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 .
Response to Amendment
The response filed on July 22nd, 2026 is acknowledged. Two pages of amended claims were received on 7/22/2026. Claim 1 has been amended. The claims have been amended to overcome previous claim objections and previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 in the non-final rejection mailed 4/14/2026, however Claim 1 is now objected to and Claims 1 and 4-12 are now rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as noted below.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 1 Line 8, “in the event of a fire” should be revised to “in event of a fire” to ensure clarity in the claim.
In Claim 1 Line 12, “the glass panes” should be revised to “the two adjacent glass panes” to ensure using terminology consistent with what is used elsewhere throughout the claims.
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.
Claims 1, 4, and 6-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 6,818,267 B1 to Gelderie et al. (“Gelderie”) in view of US PGPUB 2012/0241104 A1 to Huffer et al. (“Huffer”).
As to Claim 1, Gelderie discloses a fire protection glazing comprising two adjacent glass panes (See Col. 1 Lines 8-10 disclosing at least two panes. The fire protection glazing can be considered a part that is made of just two adjacent glass panes without additional glass panes applied), a spacer (See Col. 1 Lines 9-11 disclosing a spacer bonded to the panes. See Col. 4 Lines 18-24 disclosing using the composition as a spacer and see Col. 4 Lines 40-45 disclosing a 5 mm thick spacer. At least an interior portion of the material is equivalent to a spacer), a fire protection material (See Col. 1 Lines 9-12 disclosing a water-comprising intermediate layer and See Col. 5 Lines 29-31 disclosing alkaline polysilicate), and a secondary seal (See Col. 4 Lines 25-27 disclosing using the composition that makes up the spacer, optionally with polysulfide added, to seal panes of glass. Therefore an outer portion of the butyl material can be considered a secondary seal and inner portion of the butyl polymer can be considered a spacer), the two adjacent glass panes being spaced apart each other by the spacer (See Col. 4 Lines 18-24), the fire protection material and the spacer being arranged in an intermediate space between the two adjacent glass panes (See Col. 4 Lines 43-47), wherein the secondary seal encloses the fire protection material and the spacer in the intermediate space (See Col. 4 Lines 25-27 disclosing using the composition that makes up the spacer, optionally with polysulfide added, to seal panes of glass),
wherein the fire protection material changes properties in the event of a fire, at least by becoming opaque, absorbing thermal energy, and/or forming thermally insulating properties (See Col. 4 Lines 45-47 disclosing water-comprising alkaline polysilicate, which undergoes an endothermic reaction per Col. 2 Lines 48-60, therefore it at least absorbs thermal energy),
wherein the secondary seal adheres to the two adjacent glass panes and thereby bonds the two adjacent glass panes, spaced apart by the spacer, to each other in a fixed relative position (See Col. 6 Lines 1-10. The secondary seal is part of the butyl polymer that acts to adhere the glass panes together, and a remaining portion of the butyl polymer also acts a spacer to space apart the glass panes in a fixed position relative to each other),
wherein the secondary seal has a cooling fire protection property and is free of any intumescent fire protection property (See Col. 2 Lines 50-55 disclosing that the filler, which is used in the secondary seal, has a cooling fire protection property. When the secondary seal is made up of only polyisobutylene, carbon black, and filler, it will be free of intumescent fire protection property such that it does not swell or foam when exposed to fire).
Regarding Claim 1, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie as applied to Claim 1 above, Gelderie does not specifically disclose wherein secondary seal is different from the spacer and wherein the fire protection glazing is free of adhesive between the glass panes and the spacer (See Col. 6 Lines 1-20. The spacer and the secondary seal are both portions of the same butyl polymer material, and the fire protection glazing has an adhesive bond between the glass panes and the spacer).
However, Huffer discloses, in the same field of endeavor of glazing assemblies, a glazing (See Fig. 4) comprising a secondary seal (#112) that is different from a spacer (#108, which can be made of composites or plastics per Paragraph 0039), wherein the glazing is free of adhesive between two glass panes and the spacer (See Paragraph 0039 disclosing that that #108 can be secured between glass panes #104 and #106 by friction fitting as an alternative to adhesion and See Fig. 4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fire protection glazing of Gelderie as applied to Claim 1 above such that the secondary seal is different from the spacer by utilizing the spacer #108 of Huffer in a friction fit manner along with butyl polymer secondary seal of Gelderie such that the fire protection glazing is free of adhesive between the glass panes and the spacer, as doing so would yield the predictable result of ensuring a properly spaced apart relationship between the glass panes while still allowing for compression of the spacer (See Huffer Paragraphs 0036-0039. The spacer can be made of composite or plastic material in a friction fit manner, which when implemented in the fire protection glazing of Gelderie by one of ordinary skill in the art can still allow for the assembly process of Gelderie to be executed while having the spacer and secondary seal being separate components instead of being portions of the same butyl polymer).
