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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 3, 7, 10-11, and 13-15 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.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the engagement end" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 7, 10, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) for depending on the clarity of claim 3.
Claim 11, in lines 1-2, recites the limitation “the infant carrier includes two anchors”. It is unclear if the anchor of claim 1 is one of the “two anchors” or if the “two anchors” are entirely different.
Claim 15, in line 9, recites the limitation “the infant carrier includes two anchors”. It is unclear if the anchor from earlier in the claim is one of the “two anchors” or if the “two anchors” are entirely different.
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.
Claims 1-4, 11-13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Williams (US-20240092236-A1).
Williams discloses an infant car seat anchoring assembly.
Claim 1 – Williams teaches an infant carrier (element 10 in figure 1), comprising:
a carrier body (element 100 in figure 1);
an anchor for connecting to a vehicle seat (elements 202’ and 204’ in figure 12), the anchor being pivotally connected to the carrier body and configured to pivot between a folded position (figure 14A) and an unfolded position (figures 14B-14D),
wherein one of the carrier body and the anchor is provided with an engagement portion, and the other one of the carrier body and the anchor is provided with a position limiting portion (the anchor, element 202’, has a portion that engages a position limiting portion, element 602, on the carrier body, element 100, in figure 27), and when the anchor is pivoted to the folded position, the engagement portion is engaged with the position limiting portion to restrict the anchor in the folded position (figure 27),
wherein the position limiting portion is a position limiting slot (element 603 in figure 27), the engagement portion includes an engagement pin (element 602 in figure 27) and an engagement spring (element 610 in figure 27), the engagement pin is configured to protrude from or retract into the one of the carrier body and the anchor (protruding from the carrier body, element 100, in figure 27), and the engagement spring tends to make the engagement pin protrude from the one of the carrier body and the anchor to engage with the position limiting slot (figure 27).
Claim 2 – Williams teaches an engagement end of the engagement pin that engages with the position limiting slot is tapered (element 608 in figure 27), and an opening edge of the position limiting slot is provided with a first guiding slope (the edge of the position limiting slot that contacts element 608 in figure 27 is sloped), so that the engagement pin is disengaged from the position limiting slot when the anchor is driven to pivot (“via these respective slopes, the anchor 202, 202’ may be rotated with limited frictional resistance over the first sloped surface 606 towards a fully retracted position in the retained region 604 of the pocket 132, while encountering greater resistance when being rotated back over the second sloped surface 608 towards the various extended positions” in paragraph [0121]).
Claims 3-4 – Williams teaches the engagement end of the engagement pin that engages with the position limiting slot is tapered (element 606 in figure 27), and an edge of the other one of the carrier body and the anchor that contacts the engagement pin is provided with a second guiding slope (the edge of the anchor, element 604 in figure 27, that contacts element 606 in figure 27 is sloped), so that the engagement pin retracts into the one of the carrier body and the anchor when the anchor is driven to pivot toward the folded position (“via these respective slopes, the anchor 202, 202’ may be rotated with limited frictional resistance over the first sloped surface 606 towards a fully retracted position in the retained region 604 of the pocket 132, while encountering greater resistance when being rotated back over the second sloped surface 608 towards the various extended positions” in paragraph [0121]).
Claim 11-13 – Williams teaches the infant carrier includes two anchors (elements 202’ and 204’ in figure 12), the two anchors are connected via a connecting rod (element 208 in figure 12), and the connecting rod is provided with a connecting rod gear (element 220 in figure 12),
the carrier body is provided with a support device (figure 12), the support device includes a pivotable support rod (element 206’ in figure 12) and a support rod gear fixedly connected to a pivot end of the support rod (element 222 in figure 12),
wherein the support rod gear meshes with the connecting rod gear (figure 13) so that the pivot direction of the support rod is opposite to that of the anchor (in regards to the support rod, element 206’, “can be configured to rotate in a direction that is opposite from the direction in which the first and second car seat anchors 202’ and 204’ rotate” in paragraph [0085]), when the anchor is in the folded position, the support rod is located on one side of a vertical line passing through a pivot axis of the support rod (in figure 9, the vertical line is the side profile of the plane created by axis
D
1
and axis
A
R
1
, and the support rod can be seen on one side of the vertical line); and when the anchor is in the unfolded position, the support rod is located on the other side of the vertical line (in figure 8, the support rod can be seen on the other side of the aforementioned imaginary vertical line).
