DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This action is in response to the application 18/922,435 filed 10/22/2024 which claims priority to Republic of Korea 10-2023-0193478 12/27/2023.
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
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.
Claims 1-9, 14, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ostervig (EP 1,659,021 B1)(hereinafter Ostervig).
RE Claim 1: Ostervig discloses a rotatable vehicular seat comprising:
a seat portion (para 0001);
a pair of locking pins (2) disposed to face each other;
an inner plate (21) coupled to the seat portion and configured to accommodate the pair of locking pins therein (Figs 1-4);
an outer plate (26) configured to rotatably accommodate the inner plate (para 0024), the outer plate comprising a plurality of locking pin fixing grooves(52; para 0034), and one end of each of the locking pins configured to be inserted into a corresponding one of the locking pin fixing grooves (Figs 1-4); and
a locking pin bracket (1) disposed on the inner plate (Fig 2), wherein the locking pin bracket includes a first end and a second end respectively connected to the pair of locking pins (3, 4).
RE Claim 2: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 1, wherein: each of the locking pins includes a guide protrusion formed on one surface thereof and dimensioned to protrude outwards from the inner plate (Figs 1-4), and the locking pin bracket includes slot holes formed therein, each of the slot holes allowing a corresponding one of the guide protrusions of the locking pins to be movably accommodated therein (Figs 1-4).
RE Claim 3: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 2, wherein the locking pin bracket includes a lever rod provided thereon (5), and the lever rod is connected to the locking pin bracket and the inner plate and is configured to separate, based on release force applied to the lever rod, the one end of each of the locking pins from the corresponding one of the locking pin fixing grooves (Figs 1-4).
RE Claim 4: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 3, wherein a shaft (27) is provided at a rotation center of the inner plate (Figs 1-4), and the shaft connects the inner plate to the locking pin bracket and the lever rod (Figs 1-4).
RE Clam 5: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 3, wherein, when the lever rod is rotated by the release force, each of the guide protrusions of the locking pins is configured to be moved toward a center of the locking pin bracket along a corresponding one of the slot holes, thereby causing the one end of each of the locking pins to be separated from the corresponding one of the locking pin fixing grooves (para 0034-0038).
RE Claim 6: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 3, wherein the inner plate and the seat portion are configured to assume a rotatable state when the one end of each of the locking pins is separated from the corresponding one of the locking pin fixing grooves by the release force applied to the lever rod (Figs 1-4).
RE Claim 7: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 6, wherein the inner plate is configured to be fixed when the inner plate is rotated by rotation of the seat portion when any one of the locking pins accommodated in the inner plate is inserted into the corresponding one of the plurality of locking pin fixing grooves (Figs 1-4).
RE Claim 8: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 3, wherein the inner plate and the locking pin bracket are connected to each other through a torsion spring (Figs 1-4).
RE Claim 9: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 8, wherein a pair of the torsion springs is provided, each of the torsion springs include one end and the other end, and the other ends of each of the torsion springs are respectively connected to the first end and the second end of the locking pin bracket (Figs 1-4).
RE Claim 14: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 3, wherein: the locking pin bracket and the inner plate are connected to each other through a torsion spring (6), one end of the torsion spring is connected to the inner plate, and the other end of the torsion spring is connected to the locking pin bracket (Figs 1-4).
RE Claim 16: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 1, wherein the inner plate includes locking pin accommodation grooves formed thereon and configured to allow the pair of locking pins to be movable within the respective locking pin accommodation grooves, and each of the locking pin accommodation grooves serves as a reciprocating motion path for a corresponding one of the locking pins (Fig 1-4).
RE Claim 17: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 1, wherein the outer plate includes an inner plate accommodation space formed thereon and configured to accommodate the inner plate therein (Figs 1-4).
RE Claim 18: Ostervig discloses the rotatable vehicular seat of claim 1, wherein the locking pin fixing grooves are formed at equal intervals along a circumference of the outer plate (Figs 1-4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-13 and 15 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record does not disclose, either alone or in combination, the details of wherein the outer plate includes guide portions provided on an inner side thereof and formed at locations adjacent to the locking pin fixing grooves, and each of the guide portions is formed on the outer plate at a depth that is different from a depth of a corresponding one of the locking pin fixing grooves, and wherein each of the guide portions and the corresponding one of the locking pin fixing grooves are provided in a stepwise shape (claims 10-13) and a pair of the torsion springs is provided, and the respective force directions of the pair of torsion springs are opposite and parallel to each other, thereby rotating the locking pin bracket (claim 15), along with the remaining limitations of the claim.
This statement is not intended to necessarily state all the reasons for allowance or all the details why the claims are allowed and has not been written to specifically or impliedly state that all the reasons for allowance are set forth (MPEP 1302.14).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached PTO-892.
These documents present alternative designs similar in scope which illustrate relevant features in comparison to the Applicant’s submission. The cited prior art include various seat adjustment mechanisms for facilitating rotation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIA E GRABER whose telephone number is (571)272-4640. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5.
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, Timothy D Collins can be reached on 571-272-6886. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARIA E GRABER/Examiner, Art Unit 3644
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