May 29, 2026
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakamura et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10,773,613 B2).
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As for Claim 17, Nakamura et al. teach a seat assembly for use in a vehicle, the seat assembly including:
a seat cushion 14;
opposing upper tracks 40 slidably coupled to respective lower tracks 38;
a cushion tipping module 46 fixedly coupled to the upper tracks;
opposing front links 58 having upper link ends coupled to the seat cushion and lower link ends pivotably coupled to the cushion tipping module 46; and
a legrest module including a mounting bracket fixedly coupled to the seat cushion and a legrest mechanism fixedly coupled to the mounting bracket (see Figures 1 and 5-7);
wherein the cushion tipping module is configured to selectively tilt the seat cushion between an upright seating position and a rearward inclined position; and wherein the legrest module is configured to selectively extend the legrest mechanism to a deployed position and selectively retract the legrest mechanism to a stowed position.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-20 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.
Claims 1-16 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art fails to teach an attachment link having a lower end pivotably coupled to the threaded nut; a transverse tube fixedly coupled to an upper end of the attachment link and rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the transverse tube; and opposing lift links having a proximal end fixedly coupled to the transverse tube and a distal end configured to be pivotably coupled to the respective front links of the seat assembly; wherein the cushion tipping module is configured to selectively tip the seat cushion between an upright seating position and a rearward inclined position after the motor support bracket is fixedly coupled to the opposing upper tracks and the front links are pivotably coupled to the distal end of the respective lift links, as defined in claims 1, 8, and 18.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure because it teaches structures and concepts similar to those of the present invention .
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rodney B. White whose telephone number is (571)272-6863. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
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 R. 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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/Rodney B White/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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