DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 12-13, 18-21, 23-24 and 26-30 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Weingartner (AT 507641) in view of Schlatterbeck et al. (US 7,927,669, hereafter Schlatterbeck), Schlegel (US 2005/0132930), Pervan et al. (US 2014/0017452, hereafter Pervan) and Rapkin et al. (US 2012/0076516, hereafter Rapkin)
With respect to claim 1, Weingartner teaches a method of decorating a panel, comprising: supplying a panel (substrate 2) to a carrier (positioning device 14), performing at least a first printing step using a first printing module (dispensing device 5) and performing a second printing step using a second printing module (dispensing device 12) wherein the first and second printing steps are performed according to a predetermined positional relationship to form the decorated panel, wherein during and between the first and second printing steps the panel is held at a substantially fixed position with respect to the carrier; wherein the first printing step comprises printing a curable substance on the panel in a first pattern and the second printing step comprises printing a decorative basic second pattern on the panel; the method further comprising a step of curing the curable substance performed after the second printing step and wherein the decorative basic second pattern is printed at a relative position to the first pattern of the curable substance, wherein the carrier is a conveyor belt, wherein the conveyor belt and the first and second printing modules are controlled by a controller (control device 16). (translation pgs. 4-5, Figs. 2-4)
Weingartner does not explicitly teach wherein said curable substance comprises a powder and said step of curing the curable substance comprises melting the powder; wherein the curable substance is printed with a valve jet head that prints a larger volume per pass and a rougher texture than an inkjet head that prints the decorative basic pattern the inkjet head printing at a higher DPI (dots per inch) than the valve jet head; wherein the method comprises the step of coating a top wear layer over the decorative second pattern after said second printing steps and wherein said top layer comprises wear resistance substances and/or anti-wear particles and/or anti-scratch particles or wherein the first pattern of the curable substance is cured to for a textured pattern built up by the first printing step including successively printing layers of curable substance or wherein the controller has a storage unit including a lookup table having coordinates of a first pattern printed by the first printing module, the lookup table being used for controlling the second printing module to print the decorative basic second pattern relative to the first pattern; or the controller calculates a required amount of curable substance.
Schlatterbeck teaches a method of decorating an article comprising: supplying a ceramic panel, 2, to a carrier, 5, which is a conveyor belt, 55, and performing at least a first printing step of using a first printing module, 10, wherein the first printing module comprises an ink jet head and teaches using various types of printheads, including valve jet heads and other types of inkjet heads, wherein the valve jet is capable of printing a larger volume per pass at a rougher texture and a lower DPI than an inkjet head. (column 2, lines 35-37, 61-64, col. 3, line 47 – col. 4, line 7, col. 10, line 55 – col. 11, line 2, col. 14, lines 58-67)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the method of Weingartner to provide valve jet print heads for applying substances as Schlatterbeck teaches this is an effective type of inkjet head to use to apply a substance in greater amounts or having a higher viscosity.
Schlegel teaches a method of decorating a panel comprising printing a curable substance on the panel and curing the curable substance, wherein said curable substance comprises a powder and said step of curing the curable substance comprises melting the powder and wherein the first pattern of the curable substance is cured to form a textured pattern build up by the first printing step including successively printing layers of curable substance. (par. 24, 29-35)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to further modify the apparatus of Weingartner to include applying a curable powder in multiple layers and melting the powder, as taught by Schlegel, in order to provide a printed pattern of a curable substance.
Additionally, it is well-known to print multiple layers and perform a step of coating a top wear layer which comprises wear resistant substance. For example, Pervan teaches a method of printing multiple layers on a panel, comprising a step of coating a top wear layer (L3) over a second layer (L2) and wherein said top layer comprises wear resistance substances and/or anti-wear particles and/or anti-scratch particles. (par. 119, 124, Figs. 2a-2b)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the method of Weingartner to include adding a top wear layer, as taught by Pervan, in order to provide a wear resistant layer over the decorative surface in order to preserve the appearance.
Rapkin teaches a method of decorating a substrate (receiver 42), comprising: supplying a substrate to a carrier (transport web 81) performing at least a first printing step using a first printing module (31) and performing a second printing step using a second printing module (32) wherein the first and second printing steps are performed according to a predetermined positional relationship to form the decorated substrate, wherein during and between the first and second printing steps the panel is held at a substantially fixed position with respect to the carrier, wherein the carrier is a conveyor belt and the conveyor belt and the first and second printing modules are controlled by a controller (LCU 99), the controller having a storage unit including a lookup table used for controlling the printing modules to print decorative patterns relative to each other (images printed in registration) and wherein the controller calculates a required amount of curable substance. (par. 15-21, 61-69, 99-110, Fig. 1, 4-5)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to further modify the method of Weingartner to include controller use of lookup tables and curable substance amount calculations, as taught by Rapkin, in order to use a well-known programming method to control the location of the printed patterns and to calculate the required amount of curable substance in order to estimate when a supplied amount will be depleted and need to be replenished, increasing the efficiency of the system.
