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
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 and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhou (CN207360133 U). Zhou shows the use of a child safety seat comprising: a seat shell (1) having a sidewall for restricting sideways movement of a child sitting on the seat shell, a mount base (223) fixedly connected to the sidewall of the seat shell, the mount base being provided with one or more flange (22,224) for attachment of the mount base to the sidewall; a buffering part (21) movably and pivotally connected with the seat shell, the buffering part being movable between a stowed position where the buffering part is retracted toward the first sidewall, and a deployed position where the buffering part protrudes sideways from the first sidewall; and a latching mechanism including a latch movably (23) carried with the buffering part, the latch being movable between a locking state for locking the buffering part, perpendicular to the sidewall, in the deployed position and an unlocking state for unlocking the buffering part so that the buffering part is rotatable relative to the seat shell. Regarding claim 9, the sidewall has an opening (Fig. 2) and the mount base protrudes from the bottom of the opening.
Claim(s) 1, 9-11, 13-15 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gebhardt et al. (DE 102015113836 A1). Gebhardt et al. shows the use of a child safety seat comprising: a seat shell (10a) having a sidewall (16a) for restricting sideways movement of a child sitting on the seat shell, a mount base (Fig. 2) fixedly connected to the sidewall of the seat shell, the mount base being provided with one or more flange (protruding from the mount base as shown in Fig. 2) for attachment of the mount base to the sidewall; a buffering part (26a) movably and pivotally connected with the seat shell, the buffering part being movable between a stowed position where the buffering part is retracted toward the first sidewall, and a deployed position where the buffering part protrudes sideways from the first sidewall; and a latching mechanism (30,32a) including a latch movably (30a) carried with the buffering part, the latch being movable between a locking state for locking the buffering part, in the deployed position and an unlocking state for unlocking the buffering part so that the buffering part is rotatable relative to the seat shell. Regarding claim 9, the sidewall inherently has an opening (Fig. 1) and the mount base protrudes from the bottom of the opening. Regarding claim 11, 13-14 the mount base has a base portion and the one or more flanges protrude (downwardly (the feet of the base) and outwardly (the tabs that secure the base portion to the sidewall) from different side surfaces of multiple intersecting side surfaces of the base portion and a pivot support portion at a top of the base portion whereby the buffering part is pivotally connected with the pivot support portion as shown in Fig., 2. Regarding claim 15, the pivot support portion is inherently at least partially cylindrical in shape (via the pivot axle partially shown in Fig. 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2-8, 12, 16-18 and 20 is 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY D BARFIELD whose telephone number is (571)272-6852. 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. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANTHONY D BARFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
adb
July 25, 2026
