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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Specification Objection
Inconsistent
The title has been stated inconsistently throughout the application, as “Seat Part of Chairs,” “Seat,” and “Seat [part of chairs]”. The title must be amended to appear consistently throughout the application, original oath or declaration excepted. Correction is required.
Claim Rejection - 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) and (b)
The claim is refused under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and (b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first and second paragraphs, as the claimed invention is not described in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the same, and fails 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.
Single view showing multiple surfaces
The claim is indefinite and non-enabling due to the disclosure of features visible in only one view. The exact 3-dimensional appearance of these features cannot be determined from the one view in which they are shown. It is unclear where and how these surfaces lie in relation to the adjacent surfaces. Showing an element only in one elevation view makes it impossible to distinguish the differences between the orientation and curvatures of planes, which may create a variety of different depths within the design. Furthermore, it is unknown whether they are surface ornamentation or recessed areas. If they are recessed, it is not known how far they are recessed.
The shapes and appearances of the highlighted portions in the annotated drawings below cannot be determined due to being only shown in these views.
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335
868
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365
898
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423
980
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876
864
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Applicant may attempt to overcome this refusal by indicating that protection is not sought for the above highlighted indefinite and non-enabling portions by amending the reproductions to colorwash or converting said surfaces to broken lines, thus disclaiming those surfaces. See 37 CFR 1.1026 and Hague Administrative Instructions Section 403.
If applicant chooses to do so, the surface contour shading must be removed as well. Further, an appropriate statement must be added to the specification following the figure descriptions, but prior to the claim, to clearly describe the portions of the claim that form no part thereof. For example, if applicant converts the unclaimed portions to broken lines, the following statement would be acceptable:
-- The broken lines depict portions of the [Amended Title] that form no part of the claim. --
Corrected drawing sheets of the reproductions are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet of the reproductions should include all of the views appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one view is being amended. The view of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended”. If a drawing view is to be canceled, the appropriate view must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining views must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbered of the remaining views. Each drawing sheet of reproductions submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “REPLACEMENT SHEET” or “NEW SHEET” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). Applicant is reminded that the numbering of the reproductions and legends mu
Care must be exercised to avoid introduction of anything which could be construed as new matter prohibited by 35 USC 132 and 37 CFR 1.121 when preparing amended reproductions.
Conclusion
The claim stands refused under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) and (b) as set forth above.
A reply to this Office Action is required to avoid abandonment of the application.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QIAWEN WIECHERT whose telephone number is 703-756-1727. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Rempfer can be reached on 571-270-0248. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Q.W.W./
Examiner, Art Unit 2932
/DARCEY E GOTTSCHALK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2922
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