Claim 15 – Williams teaches an infant carrier (element 10 in figure 1), comprising:
a carrier body (element 100 in figure 1);
an anchor for connecting to a vehicle seat (elements 202’ and 204’ in figure 12), the anchor being pivotally connected to the carrier body and configured to pivot between a folded position (figure 14A) and an unfolded position (figures 14B-14D),
wherein one of the carrier body and the anchor is provided with an engagement portion, and the other one of the carrier body and the anchor is provided with a position limiting portion (the anchor, element 202’, has a portion that engages a position limiting portion, element 602, on the carrier body, element 100, in figure 27), and when the anchor is pivoted to the folded position, the engagement portion is engaged with the position limiting portion to restrict the anchor in the folded position (figure 27),
wherein the infant carrier includes two anchors (elements 202’ and 204’ in figure 12), the two anchors are connected via a connecting rod (element 208 in figure 12), and the connecting rod is provided with a connecting rod gear (element 220 in figure 12),
the carrier body is provided with a support device (figure 12), the support device includes a pivotable support rod (element 206’ in figure 12) and a support rod gear fixedly connected to a pivot end of the support rod (element 222 in figure 12),
wherein the support rod gear meshes with the connecting rod gear (figure 13) so that the pivot direction of the support rod is opposite to that of the anchor (in regards to the support rod, element 206’, “can be configured to rotate in a direction that is opposite from the direction in which the first and second car seat anchors 202’ and 204’ rotate” in paragraph [0085]); when the anchor is in the folded position, the support rod is located on one side of a vertical line passing through a pivot axis of the support rod (in figure 9, the vertical line is the side profile of the plane created by axis
D
1
and axis
A
R
1
, and the support rod can be seen on one side of the vertical line); and when the anchor is in the unfolded position, the support rod is located on the other side of the vertical line (in figure 8, the support rod can be seen on the other side of the aforementioned imaginary vertical line).
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.
Claims 5-10 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams (US-20240092236-A1) alone.
Claims 5-7 – Williams teaches the anchor includes a straight anchor connecting joint at its free end (elements 202c/202d and 204c/204d in figure 13) and a curved anchor connecting portion at its pivot end (elements 202e and 204e in figure 13), the anchor connecting joint is configured to connect with the vehicle seat (figure 11), and the anchor connecting portion is pivotally connected with the carrier body and curved toward the folded position (figures 14A-14D),
Williams does not teach the position limiting slot or the engagement pin is provided on the anchor connecting portion.
A position limiting slot and engagement pin, also known as a detent retainer, is old and well known in the art. Williams teaches a detent retainer, just not in the exact same location. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to place the position limiting slot or the engagement pin on the anchor connecting portion since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
Claim 8-10 – Williams teaches the carrier body is provided with a receiving groove (elements 132 and 134 in figure 12), and the anchor pivoted to the folded position is configured to be accommodated in the receiving groove (figures 14A-14D),
Williams does not teach the position limiting slot is provided on a side of the receiving groove facing the anchor, and the engagement pin is provided on a side of the anchor facing the receiving groove.
A position limiting slot and engagement pin, also known as a detent retainer, is old and well known in the art. Williams teaches a detent retainer, just not in the exact same location. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to place the position limiting slot on a side of the receiving groove facing the anchor, and the engagement pin on as side of the anchor facing the receiving groove since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
PNG
media_image1.png
457
497
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Image 1
Claim 14 – Williams does not teach the engagement pin is provided on the anchor, and the position limiting slot and the second guiding slope are provided on the carrier body; and
the anchor is configured such that when the anchor is in the unfolded position, the engagement pin abuts against the second guiding slope to prevent the anchor from pivoting toward the folded position.
A position limiting slot and engagement pin, also known as a detent retainer, is old and well known in the art. Williams teaches a detent retainer, just not in the exact same location. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to place the engagement pin on the anchor, and the position limiting slot and the second guiding slope on the carrier body since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. The second guiding slope, in this obvious modification, would be the sloped front edge, element A in Image 1 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TROY A LIBBY whose telephone number is (571)272-6676. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri; 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM EST.
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DAVID DUNN can be reached at (571) 272-6670. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/T.A.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636
Prosecution Insights