Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This is a first office action on the merits for application serail number 18/844,830 filed 9/06/24. Claims 1-8 are pending. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/06/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
The drawings filed 9/06/24 are approved.
Claims 1 and 2 objected to because of the following informalities: in each claim “an pivot axis” should read - - a pivot axis - - Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. 2021/0368922 to Slongo et al.
Slongo provides a chair (101) comprising:
a support structure (11);
a backrest (104/12) that is rotatably supported by the support structure around an pivot axis (13) in a chair widthwise direction and that is displaceable in a forward/rearward direction between a standing state and an inclined state;
a seat (103) that has a front side supported part movably supported in the forward/rearward direction relative to a front portion of the support structure and a rear side supported part supported at a position above the pivot axis, and that is displaceable in the forward/rearward direction depending on displacement of the backrest with respect to the support structure [0048]; and
a spring member (21) that is provided in a state compressed between the seat and the backrest or between the seat and the support structure and that is configured to bias the backrest in a direction of returning to the standing state,
wherein the spring member is disposed so that a biasing direction is in the forward/rearward direction, and includes a front side engagement portion (23) disposed on a front portion of the spring and a rear side engagement portion (22) disposed on a rear portion of the spring,
the seat includes a front side spring receiving portion (25) engaged with the front side engagement portion,
the backrest or the support structure includes a rear side spring receiving portion (24) configured to engage with the rear side engagement portion and an adjustment portion (14) configured to adjust a position of the rear side engagement portion in an upward/downward direction together with the rear side spring receiving portion (figs. 7-8), and
an upper limit position of the rear side engagement portion of the spring member adjusted by the adjustment portion is located above the pivot axis (figs. 7-8).
With respect to claims 3 and 4, see figure 1.
Claim 2 is allowed.
Claims 5-8 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT CANFIELD whose telephone number is (571)272-6840. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6, some Saturdays.
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.
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ROBERT CANFIELD
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3636
/Robert Canfield/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636