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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/16/2026 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.
Claims 1-3, 5-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonness [CH655151, newly cited, machine translation provided] in view of Pufahl [US2012/0085063, of record, previously cited].
Bonness discloses a method of sealing a gap between adjacent structural elements in a building construction, comprising: applying a self-adhering barrier sheet (joint tape 10) to the adjacent structural elements to span the gap (expansion joint) with the self-adhering barrier sheet (10), wherein the self-adhering barrier sheet is a flexible sheet that is an unilayer elastomeric silicone sheet having pressure sensitive adhesive applied thereto (tape 10 of silicone rubber), the flexible sheet having opposing edges, at least one of said opposing edge being a tapered edge, and the pressure sensitive adhesive applied to at least a portion of at least one major surface of the flexible sheet (two outer sections 12 to side edges 20 are wedge shaped where glue is applied), whereby said at least one tapered edge is adhered to one of the adjacent structural elements by means of the pressure sensitive adhesive and the opposing edge is adhered to the other of the adjacent structural elements by means of the pressure sensitive adhesive.
Bonness discloses a flexible sheet (10) but does not disclose the thickness of the flexible sheet or the adhesive.
Pufahl discloses a method of sealing a gap between adjacent structural elements in a building construction, comprising: applying a self-adhering barrier sheet (flashing tape 100) to the adjacent structural members (200 and 300, or 12 and 11) to span the gap with the self-adhering barrier sheet (Figure 2; paragraph 0035; Figure 4; paragraph 0037); wherein the self-adhering barrier sheet comprises a flexible sheet of a barrier material wherein the self-adhering barrier sheet comprises a flexible sheet of a barrier material and the flexible sheet having opposing edge (paragraph 0027); and a pressure sensitive adhesive applied to at least a portion of at least one major surface of the flexible sheet (paragraph 0028); whereby said at least one edge is adhered to one of the adjacent structural elements by means of the pressure sensitive adhesive and the opposing edge is adhered to the other of the adjacent structural elements by means of the pressure sensitive adhesive (Figure 2; paragraph 0035; Figure 4; paragraph 0037); wherein the flexible sheet has a minimum thickness of at least 0.5 mm and the pressure sensitive adhesive has a thickness equal to or less than the maximum thickness of the flexible sheet (paragraph 0033, 0045, 0048).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the method of Bonness to provide the tape and adhesive in the suggest thickness of Pufahl in order to take advantage of known and workable parameters and to ensure strong protection of the joint gap.
With respect to claim 2, Pufahl discloses separate sections of the self-adhering barrier sheet are applied and overlap at an angle, with an overlapping section of self- adhering barrier sheet being applied onto an overlapped section of self-adhering barrier sheet by crossing the overlapping section of self-adhering barrier sheet over at least one tapered edge of the overlapped section of self-adhering barrier sheet (Figures 2 and 4).
With respect to claim 3, Bonness discloses the opposing edge of the flexible sheet is also tapered (Figure 1).
With respect to claim 5, Pufahl discloses the pressure sensitive adhesive is applied to at least one side of each of the tapered edges of the flexible barrier sheet.
With respect to claim 6, Bonness discloses a method of sealing an open joint in a building structure, comprising: applying a self-adhering barrier sheet (10) to span the open joint with the self-adhering barrier sheet, wherein the self-adhering barrier sheet is a flexible sheet that is an unilayer elastomeric silicone sheet (10) having pressure sensitive adhesive applied thereto, the flexible sheet having opposing tapered edges and the pressure sensitive adhesive applied to at least a portion of at least each of the tapered edges, whereby one of the opposing tapered edges is adhered to one side of the gap by means of the pressure sensitive adhesive applied to said one of the opposing tapered edges and the other opposing tapered edge is adhered the other side of the gap by means of the pressure sensitive adhesive applied to said other opposing tapered edge. Bonness discloses using the joint tape on a building structure but does not disclose an insert in an opening in a building structure.
Pufahl discloses a method of sealing an open joint between a building structure and an insert positioned within an opening in the building structure, comprising: applying a self-adhering barrier sheet (100) to the insert (window 200 or 12) and the building structure (300 or 11) to span the open joint with the self-adhering barrier sheet (Figure 2; paragraph 0035; Figure 4; paragraph 0037); wherein the self-adhering barrier sheet comprises a flexible sheet of a barrier material wherein the self-adhering barrier sheet comprises a flexible sheet of a barrier material and the flexible sheet having opposing edge (paragraph 0027); a pressure sensitive adhesive applied to at least a portion of at least each of the edges (paragraph 0028); whereby one of the opposing edges is adhered to the insert by means of the pressure sensitive adhesive applied to said one of the opposing edges and the other opposing edge is adhered to the building structure by means of the pressure sensitive adhesive applied to said other opposing edge (Figure 2; paragraph 0035; Figure 4; paragraph 0037). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the method of Bonness by applying the joint tape between a building structure and an insert in an opening of the building structure as taught by Pufahl in order to increase the functionality and usefulness of the joint tape.
With respect to claim 7, Pufahl discloses the insert has multiple insert sides, each pair of adjacent multiple insert sides defining a vertex, and open joints are defined by each of said adjacent multiple insert sides and at least one side of the opening, separate sections of a self-adhering barrier sheet are applied to seal each of the open joints and the separate sections of self-adhering barrier sheet overlap at the vertices (Figures 2 and 4).
With respect to claim 8, Pufahl discloses the insert is a window (Figures 2 and 4; paragraphs 0035, 0037).
With respect to claim 10, Pufahl discloses the pressure sensitive adhesive is applied to at least one side of each of the edges of the flexible barrier sheet (paragraph 0028). Bonness also discloses the adhesive is applied to both tapered edges of the joint tape.
Claims 4 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonness, Pufahl, and further in view of Sancaktar [US4806400, previously cited].
Bonness as modified discloses a method of sealing a gap. Applicant is referred to paragraph 4 for a detailed discussion of Bonness as modified. Bonness discloses a tapered edge of the tape but does not explicitly disclose the taper degree.
Sancktar discloses overlapping areas of tape can comprise the protective function of the tape, and suggests tapering the edges of the tape to eliminate or reduce the problems caused by overlapping tape (column 3, line 30-column 4, line 14). Sancktar discloses each tapered edge forms an included angle of no greater than 15 degrees (column 4, lines 23-44).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the method of Bonness by including a taper of no greater than 15° as suggested by Sancktar in order to prevent or reduce problems caused by overlapping portions of tape.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 3/16/2026 with respect to the previous rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly cited Bonness. Applicant asserts the previously cited prior art does not disclose a unilayer elastomeric sheet that is silicone. Newly cited Bonness discloses a joint tape that is made of a unilayer of silicone rubber.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2685. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/DANIEL MCNALLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
DPM
March 23, 2026