With respect to claim 2, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches positioning the carrier at preset positions with respect to a reference point during the first and second printing steps. (Schlatterbeck, col. 13, lines 10-32)
With respect to claim 3, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches, during the first and second printing steps, positioning the carrier includes following preset paths with respect to the reference point. (Schlatterbeck, col. 13, lines 10-32)
With respect to claim 4 the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches the preset paths extend behind each other. (Schlatterbeck, col. 13, lines 10-32)
With respect to claim 12 the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches an amount of said curable substance is varied per layer because each color will generally be printed in a different amount. (Schlegel, par. 29-35)
With respect to claim 13 the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches the patterns are printed with a different material (the printing ink is different from the curable substance) to create different appearance. (Schlegel, par. 29-35)
With respect to claim 18, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches a thickness of said curable substance after curing is between 50 and 500 µm. (Schlegel, par. 41)
With respect to claim 19, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches the step of curing the curable substance is performed by a heating source and wherein the curable substance is selected to be compatible with the heating source, because if this was not true the apparatus would not be able to function. (Schlegel, par. 45)
With respect to claim 20, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches the panel is a floor panel, a wall panel, a ceiling panel or a panel for furniture and is suitable for indoor and exterior use. (Schlegel, par. 47)
With respect to claim 21, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches a pre-coating step preceding the first printing step, the pre-coating step including coating a surface of the panel with an ink over which at least one of the curable substance and the decorative basic pattern is printed. (Schlegel, par. 36)
With respect to claim 23, although the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin does not explicitly teach wherein the decorative basic second pattern is shifted relative to the first pattern by the controller and printed next to the first pattern, one having ordinary skill in the art would find it obvious to print two coordinating patterns in a shifted arrangement in order to provide a final product having a desired aesthetic value.
With respect to claim 24, although the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin does not explicitly teach wherein the method comprises positioning the carrier at preset positions with respect to a reference point during the first and second printing steps, the controller relying on the coordinates for displacing the carrier relative to the first and second printing modules, this is a common method of controlling a carrier and therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use such a control in order to produce the images in an accurate manner.
With respect to claim 26, although the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin does not explicitly teach the particular DPI of the printing heads, they teach using a variety of printheads and therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use an appropriate printhead with an appropriate resolution to provide a desired aesthetic result.
With respect to claim 27, although the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin does not explicitly teach wherein the curable substance has up to a 90-degree inclination with respect to a panel plane, the optimum angle of inclination would appear to be an aesthetic choice, based upon a desired appearance, and therefore would be readily determined through routine experimentation.
With respect to claim 28, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches wherein the curable substance of the first pattern varies at least among first and second printing layers on appearance on at least a basis of one of the following: matt, gloss, light, dark and pigmented. (Schlegel, par. 29-35)
With respect to claim 29, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches the step of curing at least first and second printing layers as the printing layers of curable substance are built up.
With respect to claim 30, the combination of Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin teaches wherein the decorative second pattern is printed according to at least two successive printing steps, including a first printing comprising a step of applying a first substance in a first decorative pattern and a second printing comprising a second substance, different from the first substance, in a second decorative pattern over, outside or adjacent the first decorative pattern, the first decorative pattern having different appearance properties than the second decorative pattern. (Schlegel, par. 29-35)
Claim 31 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Weingartner, Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin as applied above, and further in view of Jiang et al. (US 6,394,595, hereafter Jiang)
With respect to claim 31, Weingartner as modified by Schlegel, Schlatterbeck, Pervan and Rapkin, teaches wherein abundant powder of the powder from the curable substance is removed before or after the step of curing the curable substance. (Schlegel, par. 44)
The references do not explicitly teach wherein the powder is removed by suction or airflow.
However, this is a common alternative method for removing excess powder during printing. For example, Jiang teaches a method of printing which includes applying a powder and removing abundant powder by suction or airflow. (col. 4, line 65 – col. 5, line 7)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to further modify the method of Weingartner to include excess powder removal by suction, as taught by Jiang, as a well-known alternative having no unexpected results.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed September 19, 2025 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jill E Culler whose telephone number is (571)272-2159. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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/JILL E CULLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853