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 .
Application Status
Claims 1-12 are pending and have been examined in this application.
Claims 1 and 4 are currently amended; claims 2-3 were previously presented; claims 5-12 are new.
Claims 1-12 are rejected herein.
Information Disclosure Statement
As of the date of this action, an information disclosure statement (IDS) has been filed on 1/10/2025 and reviewed by the Examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 6/30/2026 have been considered but are moot the arguments do not apply to the current rejection/interpretation of Kajihara necessitated by the amendment to the claims. .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-4 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The recitation of claim 1 wherein “…the restrictor is provided at an end of the body extending in the specific plane is not supported by the original disclosure. The specification discloses restrictor and extending member as (22, 23) which extends perpendicular to the specific plane.
Claims 2-4 and 8 are rejected based on their respective dependencies.
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.
Claims 5-8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
The recitation of claim 5 wherein “…a central area of the body has a space facing a central portion of a seating area of the seating surface…” renders the claim indefinite because the seat is not an element of the claimed invention and it is improper to seek to define claimed structure based on some unclaimed element. In this case, the boundaries of the claim cannot be properly ascertain because one would not know whether their invention infringed the instant claim until someone else later added a seat. Accordingly, the cable holding device itself must be defined by its structural elements instead of relying upon a comparison with an unascertained element.
Claims 6-8 are rejected based on their respective dependencies.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 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 pre-AIA 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kajihara (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 20190084503 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kajihara teaches a cable holding device, comprising:
a body (body of 20) extending in a specific plane (lower horizontal plane overlapping 22) and comprising:
an attachment section (21a, 20a) configured to, with the specific plane facing a seating surface of a seat of a vehicle, attach the body to a seat component of the seat;
a lock (42) configured to lock at least a portion of a cable provided for the seat; and
a restrictor (portion 22) configured to prevent an unlocked portion from being moved in a predetermined direction (one of sideways or downward direction), the unlocked portion being the cable at least a portion of which is locked by the lock and not locked by the lock, wherein the restrictor is provided at an end of the body extending in the specific plane.
Regarding claim 2, Kajihara the restrictor (22) comprises one or more extending members extending from the body in a direction intersecting the specific plane.
Regarding claim 3, Kajihara teaches the restrictor (22) comprises one or more extending members extending from a predetermined linear area of a face of the body in a direction intersecting the specific plane.
Regarding claim 4, Kajihara teaches the predetermined direction (sideways direction) is orthogonal to the front-rear direction (see Figs. 1-8 for configuration).
Regarding claim 5, Kajihara teaches a cable holding device, comprising:
a body (body of 20) extending in a specific plane (lower horizontal plane overlapping 22) and comprising:
an attachment section (21a, 20a) configured to, with the specific plane facing a seating surface of a seat of a vehicle, attach the body to a seat component of the seat;
a lock (42) configured to lock at least a portion of a cable provided for the seat; and
a restrictor (portion 22) configured to prevent an unlocked portion from being moved in a predetermined direction, the unlocked portion being the cable at least a portion of which is locked by the lock and not locked by the lock,
wherein a central area (surface area of 21, 21a between 23 and 24 including lower vertical flange) of the body has a space facing a central portion of a seating area of the seating surface [capable].
Regarding claim 6, Kajihara teaches wherein: the restrictor (portion of 22) comprises one or more extending members (lower flange extending along the vertical plane between 21, 21a) extending from the body in a direction intersecting the specific plane.
Regarding claim 7, Kajihara teaches the restrictor (portion of 22) comprises one or more extending members (lower flange extending along the vertical plane between 21, 21a) extending from a predetermined linear area of a face of the body in a direction intersecting the specific plane [in thickness direction].
Regarding claim 8, Kajihara teaches the predetermined direction is orthogonal to a direction along which the predetermined linear area extends and intersects with a direction along which the extending members extend.
Regarding claim 9, Kajihara teaches a cable holding device, comprising:
a body (body of 20) extending in a specific plane and comprising:
an attachment section (21a, 21) configured to, with the specific plane facing a seating surface of a seat of a vehicle, attach the body to a seat component of the seat;
a lock (42) configured to lock at least a portion of a cable provided for the seat;
and a restrictor (portion of 22) configured to prevent an unlocked portion (curved portion of 40) from being moved in a predetermined direction (one of sideways or downward direction), the unlocked portion being the cable at least a portion of which is locked by the lock and not locked by the lock,
wherein both in a state after the body is attached to the seat component with at least a portion of the cable locked on the lock and a state before the body is attached to the seat component with at least a portion of the cable locked on the lock, the restrictor prevents the unlocked portion from being moved in the predetermined direction (e.g. sideways and/or downward).
Regarding claim 10, Kajihara teaches the restrictor comprises one or more extending members (lower flange extending along the vertical plane between 21, 21a) extending from the body in a direction intersecting the specific plane.
Regarding claim 11, Kajihara teaches the restrictor comprises one or more extending members (lower flange extending along the vertical plane between 21, 21a) extending from a predetermined linear area of a face of the body in a direction intersecting the specific plane [in thickness direction].
Regarding claim 12, Kajihara teaches wherein: the predetermined direction (at least one of sideways or downward direction) is orthogonal to a direction along which the predetermined linear area extends and intersects with a direction along which the extending members extend.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUHAMMAD IJAZ whose telephone number is (571)272-6280. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11:00 am-10:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at 5712728227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MUHAMMAD IJAZ
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3631
/Muhammad Ijaz/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631
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