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 § 112
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 41-43 and 49-58 are 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The claims 41-43 and 49-58 don’t further limit the method of providing access with additional method steps. Applicant must clarify.
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) 40-41 and 49-58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ferry et al. (2015/0175266). Ferry et al. shows the use of a passenger seating arrangement for use in an aircraft cabin, the passenger seating arrangement comprising a column (29) of seat units (40,140) located adjacent an aisle, the column of seat units and the aisle both extending in a longitudinal direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of an aircraft cabin (Fig. 1, 17), the column comprising a plurality of seat units, arranged consecutively along the longitudinal direction, each seat unit comprising a plurality of moveable seating elements orientated at an acute angle (Figs., 1,17) to the longitudinal direction and facing inwardly towards the aisle, each seat unit comprising a foot-receiving structure (42, 142) for receiving the feet of a passenger, the spacing between the foot-receiving structure of a first seat unit of the plurality of seat units and the foot-receiving structure of a second seat unit adjacent to the first seat unit in the column defining an access opening to the first seat unit (Fig. 1A); the access opening of the first seat unit to have a first width for access by an able-bodied passenger (Fig. 4); and temporarily configuring the first seat unit into a disabled-access configuration in which the access opening is temporarily widened from the first width to a second width, greater than the first width, for enabling the disabled passenger to access the first seat unit (Fig. 3), whereby the second width is at least the width of the aisle. Regarding claim 49, the acute angle of the seat elements are orientated to the longitudinal is at least 45 degrees (Fig. 1). Regarding claim 50, the pitch is can be designed by one of ordinary skill in the art to be between 27-29 inches between consecutive seat units (see para[00143]), as it has been held that an obvious trying of different sizes is within the teachings of one ordinary skill in the art. see KSR. Regarding claims 51-52 Ferry et al. shows the use of a second column of seat units adjacent the aisle on an opposite side of the aisle opposing the column of seat units on a side of the aisle (Figs. 1, 17). The seat units are configurable between a seating and flat-bed configuration whereby the foot receiving-structure comprising an ottoman (65) that is coplanar with the flat-bed surface and when the seat unit is the flat bed configuration in regards to claims 53-56. Regarding claim 57, Ferry et al. shows the use of a movable seating elements that includes a seat back (408, 624,724), a seat pan (171, 622,722) and a leg rest (740). Ferry et al. shows all of the teachings of the claimed invention. Regarding claim 58, the seat pan moves forward relative to the a position in the seating configuration (Fig. 4). Consequently, the methods steps as claimed would have been incorporated within the use of the invention as taught by Ferry et al.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 44-48 and 59-60 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 42-43 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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.
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/ANTHONY D BARFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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August 4, 2026
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