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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of group 1 to claims 1-8, 10, 17-21, 23-24 in the reply filed on 4/6/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 25, 47 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/6/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 17-21 recites the limitation "the primary securing bore" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Also, claim 19, “ the radially extending slots…” lack antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8, 10, 23-24 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Wadsworth (2014/0186109).
Wadsworth figure 2-3, shows a clip comprising a body having an inner part (either 22 or 21) made of a first material and an outer part made of a second material, the body having a first retaining formation(figure 1, the part that goes into the groove) and a second retaining formation, the first retaining formation being resiliently moveable between an engaged position in which the first retaining formation engages in a groove of a decking board to provide a bias onto part of the groove and a disengaged position wherein the first retaining formation is disengaged inside the groove of the decking board and extends freely from the body, the body also having a receiving formation(see openings of 28 or 38) for receiving a fastener to fasten the clip to a support.
Per claim 2, Wadsworth further shows the first material(52) is a metal.
Per claim 3, Wadsworth further shows the second material(21) is a plastics
material.
Per claim 5, Wadsworth further shows the inner part of the body is
substantially T-shaped in cross section with the retaining formations extending operatively horizontally from an upper section of a central base.
Per claim 6, Wadsworth further shows the inner part of the body is
substantially washer-shaped (washer shaped is subjective and Wadsworth shows the shape as claimed).
Per claim 7, Wadsworth further the length of the retaining formations is larger than a width of the retaining formations extending from the central base.
Per claim 8, Wadsworth further shows width of the retaining
formations is larger than a length of the retaining formations extending from the central base(when the perpendicular sides are considered to be the length instead and the claim is not yet clear which sides are claimed).
Per claim 10, Wadsworth further shows the second retaining formation extends substantially normally from the base (inherently so as the base projects downwardly).
Per claims 23-24, Wadsworth(par. 83-85) further shows clips are connected in series, end-to-end, with clips having break-away connection means to connect them in a strip of connected clips and with outer ends of end clips at opposite ends of the strip having attachment means to receive complementary attachment means of end clips of other strips of clips, in which an operatively underside of the second retaining formation includes a downwardly extending gripping protrusion.
Claim(s) 1, 17-21 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Snell et al (2010/0257806).
Snell et al figure 1, shows a clip comprising a body having an inner part (either 22 or 21) made of a first material and an outer part made of a second material(the material not yet claimed as different), the body having a first retaining formation(figure 2, the part that goes into the groove) and a second retaining formation, the first retaining formation being resiliently moveable between an engaged position in which the first retaining formation engages in a groove of a decking board to provide a bias onto part of the groove and a disengaged position wherein the first retaining formation is disengaged inside the groove of the decking board and extends freely from the body, the body also having a receiving formation(see opening for screws 150) for receiving a fastener to fasten the clip to a support.
Per claim 17, Snell et al further shows the outer part(130) of the body partially fills the primary securing bore(140) to form a secondary co-axially extending bore therethrough, the secondary bore thus having a smaller diameter than the primary bore.
Per claim 18, Snell et al further shows the secondary bore includes radially extending slots (310, figure 3).
Per claim 19, Snell et al further shows the radially extending slots(310) are V-shaped so that the secondary bore is star-shaped or asterisk shaped in top view of cross sectional view.
Per claims 20-21, Snell et al further shows in which a lower section of the
secondary bore is enlarged to form a cavity (the cavity is figure 3), in which a lower section of both the primary and secondary bore is enlarged to form a cavity (figure 2, enlarged to form part of the bore).
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wadsworth (2014/0186109).
Wadsworth discloses the second material being plastics or equivalent.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Wadsworth’s structure to show is a composite with a reasonable expectation of success since composite plastics material is a well known version of plastics for forming clip structures and one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to choose any plastics, plastics composite or equivalent to form the clips as long as the clip provides sufficient properties for the anchoring the panels.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art shows different clip designs.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHI D Tran whose telephone number is (571)272-6864. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 EST.
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.
/PHI D A/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633
Prosecution Insights