The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is the first Office Action for the serial number 18/970,628, LOAD LEG ENERGY ABSORPTION SYSTEM, filed on 12/5/24.
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of species I with figures 1-3 and 8 in the reply filed on 8/24/26 is acknowledged.
Since the applicant elected species I, claims 18-19 read on non elected species V (figure 12) with gas/spring and claims 24-27 read on non elected species VII (figure 14) with a deformable member, therefore, claims 18-19 and 24-27 are withdrawn to non-elected inventions.
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 1-2 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication # 2006/0163921 to Macliver.
Macliver teaches a system comprising a load leg (25) positioned to abut against a floor of a vehicle and a support component (10) configured to engage with corresponding coupling components of a child safety seat (30) to a selected vehicle seat and restrict displacement movements therebetween when a collision occurs. The system includes an energy absorption assembly (0041) configured to connect the load leg and the support component and absorb crash energy during the collision by at least limiting downward motions of a child occupant in the child safety seat. The load leg includes a first tubular member (26) and a second tubular member (25b), wherein the first tubular member is telescopically moveable relative to the second tubular member for adjusting a length of the load leg. The system is removable from the vehicle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-17 and 20-23 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 following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior arts fail to teach all of the limitations from independent claim 1 and dependent 3 especially with “wherein the energy absorption assembly is rotatably connected with the support component via a joint and rotatably connected with the load leg via a connection component a first torsion shaft.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US Patent Application Publication # 2025/0313135 to Cheng
US Patent # 11,097,639 to Harmes, V et al.
The cited references above teach a support base for the child safety seat.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALFRED J WUJCIAK whose telephone number is (571)272-6827. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-3:30pm.
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ALFRED J. WUJCIAK III
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3632
/ALFRED J WUJCIAK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636 9/2/26
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