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 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yasuo Kakishima et al. U.S. Patent Publication 2019/0184881 A1 (Kakishima).
Regarding claim 1, Kakishima discloses a headrest for a vehicle seat (Figure 2), the headrest comprising: a headrest frame supported by a seat back (Figure 2 Element 3); a pair of left and right electrical components supported by the headrest frame (Element 50); and a connecting member extending in a left-right direction and configured to connect the left and right electrical components (Figure 7), wherein the headrest frame comprises: a pair of left and right headrest stays that are supported by the seat back (Element 41a and 41b), and extend in a vertical direction, a pair of left and right vertical frames that extend in the vertical direction and are attached to the corresponding headrest stays, and a horizontal frame that extends in a left-right direction and connects upper ends of the vertical frames (Figure 6), wherein upper parts of the vertical frames extend obliquely upward toward the front, wherein the electrical components are arranged outside of the vertical frames in the left-right direction, wherein lower parts of the electrical components are supported by lower part of the vertical frames, and wherein the connecting member is located rearward of the horizontal frame (Figures 1-12).
Regarding claim 2, Kakishima discloses the headrest wherein the vertical frames are provided with first brackets that extend outward in the left-right direction, and wherein the electrical components are secured to the corresponding first brackets (Figure 6 Element 43).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-10 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.
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 SHIN H KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-7788. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-6PM.
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/SHIN H KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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