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
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoshikawa et al. (US Patent Number 10737599).
Regarding claim 1, Yoshikawa discloses a vehicle seating assembly comprising: a seat; a seatback including: a frame having: substantially horizontal frame members; substantially vertical frame members (see at least Figure 4 showing the seat and frame members); first and second support members (8 and 18, etc., and 9 and 19, etc., respectively) operably coupled to the substantially horizontal frame members; and first and second displacement limiters (at least 11 and 12) coupled to the first and second support members, wherein the first and second support members are movable between a stored position and a deployed position (as in Figure 5) in response to a force exerted on the seatback (at least via the sensors, etc.).
Regarding claim 2, Yoshikawa further discloses the first and second displacement limiters extend between the first and second support members and the frame (this is the general arrangement; see figures).
Regarding claim 5, Yoshikawa further discloses the seat back has a back wall formed by adjacent first and second displaceable panels (8 and 9 provide such panels forming a back wall).
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) 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshikawa in view of Merchant et al. (US Patent Application Publication Number 2020/0070690). Yoshikawa discloses an assembly as explained above but does not disclose details of the support members. Merchant discloses a related device including support members including flanges (24, 25, etc.) extending orthogonally from the support members, and a back support member (22 and/or 86) disposed proximate a frame, wherein the back support member and other support members define a substantially flat load floor when the seatback is in a folded position (see figures). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide support member details as taught by Merchant in Yoshikawa’s device because this could improve comfort and functionality for various users.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 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 11-16 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art (in addition to Yoshikawa, see in particular US 9358913 to Schurg, US 9187012 to Sachs, and US 7537286 to Walker) does not disclose, inter alia, a seat and seatback frame arrangement including support members arranged and pivoted at locations as claimed, nor would it have been obvious to provide such.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILIP F GABLER whose telephone number is (571)272-2155. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00 - 4:30.
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/PHILIP F GABLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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