As to Claim 4, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above, Gelderie does not specifically disclose wherein the secondary seal is designed as a single element (See Col. 4 Lines 25-27 of Gelderie disclosing that the material used as the spacer can also be used as the secondary seal, however the secondary seal being a single element is not specifically disclosed and no figures are shown).
However, Huffer discloses wherein the secondary seal is designed as single element (See sealant #112 in Fig. 4 and See Paragraph 0036).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above such that the secondary seal is designed as a single element as taught by Huffer since doing so would yield the predictable result of simplifying construction of the fire protection glazing by having a single secondary seal component applied.
As to Claim 6, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above, Gelderie further discloses wherein the secondary seal is arranged in a region of the intermediate space adjacent to end faces of the two adjacent glass panes (See Gelderie Col. 3 Lines 23-30 and See Col. 4 Lines 25-27).
As to Claim 7, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above, Gelderie further discloses wherein the secondary seal comprises a material which releases gas in event of fire and to achieve at least part of the cooling fire protection property of the secondary seal (See Gelderie Col. 2 Lines 48-55 disclosing a cooling property from the filler, and that water is released due to endothermic reaction at 180°C. At such a temperature, water turns into vapor, which is a gas.).
As to Claim 8, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 7 above, Gelderie further discloses wherein the secondary seal releases gas in event of a fire due to decomposition of the material of the secondary seal (See Gelderie Col. 2 Lines 48-55 disclosing a cooling property from the filler, and that water is released due to endothermic reaction at 180°C, which will cause decomposition. At such a temperature, water turns into vapor, which is a gas.).
As to Claim 9, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 7 above, Gelderie further discloses wherein the secondary seal releases gas in event of a fire due to decomposition of two or more materials of the secondary seal which have different gas release temperatures (See Gelderie Col. 2 Lines 23-31 and Col. 4 Lines 25-27. The secondary seal is made up of filler, carbon black, and polyisobutylene. At least the filler and carbon black have different gas release temperatures. Thus as a fire increases in temperature, the filler and carbon black will begin to release gases at different points in time.).
As to Claim 10, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above, Gelderie further discloses wherein the secondary seal comprises a material having endothermic properties which, in event of a fire, absorbs thermal energy to achieve at least part of the cooling fire protection property of the secondary seal (See Gelderie Col. 2 Lines 48-62 disclosing the filler of the secondary seal undergoing endothermic reactions that result in cooling. Endothermic reactions result in absorption of thermal energy).
As to Claim 11, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above, Gelderie further discloses wherein the secondary seal comprises a synergistic material (See Gelderie Col. 2 Lines 23-31 disclosing that a combination of the filler, carbon black, and polyisobutylene result in a shear modulus of elasticity of 1.2 MPa to 2.2 MPa and See Gelderie Col. 3 Lines 23-35 disclosing advantages of such a combination. Thus the combined materials of the secondary seal make up a synergistic material because when combined the materials result in improved performance in fire protection glazing applications compared to when the individual materials are utilized alone).
As to Claim 12, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above, Gelderie further discloses wherein the secondary seal comprises a fire-suppressing material for reducing a portion of further material in the secondary seal (See Gelderie Col. 2 Lines 48-56 disclosing filler exerting a cooling effect and releasing water, thus the filler is a fire-suppressing material. Based on Gelderie Col. 2 Lines 23-31, an increased amount of filler results in a decreased portion of polyisobutylene and/or carbon black).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gelderie in view of Huffer and US PGPUB 2020/0040570 A1 to Cook et al. (“Cook”).
Regarding Claim 5, in reference to the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above, Gelderie does not specifically disclose wherein the fire protection material, the spacer, and the secondary seal are arranged in the intermediate space between the two adjacent glass panes, and no other element is arranged in the intermediate space between the two adjacent glass panes (Gelderie does not show any figures or specifically state that only the fire protection material, the spacer and the secondary seal are arrange in the intermediate space).
However, Cook discloses, in the same field of endeavor of glazing assemblies, a fire protection glazing (See Fig. 1) wherein a fire protection material (#4), a spacer (#2), and a secondary seal (#3) are arranged in an intermediate space between two adjacent glass panes (See a space between #1 in Fig. 1), and no other element is arranged in the intermediate space between the two adjacent glass panes (See Fig. 1 and Paragraph 0357).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fire protection glazing of Gelderie in view of Huffer as applied to Claim 1 above such that the fire protection material, the spacer, and the secondary seal are arranged in the intermediate space between the two adjacent glass panes, and no other element is arranged in the intermediate space between the two adjacent glass panes, as taught by Cook, since doing so would yield the predictable result of ensuring a simple fire protection glazing assembly made up of minimal components.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 do not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/KEVIN EDWARD SCHWARTZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 July 29, 2026
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