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)(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.
Claim(s) 4-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Negishi et al (US 11,325,553).
Negishi discloses in figures 1 – 6 a seat back comprising a cushion body (72) that elastically supports a seater; and a seat frame that supports the cushion body from a backside of a seat, wherein the cushion body has a main member and two side members, and wherein the side member has a supporting member (20), and wherein the supporting member has an opening for a deployment area of an airbag (10) that inflates to a front of the seat [Claim 4]. the cushion body has a seat pad (72), a seat cover (figure 1) for covering the seat pad, and the supporting member that extends along the backside of the seat pad in a plane shape [Claim 5]. has a stay cloth (31, 32) that guides a deployment direction of the airbag, wherein the stay cloth is sewn to an end of each cover piece, which breaks (70) upon airbag deployment [Claim 6]. further has a side airbag device (10) being attachable to an outer portion in a seat width direction on one side of the seat frame [Claim 7]. wherein the side airbag device has an airbag that inflates and deploys to a front of the seat and a guide plate (figure 2, 23a reference area) that protects the airbag from direct contact with the edges of the opening of the supporting member [Claim 8].
Claim(s) 4, 5, 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by JP (4463700).
JP ‘700 discloses in figures 1 – 4 a seat back comprising a cushion body (22) that elastically supports a seater; and a seat frame (10) that supports the cushion body from a backside of a seat, wherein the cushion body has a main member and two side members, and wherein the side member has a supporting member (70), and wherein the supporting member has an opening for a deployment area of an airbag (50) that inflates to a front of the seat [Claim 4]. the cushion body has a seat pad (22), a seat cover (23) for covering the seat pad, and the supporting member that extends along the backside of the seat pad in a plane shape [Claim 5]. further has a side airbag device (50) being attachable to an outer portion in a seat width direction on one side of the seat frame [Claim 7]. wherein the side airbag device has an airbag (51) that inflates and deploys to a front of the seat and a guide plate (68) that protects the airbag from direct contact with the edges of the opening of the supporting member [Claim 8].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 – 3 are allowed.
Claims 9-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the prior art made of record teach or suggest a seat back comprising: a cushion body that elastically supports a seater; a seat frame that supports the cushion body from a backside of a seat; and a side airbag device having an airbag that inflates to the front of the seat that is attached to an outer portion in a seat width direction on one side of the seat frame, wherein the cushion body further comprises a seat pad serving as a cushioning portion, a seat cover for covering the seat pad, and a supporting member that is extendable along the backside of the seat pad in a plane shape, wherein the supporting member is configured to support the seat pad in a plane shape from the backside of the seat and to fasten the ends of the seat cover to the seat frame, wherein the cushion body covers the side airbag device from the front of the seat, and wherein the supporting member has an opening for a deployment area of the airbag that inflates to the front of the seat.
Conclusion
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/NICOLE T VERLEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614