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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 3-Mar-25 does not include a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; specifically, a copy of the cited foreign patent document CN-201856665 has not been submitted.
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(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hong (US 2021/0221260).
Claim 1- Hong discloses a seat assembly for an automotive vehicle, the seat assembly comprising:
a seat base (20) with lower attachment holes (figs. 1 & 4 show that the base terminals 24 include holes for mounting to slide rails 10, ¶ 40-43); a seat cushion (fig. 6); and
a swivel mechanism comprising a lower plate (30) fixedly coupled to the seat base by a structure attachment (¶ 47-49), an upper plate (40) rotatably coupled to the lower plate (¶ 40, 57), and a modular carrier assembly (50) fixedly coupled to the upper plate and fixedly coupled to the seat cushion (¶ 57 & 60-61, figs. 9A & 12A show that the assembly 50 comprises a forward cushion panel, rear lateral supports, and a tubular crossmember);
wherein the modular carrier assembly comprises a tubular frame fixedly coupled to the upper plate (¶ 60-61, the tubular crossmember sufficiently encompasses the limitation “tubular frame”), the tubular frame including a front portion (not designated, fig. 12A) and a rear portion (not designated, the tubular crossmember) extending between a left portion and a right portion (not designated, the lateral supports) with the tubular frame surrounding around an opening (fig. 10A) extending vertically therethrough providing vertical access to the lower attachment holes (the central opening of the carrier assembly is capable of permitting access to the holes, especially in the raised position shown in fig. 10B).
Claim(s) 12-13 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Grieger (EP 2383144).
Claim 12- Grieger discloses a modular carrier assembly (fig. 2) for use in an automotive seat assembly having a swivel mechanism (fig. 1), the modular carrier assembly comprising:
a tubular frame (15) including a front portion and a rear portion (15c, d) extending between a left portion and a right portion (15a, b) with the tubular frame surrounding an opening extending vertically therethrough (fig. 2); laterally spaced apart seat brackets (defined by opposing lateral ends of brackets 14a, b) fixedly coupled to the left portion and the right portion, respectively, of the tubular frame; and
a functional component (8-10) fixedly coupled to the tubular frame (fig. 1).
Claim 13- Grieger discloses the modular carrier assembly as set forth in claim 12, wherein the functional component (8-10) comprises a manual release assembly (11, 16) fixedly coupled to the tubular frame (fig. 1).
Claim 17- Grieger discloses the modular carrier assembly as set forth in claim 12, further comprising: a support bracket (2) fixedly coupled to the front portion and the rear portion of the tubular frame (by plate portions 2a, b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong (US 2021/0221260) in view of Vetere (US 2021/0394648).
Claim 2- Hong discloses the seat assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein the modular carrier assembly is fixedly coupled to the seat cushion shown in figure 6. However, Hong does not teach that the modular carrier assembly further comprises laterally spaced apart seat brackets fixedly coupled to the tubular frame and fixedly coupled to the seat cushion.
Vetere discloses a seat assembly comprising a modular carrier assembly (22, 36) fixedly coupled to a swivel mechanism (30, 42) and a seat cushion (12, 14), wherein the modular carrier assembly further comprises laterally spaced apart seat brackets (16) fixedly coupled to the opposing plate portions (22) of the carrier and fixedly coupled to the seat cushion (fig. 1).
Vetere teaches that the lateral seat brackets (16) are provided for fixing the seat bottom and backrest of the seat cushion to the modular carrier assembly as well as pivotally coupling the seat bottom and backrest (¶ 22).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the modular carrier assembly of Hong with laterally spaced apart seat brackets, as taught by Vetere, in order to provide pivotal adjustment between the seat cushion components and fixedly couple the cushion to the remainder of the seat assembly components.
Claim 3- Hong and Vetere teach the seat assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein the swivel mechanism taught by Hong further comprises a latching mechanism (41) operatively coupled to the upper plate and configured to selectively prevent rotation of the upper plate relative to the lower plate.
Claim(s) 14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grieger in view of Haller (US 2021/0070198).
Grieger discloses the modular carrier assembly as set forth in claim 12, with the exception of the functional component comprising an electronic control module fixedly coupled to the tubular frame, wherein the module comprises a seat control module.
However, Haller discloses a carrier assembly (fig. 1) having a swivel mechanism (20) and a functional component coupled to a frame (61) of the carrier assembly (¶ 78-80); wherein the functional component comprises an electronic control module fixedly coupled to the frame, and wherein the module controls the swivel position of the seat (¶ 28).
Haller teaches that including the control module facilitates automation of the swivel assembly, and preferred driver settings may be included (¶ 11, 28).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the assembly of Grieger with an electronic control module, as taught by Haller, in order to automate the operation of the swivel assembly and thereby control the movement and position of the seat.
Accordingly, the assembly of Grieger and Haller would yield the predictable result of providing a functional component that comprises an electronic control module fixedly coupled to a tubular frame.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-11, 15 and 18-19 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/T.A./Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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