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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 7/11/2025 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 36 is objected to because “(iv) a structural adhesive:” should be deleted, as the wood elements are already recite as being adhesively bonded. Appropriate correction is required.
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 (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 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 20-28, 31-37, and 39-41 - are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leverington (CL58170).
20. Leverington teaches a column and beam module framing system comprising:
a plurality of constructive elements, fig. 7, forming a plurality of beams V6 and a plurality of columns V3, each constructive element comprising: (i) a foam element 8 having a first face and an opposite second face, wherein the foam element is thermal insulating;(ii) a first wood element 6 adhesively 5 bonded to the first face of the foam element, and (iii) a second wood element 6 adhesively bonded to the second face of the foam element; and(iv) on opposite ends of the constructive element, a notch 3 having dimensions of 240 mm long × 540 mm wide × 240 mm thick, page 30, the notch formed by absence of the foam element at the notch and by the first and second wood elements extending beyond the foam element at the notch; and a structural frame comprising the beams, the columns, metal-plated screws, and corner members, page 41, wherein the structural frame is a rigid, load-bearing assembly formed by structurally joining the beams and columns via the metal-plated screws, the corner members, and a structural adhesive, wherein the structural frame provides thermal insulation.
Leverington does not expressly teach the notch having dimensions of 240 mm long × 550 mm wide × 200 mm thick. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the Leverington notch to have dimensions of 240 mm long × 550 mm wide × 200 mm thick for strength. Examiner remarks that no criticality is given for the claimed dimensions, the Leverington dimensions only differing slightly.
21. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further comprising: a structural framework including a plurality of the structural frames, wherein each structural frame structurally is connected to at least one other structural frame via metal-plated screws, the structural adhesive, corner members, or a combination thereof, pages 41 and 52.
22. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 21, Leverington further teaching the structural framework is configured to form a single-level structure or a multi-level structure providing habitability for one or more persons, fig. 13.
23. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching each of the first wood element and the second wood element comprises the wood element includes any of one plywood, oriented strand board, laminated wood beams, and laminated wood veneer, page 53.
24. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching each of the first wood element and the second wood element has dimensions measuring at least 6000 mm long, 240 mm wide, and 30 mm thick, page 38.
25. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching the foam element is an expanded polystyrene, a polyurethane foam, a styrene foam extrudate, foams of polyisocyanurates, or any combination thereof, page 30.
26. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching the foam element is an expanded polystyrene having a density ranging from medium to high, page 44.
27. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching the structural adhesive comprises any one of polyurethane-derived adhesives, synthetic elastomer resin adhesives, hot melt adhesives, or polyvinyl acetate adhesives having resistance to humidity, page 54.
28. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching the beams and columns further include the foam element having a first face and a second face, a first wood element structurally bound to the first face of the foam element, a second wood element structurally bound to the second face of the foam element; and wherein the foam element has a width of 540 mm, pages 30-31, the first wood element has a thickness of about 30 mm, page 30, and the second wood element has a thickness of about 30 mm, page 30. Leverington does not expressly teach the foam element has a width of 550 mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the Leverington foam element to have a width of 550 mm for strength. Examiner remarks that no criticality is given for the claimed dimensions, the Leverington dimensions only differing by 10mm.
31. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching the structural frame has a shape of a rectangle, fig. 7.
32. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching each corner member of the corner members is made of any of plywood, page 32.
33. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching the structural frame comprises the corner members having angles ranging from 15 degrees to 90 degrees, page 35.
34. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 20, Leverington further teaching the structural frame comprise the corner members having dimensions of 480 mm long x 240 mm wide x 15 mm thick. Leverington does not expressly teach the thickness is 30mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the thickness to be 30mm for strength. Examiner remarks that no criticality is given for the claimed dimensions.
35. Leverington teaches a column and beam module framing system comprising:
a plurality of constructive elements, fig. 7, forming a plurality of beams v6 and a plurality of columns V3, each constructive element comprising: (i) a structural adhesive 5 ; (ii) an expanded polystyrene foam element 8 having a first face and an opposite second face, wherein the expanded polystyrene foam element has dimensions of 6000 mm long x 540 mm wide x 240 mm thick, page 37;(iii) a first wood element 6 adhesively bonded to the first face of the expanded polystyrene foam element, and (iv) a second wood element 6 adhesively bonded to the second face of the expanded polystyrene foam element; and a structural frame, fig. 8, comprising the beams, the columns, metal-plated screws, and corner members, page 41, wherein the structural frame is a rigid, load-bearing assembly formed by structurally joining the beams and columns via the metal-plated screws, the corner members, and the structural adhesive, wherein the structural frame provides thermal insulation.
Leverington does not expressly teach the foam element has dimensions of 550 mm wide x 200 mm thick. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the Leverington notch to have dimensions of 550 mm wide x 200 mm thick for strength. Examiner remarks that no criticality is given for the claimed dimensions, the Leverington dimensions only differing slightly.
36. Leverington teaches a column and beam module framing system comprising:
a plurality of constructive elements, fig. 7, forming a plurality of beams V6 and a plurality of columns V3, each constructive element comprising:(i) a foam element 8 comprising expanded polystyrene and having thermal insulating properties, wherein the foam element has a first face and an opposite second face;(ii) a first wood element 6 adhesively 5 bonded to the first face of the foam element;(iii) a second wood element 6 adhesively 5 bonded to the second face of the foam element; and a structural frame, fig. 7, comprising the beams, the columns, metal-plated screws, and corner members, wherein the structural frame is a rigid, load-bearing assembly formed by structurally joining ends of the beams and columns at corner joints via the metal-plated screws and the corner members to define a rigid structural framework, wherein the corner members are fixed to the first wood element and the second wood element at the corner joints by the metal-plated screws and the structural adhesive, wherein each of the corner members has dimensions of 480 mm long x 240 mm wide x 15 mm thick, and wherein the structural frame provides thermal insulation. Leverington does not expressly teach the thickness is 30mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the thickness to be 30mm for strength. Examiner remarks that no criticality is given for the claimed dimensions.
37. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 36, Leverington further teaching the foam element having a density ranging from medium to high, page 44.
39. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 36, Leverington further teaching each of the first wood element and the second wood element comprises the wood element includes any of one plywood, oriented strand board, laminated wood beams, and laminated wood veneer, page 53.
40. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 36, Leverington further teaching the structural framework is configured to form a single-level structure providing habitability for one or more persons, fig. 13.
41. Leverington teaches the column and beam module framing system of claim 36, Leverington further teaching the structural framework is configured to form a multi-level structure providing habitability for one or more persons, fig. 13.
Claim 38 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leverington in view of Schiffman (2015/0240441).
38. Leverington does not expressly teach the foam element has a density of 15 Kg/m3. Schiffmann teaches a foam element has a density of 15 Kg/m3. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the foam element to have a density of 15 Kg/m3 for strength.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J KENNY whose telephone number is (571)272-9951. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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, Brian Glessner can be reached at (571)272-6754. 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.
/DANIEL J KENNY/ Examiner, Art Unit 3633