DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
Examiner’s Note
Examiner has cited particular paragraphs/columns and line numbers or figures in the references as applied to the claims below for convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations with the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Furthermore, the Examiner is not limited to the Applicant’s definition which is not specifically set forth in the claims.
Information Disclosure Statements
The Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 10/24/2025 has/have been acknowledged.
Status of Application
The preliminarily amended list of claims 1-10 is pending in this application. In the preliminarily amended claim set filed 10/24/2025:
Claim(s) 1-10 has/have been amended.
Claim(s) 1 is/are the independent claim(s) observed in the application.
Non-Final Rejection
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 6-10 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6 is objected to based on a minor antecedent basis issue due to recitation of “an occupant,” which is previously recited in independent claim 1, and should instead therefore recite “the occupant.”
Claim 7 is objected to based on a minor antecedent basis issue due to recitation of “the recorded data,” which is not previously recited, and should instead therefore recite “recorded data.”
Claim 8 is objected to based on a minor antecedent basis issue due to recitation of “a motor vehicle” and “a backrest,” which are previously recited in independent claim 1, and should instead therefore recite “the motor vehicle” and “the backrest.”
Claim 9 is objected to based on a minor antecedent basis issue due to recitation of “the ignition time data” and “the inflation behavior” which are not previously recited, and should instead therefore recite “ignition time data” and “inflation behavior.”
Claim 10 is objected to based on a minor antecedent basis issue due to recitation of “a restraint system” and “an occupant,” which are previously recited in independent claim 1, and should instead therefore recite “the restraint system” and “the occupant.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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 4 and 5 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.
With respect to claim 4, claim 4 recites: “wherein the belt retractor forms a cross member for a rear seat;” however, this does not make sense structurally, as the Applicant’s invention is directed towards a restraint system embedded in a front seat of a vehicle to deploy the airbag to protect occupants in the rear seat; therefore, the restraint system comprising a structural element in the rear seat appears to be improper claim construction. In order to expedite prosecution, the Examiner has interpreted the claim limitation as instead reciting: “wherein the belt retractor forms a cross member for a front seat” as is consistent with Applicant’s claimed invention.
With respect to claim 5, claim 5 recites: “The restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the restraint system has an electronic control unit which is designed to control the airbag, the radar sensor and the belt retractor,” which creates indefiniteness due to lack of antecedent basis for the term belt retractor. As, compared with the minor antecedent basis objections above, the term “belt retractor” is introduced in dependent claims 3 and 4; therefore, it is unclear if the Applicant intended to recite “The restraint system according to…” either claim 3 or 4; or if Applicant intended to re-introduce the “belt retractor” for the first time by reciting “a belt retractor.” For the sake of compact prosecution, the Examiner has interpreted the claim as instead reciting “a belt retractor.”
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, 2 and 5-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ghannam et al. (United States Patent Publication 2021/0051455 A1) referenced as Ghannam moving forward.
With respect to claim 1, Ghannam discloses: “A Restraint system for installation in a backrest of a motor vehicle, the restraint system having an airbag, the airbag being designed to restrain an occupant behind the backrest, wherein the restraint system has a radar sensor which is designed to detect an occupant behind the backrest” [Ghannam; In at least the paragraphs and figures cited, Ghannam discloses airbag system stowed in a front seat(denoted 25 in Fig. 2A-2B) that deploys to protect an occupant seated in a rear seat(denoted 26 in Fig. 2A-2B). Ghannam further discloses a proximity sensor(denoted 35P in Fig. 2B), which may comprise for example a radar sensor("and/or electronic control units (ECUs) that are known to provide data, e.g., on a vehicle communications bus or network, such as, radar, ultrasonic sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, thermometers, barometers, altimeters, current sensing devices, voltage sensing devices, microphones, light sensors, etc.;" ¶: 0015); See also: Fig. 2A, 2B; ¶: 0031-0034].
With respect to claim 2, Ghannam discloses: “The restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the radar sensor is arranged next to the airbag” [Ghannam; In at least Fig. 2B, the disclosed proximity sensor, 35p, is positioned "next to" the airbag, 23.].
With respect to claim 5, Ghannam discloses: “The restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the restraint system has an electronic control unit which is designed to control the airbag, the radar sensor and the belt retractor” [Ghannam; In at least Fig. 1, Ghannam discloses a computer, 30, that communicates with the sensors, 35, and the airbag module, 36; See also: Fig. 1; ¶: 0011-0017].
With respect to claim 6, Ghannam discloses: “The restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the radar sensor is designed to measure a distance to an occupant” [Ghannam; "Based on data received from the proximity sensor 35 p supported in the back of the front seat 25, the computer 30 may determine as the gap distance G the distance detected between the proximity sensor 35 p and an object identified by the proximity sensor 35 p. For example, the proximity sensor 35 p may identify and detect the distance to the back of the rear seat 26 behind the front seat 25, or the proximity sensor 35 p identify and detect the distance to the occupant of the rear seat 26;" Fig. 2A-2B; ¶: 0034].
