596-B2) in view of Yamabe (WO-2017086211-A1), further in view of Gupta (US-7250091-B2).
Claims 3 and 4 – Watanabe, disclosed above, teaches a vehicle seat, the support member, and the side member extensions, but fails to teach one of the side member extension and the support member lower portion is provided with a protrusion extending in the up-and-down direction, and
another of the side member extension and the support member lower portion is provided with a receiving groove that receives the protrusion.
Watanabe also fails to teach the protrusion is provided on each of front and rear edges of the side member extension, and
the receiving groove is provided on each of front and rear edges of the support member lower portion.
Gupta discloses a method of forming a seating system. Gupta teaches a protrusion extending in the up-and-down direction (element 60 in figures 2A and 2B) and a receiving groove that receives the protrusion (elements 32 in figured 2A and 2B).
Watanabe teaches the support members attaching to the side member extensions, but does not explicitly teach how the parts are joined. Gupta’s disclosure explains protrusions and receiving grooves as a routine method of providing a strong bond between parts, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use such a method when constructing Watanabe’s disclosure.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (US-10183596-B2) in view of Yamabe (WO-2017086211-A1), further in view of Miyazawa (WO 2014192095 A1).
Claim 8 – Watanabe, disclosed above, teaches the left and right side members are coupled to a floor (element F in figure 3) via a slide device (element 2 in figure 2),
the slide device includes:
a lower rail (element 2A in figure 2) coupled to the floor; and
an upper rail provided slidably relative to the lower rail and coupled to the side member (element 2B in figure 2),
the lower rail is provided with a lower locking member extending in the front- and-rear direction and having a tip end facing downward (figure 2),
the side member is provided with an upper locking member extending in the front-and-rear direction and having a tip end facing upward (figure 2),
the upper locking member faces the lower locking member from below with a gap therebetween (figure 2), and is coupled to the side member at a front coupling portion and a rear coupling portion that are spaced in the front-and-rear direction (figure 2),
a coupling portion of the rear member and the side member is provided rearward of the front coupling portion and forward of the rear coupling portion (figure 2).
Watanabe does not teach a coupling portion of a seat belt buckle and the side member is provided rearward of the front coupling portion and forward of the coupling portion of the rear member and the side member.
Miyazawa discloses a vehicle seat cushion frame and seat back frame. Miyazawa teaches a coupling portion of a seat belt buckle and the side member is provided rearward of the front coupling portion and forward of the coupling portion of the rear member and the side member (element 14 in figure 2 is a seat belt buckle couple rearward of the front coupling portion and forward of the coupling portion of the rear member and the side member).
The disclosure of Watanabe does not specifically mention where the seat belt buckle female end is located, although one would be present as the male end of the buckle is shown in figure 2 attached to the upper left corner of the seat. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to place the belt buckle on the side member of the seat forward of the rear coupling portion and rearward of the front coupling portion to provide the user with a location to buckle that is not placed too far to the rear of the seat.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 10 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/22/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive in regards to claims 1-4 and 7-8. Applicant added the limitations of claims 5 and 6 to claim 1, and canceled claims 5 and 6. Applicant argues that the cited references do not teach a reinforcement plate, as previously claimed in claim 6. Yamabe was the reference cited as teaching the reinforcement plate, specifically element 14. Applicant argues that element 14 in Yamabe’s disclosure is called “a lower right back side frame” and therefore does not teach a reinforcement plate. Although the reference calls element 14 a different name, it is identical to the structure as claimed and functionally serves as a reinforcement plate. The remainder of claim 1 is not argued, and dependent claims 2-4 and 7-8 are not argued as well. The rejection of each of claims 1-4 and 7-8 is maintained utilizing the same references.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 9 and 10 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 9 and 10 have been withdrawn.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/T.A.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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