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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 14, 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, 2, 4, 5, 8-13, 15, 17, 19, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mayeres (EP 3249135) in view of Kumar et al. (US PGPub No 2020/0377425) (“Kumar”).
Referring to claim 1: Mayeres teaches a panel (item 1) configured for attachment to a mounting surface, the panel comprising: a foam composite (paragraph 0002) comprising a polymer, wherein the foam composite has a front surface opposite a back surface and; and a layer of a facing material (item 2) having a thickness of 1/16 inch to 1 inch (paragraph 0009) covering at least the front surface of the foam composite, wherein the facing material has a density of 80 pcf to 130 pcf (paragraph 0009), and wherein the at least one design element provides an appearance of brick, wood, or tile (figure 2 shows a tile). Mayeres does not teach the foam composite has an inorganic filler and a density less than or equal to 20 pcf, and wherein the facing material includes at least one design element comprising a pigment or dye. However, Kumar teaches the foam composite has an inorganic filler (paragraph 0006 teaches fly ash) and a density less than or equal to 20 pcf (paragraph 0070), and wherein the facing material includes at least one design element comprising a pigment or dye (paragraph 0178).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to create the device taught by Mayeres with the density and design element taught by Kumar in order to provide a strong, lightweight panel that has a specific visual appearance.
Referring to claim 2: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Mayeres teaches wherein a back side of the panel configured for attachment to the mounting surface does not include the facing material (figure 2).
Referring to claim 4: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Mayeres teaches wherein the facing material is inorganic (paragraph 0009).
Referring to claim 5: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Mayeres teaches wherein the facing material comprises a cementitious material (paragraph 0009).
Referring to claim 8: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. They do not specifically teach wherein the panel has a length in a direction from a first side edge to a second side edge of the panel of greater than 1 foot or greater than 3 feet. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to create the panel in any specific dimensions that allow for installation into a particular application using either manual labor or machinery to move into place.
Referring to claim 9: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Kumar teaches wherein the inorganic filler comprises fly ash, bottom ash, glass microspheres, cenospheres, calcium carbonate, or a mixture thereof (paragraph 0006 teaches fly ash). These inorganic fillers are well known for improving foam materials in at least one of several characteristics.
Referring to claim 10: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Kumar teaches wherein the polymer of the foam composite comprises polyurethane, polyvinylchloride, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate, polyethylenimine, or a combination thereof (claim 1 teaches polyurethane). Polyurethane is a well known polymer for building façade materials.
Referring to claim 11: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 1 as noted above. Additionally, Kumar teaches wherein the foam composite further comprises organic fibers, inorganic fibers, or both (paragraph 0072). Fibers are known to add strength.
Referring to claim 12: Mayeres teaches a panel (item 1) comprising: a foam composite (paragraph 0002) comprising a polymer, and a layer of a facing material (item 2) having a thickness of 1/16 inch to 1 inch (paragraph 0009) covering at least the front surface of the foam composite, wherein the facing material comprises a cementitious material (paragraph 0009), wherein the facing material has a density of 80 pcf to 130 pcf (paragraph 0009), and wherein the at least one design element provides an appearance of brick, wood, or tile (figure 2 shows a tile). Mayeres does not teach the foam composite has an inorganic filler and a density less than or equal to 20 pcf, and wherein the facing material includes at least one design element comprising a pigment or dye. However, Kumar teaches the foam composite has an inorganic filler (paragraph 0006 teaches fly ash) and a density less than or equal to 20 pcf (paragraph 0070), and wherein the facing material includes at least one design element comprising a pigment or dye (paragraph 0178).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to create the device taught by Mayeres with the density and design element taught by Kumar in order to provide a strong, lightweight panel that has a specific visual appearance.
Referring to claim 13: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 12 as noted above. Additionally, Mayeres teaches wherein a back side of the panel includes a fastener and/or a bracket (paragraph 0047).
Referring to claim 15: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 12 as noted above. They do not specifically teach wherein the panel has a length in a direction from a first side edge to a second side edge of the panel of greater than 1 foot or greater than 3 feet, and wherein the first side edge has features complementary to features of a second side edge of an adjacent panel. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to create the panel in any specific dimensions that allow for installation into a particular application using either manual labor or machinery to move into place. Additionally, the Examiner gives Official Notice that it is known to have complementary features on edges in order to join panels in a uniform manner that creates a strong continuous surface.
Referring to claim 17: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of the structure of the instant claim as noted above. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to recognize that by teaching the structure, the references teach the method steps of applying the elements to create the final product.
Referring to claim 19: Mayers and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 17 as noted above. Additionally, Mayeres teaches wherein the facing material comprises a cementitious material (paragraph 0009).
Referring to claim 20: Mayeres and Kumar teach all the limitations of claim 17 as noted above. Additionally, Mayeres teaches wherein a back surface of the panel does not include the facing material, the back surface of the panel being opposite a front surface of the panel that includes the design element (figure 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK J MAESTRI whose telephone number is (571)270-7859. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7-3.
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/PATRICK J MAESTRI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635