With respect to claim 7, Ghannam discloses: “The restraint system according claim 1, wherein the airbag can be controlled on the basis of the recorded data of the radar sensor” [Ghannam; In at least paragraph 0023 of the Applicant's specification, the Applicant states that distance from the radar sensor to an occupant is an example of data recorded by the radar sensor. In view of this Fig. 2A-2B; ¶: 0034 of Ghannam anticipates the claim as follows: "Based on data received from the proximity sensor 35 p supported in the back of the front seat 25, the computer 30 may determine as the gap distance G the distance detected between the proximity sensor 35 p and an object identified by the proximity sensor 35 p. For example, the proximity sensor 35 p may identify and detect the distance to the back of the rear seat 26 behind the front seat 25, or the proximity sensor 35 p identify and detect the distance to the occupant of the rear seat 26."].
With respect to claim 8, Ghannam discloses: “A vehicle seat for a motor vehicle, comprising a backrest wherein the backrest has the restraint system according to claim 1” [Ghannam; In at least Fig. 2A-2B, Ghannam discloses that the previously recited airbag and proximity sensor are located in the seat back, 28, which is also known as a backrest in the art; See also: ¶: 0016].
With respect to claim 9, Ghannam discloses: “A method for controlling the restraint system according to claim 1, wherein the ignition time of the airbag and/or the inflation behavior of the airbag is controlled over time and/or the inflation behavior of the airbag in the geometry is controlled on the basis of the radar sensor” [Ghannam; In at least Fig. 6, Ghannam discloses a flow chart comprising a method of determining whether or not deploy the airbag based on the determined gap distance determined by the previously recited proximity sensor(35P in Fig. 2A-2B). Specifically, Block 140 in Fig. 6 recites determining the gap distance, and Block 145 in Fig. 6 selectively deploying the airbag based on the gap: "For example, when gap distance G is below a first threshold value, the computer 30 may inhibit the airbag 23 from deploying, e.g., may not provide a signal to deploy the airbag 23;" ¶: 0035; See also: ¶: 0027-0034].
With respect to claim 10, Ghannam discloses: “The method for controlling a restraint system according to claim 9, wherein the radar sensor detects the distance and/or the size of an occupant” [Ghannam; See Block 140 in Fig. 6: "At block 140, the computer 30 determines a gap distance G behind the front seat 25;" ¶: 0030;
"Based on data received from the proximity sensor 35 p supported in the back of the front seat 25, the computer 30 may determine as the gap distance G the distance detected between the proximity sensor 35 p and an object identified by the proximity sensor 35 p;" ¶: 0034; See also: ¶: 0027-0029, 0031-0033, 0035].
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claim(s) 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghannam in view of FAROOQ (United States Patent Publication 2021/0094503 A1) referenced as Farooq moving forward.
With respect to claim 3, Ghannam does not specifically state the “wherein the airbag and the radar sensor are fastened to a belt retractor.”
Farooq, which is in the same field of invention of vehicle airbag systems, teaches: “wherein the airbag and the radar sensor are fastened to a belt retractor” [Farooq; In at least the paragraphs and figures cited, Farooq teaches an airbag assembly stowed in the front seat(referred to as occupant seating area, 38 in Fig. 1) of a vehicle that deploys to protect occupants seated on a rear bench seat(denoted 52 in Fig. 1) of the vehicle. Farooq further teaches that the airbag is connected to a series of pulleys(denoted 54 in Fig. 2) and tether(denoted 18 in Fig. 2), which are used to retract the airbag back into the seat after it is deployed. In view of this, the disclosed combination of tether and pulleys has been interpreted as patentably indistinct from the Applicant's broadly recited belt retractor; Fig. 1, 2; ¶: 0020-0026, 0041-0044].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling an airbag to deploy to protect an occupant seated in the rear seat of a vehicle as disclosed by Ghannam to incorporate the teachings regarding a pulley-based airbag retraction mechanism as taught by Farooq with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling an airbag to deploy to protect an occupant seated in the rear seat of a vehicle that is able to be retracted effectively after inflating [Farooq; ¶: 0011-0020].
With respect to claim 4, Ghannam does not specifically state the “wherein the belt retractor forms a cross member for a rear seat.”
Farooq teaches: “wherein the belt retractor forms a cross member for a rear seat” [Farooq; In at least the paragraphs and figures cited, Farooq teaches a cross-member(denoted 44 in Fig. 2) connected to the previously recited airbag, pulleys and tether; Fig. 1, 2; ¶: 0020-0026, 0041-0044].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system/method for controlling an airbag to deploy to protect an occupant seated in the rear seat of a vehicle as disclosed by Ghannam to incorporate the teachings regarding a pulley-based airbag retraction mechanism as taught by Farooq with a reasonable expectation of success. By combining these inventions, the outcome is a system/method for controlling an airbag to deploy to protect an occupant seated in the rear seat of a vehicle that is able to be retracted effectively after inflating [Farooq; ¶: 0011-0020].
