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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/12/2026 has been entered.
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) 1, 4-7, 11-12, 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Allen (US2008/0229676) in view of Ortega et al. (US2018/0274244).
In claim 1, Allen discloses a sill pan (fig. 1) for a building opening, comprising: a bottom plate (10) having a first end, a second end, a front edge, and a rear edge; the bottom plate having a length between the first end and the second end, and a width between the front edge and the rear edge, one or more protrusions (26, 42) extending outward from the bottom plate, the one or more protrusions defining a moisture-directing profile, wherein the at least one or more protrusions (42) extends along the length of the bottom plate and substantially an entire length of the at least one of the one or more protrusions (26) is in fluid communication with both the front edge and the rear edge of the bottom plate in a direction that is perpendicular to the length of the bottom plate; an end wall (18) located at the first end of the bottom plate, the end wall extending substantially away from the first end in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the bottom plate, the end wall having a front edge and a rear edge, the front edge of the end wall being coplanar with the front edge of the bottom plate and the rear edge of the end wall being coplanar with the rear edge of the bottom plate; a front skirt (22) that is connected to the front edge of the bottom plate and the front edge of the end wall; wherein the bottom plate, the end wall, the front skirt are formed as a unitary body.
Allen does not disclose that the unitary body is made from foldable material that is able to be vacuum-formed, the one or more protrusions comprising one or more crushable protrusions that are designed to undergo plastic deformation under a load applied during installation, wherein, prior to the plastic deformation, the one or more protrusions are non-load bearing relative to the load applied during installation and being self-supporting in a no-load condition and conformable under a load applied during installation in the building opening.
Ortega et al. discloses a sill pan (fig. 2, 10) made from foldable material that is able to be vacuum formed [0024], wherein the bottom plate comprises one or more protrusions (20) that define at least a moisture-directing profile, the one or more protrusions comprising one or more crushable protrusions that are designed to undergo plastic deformation under a load applied during installation [0024], wherein, prior to the plastic deformation, the protrusion is non-load bearing relative to the load applied during installation and being self-supporting in a no-load condition and conformable under a load applied during installation in the building opening (see fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to make the protrusions of Allen crushable and make the body of Allen of a foldable material that is able to be vacuum-formed as made obvious by Ortega et al. to provide a sealing mechanism on the sill pan that can help with drainage and sealing the window or door opening.
For claim 4, the combination discloses that the load comprises a force applied between a sill and a window (Ortega et al. fig. 3, 35).
For claim 5, the combination discloses a second end wall at the second end of the bottom plate, the second end wall extending substantially away from the second end in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the bottom plate (Allen fig. 2).
For claim 6, the combination discloses that the protrusions comprise one or more continuous dams that extend along a width of the bottom plate (Allen fig. 1, 26).
For claim 7, the combination discloses the use of shims (Allen [0061]) and it would be obvious to make the shim protrusions collapsible when a sufficient load is applied as taught by Ortega et al. for ease of assembly.
For claim 11, the combination discloses the obviousness of raising the rear edge of the bottom plate relative to the front edge to increase the drainage properties of the sill pan (Allen see fig. 19, 40).
For claim 12, the combination discloses a rear skirt (Allen fig. 23, 28) that is connected to the rear edge of the bottom plate and the rear edge of the end wall.
For claim 29, the combination discloses that at least one of the one or more protrusions (Allen fig. 1, 42) form a seal against the end wall (16, 18).
Claim(s) 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Allen (US2008/0229676) in view of Ortega et al. (US2018/0274244) as set forth in the rejection of claim 1, and further in view of Williams (US2006/0260213).
For claim 8, the combination does not disclose a corner piece having first, second, and third orthogonal faces, the corner piece being sized and shaped to be overlapped by the front skirt adjacent to the first end of the end wall.
Williams discloses a sill pan assembly (fig. 1) comprising a corner piece (37) having first, second, and third orthogonal faces, the corner piece being sized and shaped to be overlapped by the front skirt adjacent to the first end of an end wall.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to add a corner piece having first, second, and third orthogonal faces to the sill pan assembly of the combination as made obvious by Williams to increase the water seal around the window corners.
For claim 9, the combination discloses a side extension (Williams fig. 1, 35) that is sized to overlap a portion of the front skirt and at least a portion of the end wall.
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Allen (US2008/0229676) in view of Ortega et al. (US2018/0274244) as set forth in the rejection of claim 1, and further in view of Collins (US2006/0101726).
For claim 10, the combination does not disclose that in a no-load condition, the front skirt extends substantially parallel to the bottom plate and is foldable relative to the bottom plate.
Collins discloses a sill pan (fig. 1D) made from a unitary body that is foldable material [0012] and is able to be vacuum-formed (the material is the same as that of the invention- polyethylene) and the bottom plate will be self-supporting in a no-load condition and conformable under a load applied during installation in a building opening, wherein in a no-load condition, the front skirt extends substantially parallel to the bottom plate and is foldable relative to the bottom plate (fig. 2 turns to fig. 2A).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the sill pan of the combination so that in a no-load condition, the front skirt extends substantially parallel to the bottom plate and is foldable relative to the bottom plate as made obvious by Collins to increase the adjustability and utility of the sill pan in different window sizes.
Response to Arguments
The applicant argues that the protrusions of Ortega are not crushable protrusions. The examiner argues that the definition of crushable protrusions according to the applicants Specification in [0006] is a protrusion that at least partially undergoes plastic deformation under load, and the protrusions of Ortega undergo plastic deformation under load, therefore they are considered crushable.
The arguments have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHUA K IHEZIE whose telephone number is (571)270-5347. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5pm.
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/JOSHUA K IHEZIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633