Prior Art (Not relied upon)
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in the attached form 892.
Jaradi et al. (United States Patent 11,358,554 B1) discloses: An assembly includes a seatback and a head restraint supported by the seatback. The assembly includes a panel slidably engaged with the seatback. The panel is movable relative to the head restraint to a deployed position rearward of the head restraint. The assembly includes an airbag supported by the panel and inflatable forward toward the head restraint.
SCHNEIDER (United States Patent Publication 2019/0263346 A1) discloses: A vehicle seat includes a seatback, a headrest and an airbag unit. The seatback has a front side and a rear side. The headrest is connected to the seatback by at least one post and is adjustable relative to the seatback in a vertical direction. The airbag unit is carried by the seatback and includes an airbag and an inflator. The airbag is rearwardly deployable from the rear side of the seatback from a stored position proximate an upper end of the seatback. The at least one post is oriented relative to the airbag unit in a position selected from a group consisting of a first position in which the at least one post includes a lower end vertically above the airbag unit with a line along an elongated axis of the at least one post intersecting the airbag unit and a second position on which the at least one post is laterally spaced from the airbag unit.
Usami (United States Patent Publication 2020/0369231 A1) discloses: To reduce an amount of rear protrusion of a vehicle seat equipped with an airbag module configured to deploy rearward, in a vehicle seat (1) provided with a seat cushion (3) and a seat back (4), the seat back includes: a seat back frame (7) including a pair of left and right side frames (11) extending in a vertical direction and an upper frame (12) connecting upper ends of the side frames to each other; an airbag module (43) supported by an upper half of the seat back frame via a bracket (31); and a skin member (9) covering the seat back frame, the bracket, and the airbag module from a rear side thereof, wherein a part of the skin member corresponding to the airbag module is provided with a frangible portion (80) configured to open upon inflation of an airbag (45).
Thomas (United States Patent Publication 2021/0300275 A1) discloses: One general aspect includes a system of restraint deployment regulation, the system includes: a memory configured to include a plurality of executable instructions and a processor configured to execute the executable instructions, where the executable instructions enable the processor to: (a) determine, based on a seat occupation sensor output, whether a non-adult occupant is occupying a vehicle seat; (b) determine, based on an in-cabin sensor output, whether a child restraint seat is mounted on the vehicle seat; and (c) based on steps (a) and (b), enable or suppress a deployment of an airbag module that corresponds with the vehicle seat.
Schneider (United States Patent Publication 2022/0227325 A1) discloses: A seatback-mounted rear airbag assembly is disclosed wherein the airbag assembly is mounted forward of an occupant of a rearward vehicle seating position and disposed at least partially within a seatback of a vehicle seating position forward of the occupant. The airbag assembly is disposed partially within the seatback and partially within a headrest whereby a lower attachment and an upper attachment of an inflatable airbag cushion couple the inflatable airbag cushion at multiple points to properly disposed the inflatable airbag cushion forward of the occupant.
Macey et al. (United States Patent Publication 2023/0192025 A1) discloses: Aspects of the disclosure provide for airbag systems suited for autonomous vehicles. Such an airbag system may include a first chamber, a second chamber, a dual-stage inflator, an orifice blocker mechanism and a control module. The dual-stage inflator may be in fluid communication with the first chamber via a first orifice and in fluid communication with the second chamber via a second orifice. The orifice blocker mechanism may be configured to block and unblock gas flow from the second orifice to the second chamber. The control module may be configured to activate the dual-stage inflator in order to inflate one or both of the first chamber and the second chamber with gas based on a position of the orifice blocker mechanism relative to the second orifice.
TAKAHASHI et al. (United States Patent Publication 2023/0415690 A1) discloses: An occupant protection device includes a seat having a seat portion and a backrest portion, an elongated restraining member for restraining an occupant in the seat, and a take-up unit that takes up the restraining member, wherein the restraining member is fed out from a housing portion of the seat and pulled up toward an upper end side of the backrest portion in accompaniment to an operation of the take-up unit, forming an occupant supporting portion, which supports a back face side of left and right thigh portions of the occupant, and a pulling portion that extends from both left and right ends of the occupant supporting portion to the upper end side of the backrest portion, and restrains the occupant against the backrest portion.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMI N BEDEWI whose telephone number is (571)272-5753. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday - 6:00 am - 11:00 am & 12:00pm - 5:00 pm.
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/RAMI NABIH BEDEWI/Examiner, Art Unit 3666C
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