DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 9/20/23 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(1), which requires the following: (1) a list of all patents, publications, applications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office; (2) U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications listed in a section separately from citations of other documents; (3) the application number of the application in which the information disclosure statement is being submitted on each page of the list; (4) a column that provides a blank space next to each document to be considered, for the examiner’s initials; and (5) a heading that clearly indicates that the list is an information disclosure statement. The information disclosure statement (foreign references and European search report) has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Claim Objections
Claims 12 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 12 recites the term “the each” in line 3. The term should be replaced with - -each- - for grammatical purposes.
Claim 15 recites the term “the each” in line 3 (two occurrences). The term should be replaced with - -each- - for grammatical purposes.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Applicant has provided evidence in this file showing that the claimed invention and the subject matter disclosed in the prior art reference were owned by, or subject to an obligation of assignment to, the same entity as RANIT not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, or the subject matter disclosed in the prior art reference was developed and the claimed invention was made by, or on behalf of one or more parties to a joint research agreement in effect not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention. However, although reference EP 4102085 A1 has been excepted as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2), it is still applicable as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) that cannot be excepted under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C).
Applicant may rely on the exception under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(A) to overcome this rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) by a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application, and is therefore not prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1). Alternatively, applicant may rely on the exception under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(B) by providing evidence of a prior public disclosure via an affidavit or declaration under 37 CFR 1.130(b).
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by EP’085 (EP 4102085 A1).
With respect to claim 1, EP’085 discloses a fastening system 1 for mounting plate-shaped elements 2 on a surface of a support 3, comprising: a fastener 4 configured to anchor the fastening system in the support, at least two sleeves 6, 7 arranged behind the fastener in an anchoring direction, each of the at least two sleeves having wall openings 8, wherein the fastener is configured to be guided through the at least two sleeves and a front sleeve of the at least two sleeves in the anchoring direction receives the fastener, a releasable connection 9 connecting each adjacent pair of sleeves of the at least two sleeves. See the entire document, especially Figs. 1-9, pars. [0025- 41], and the claims.
With respect to claim 2, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, wherein the releasable connection is a screw connection (Figs. 1, 2, 5).
With respect to claim 3, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 2, the screw connection has two connection partners, wherein one connection partner is an external thread and one connection partner is an internal thread (Figs. 1, 2, 5).
With respect to claim 4, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, wherein the releasable connection is a cylindrical snap connection (Figs. 1, 2, 5).
With respect to claim 5, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 4, wherein the cylindrical snap connection has two connection partners, wherein one connection partner is a bead and one connection partner is a recess (Figs. 1, 2, 5).
With respect to claim 6, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, wherein the fastener is a fastening screw, which is inserted into the front sleeve in the anchoring direction and is configured to be screwed directly into the support (Figs. 6-8).
With respect to claim 7, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, wherein the fastener comprises an anchor and a screw, wherein the anchor is connectable to the front sleeve in the anchoring direction in a rotationally fixed manner (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 8, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 7, wherein the anchor has a multi-sided head and the front sleeve is formed on the inside with a multi-sided receptacle complementary thereto (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 9, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 7, wherein the anchor has a multi-sided head, and an adapter with a multi-sided receptacle complementary to the multi-sided head inserted secured against rotation into the front sleeve in the anchoring direction (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 10, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 9, wherein the at least two sleeves are identical (Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 11, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, wherein each sleeve of the at least two sleeves has a base body with a circular cross section (Figs. 1-2).
With respect to claim 12, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, wherein each sleeve of the at least two sleeves has at least two spacers, which are distributed over its circumference and project radially beyond a lateral surface of each sleeve. (Figs. 6-7).
With respect to claim 13, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, further comprising a spiral retaining plate with a cutting edge releasably arranged on a rear sleeve of the at least two sleeves in the anchoring direction (Fig. 9).
With respect to claim 14, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, wherein the wall openings in the sleeves are configured for an adhesive to pass through (Figs. 6-7).
With respect to claim 15, EP’085 discloses the fastening system according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least two sleeves has a front end and a rear end, and the releasable connection connects the front end of a first sleeve of each adjacent pair of sleeves to the rear end of a second sleeve of each adjacent pair of sleeves (Figs. 1, 2, 5).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
EP 3421678 teaches a method for attaching plate-shaped elements such as insulation boards and the like on a supporting substrate, in particular building walls. According to the invention, the diameter of the sleeve at least over a partial length is at most 95% of the diameter of a hole drilled in advance in the plate-shaped element. Furthermore, after inserting the sleeve into the plate-shaped element and anchoring the fastening means in the substrate, a hardenable adhesive is introduced into the sleeve, which passes through a plurality of wall openings and comes into contact with the plate-shaped element. The invention further relates to a fastening system for carrying out the method according to the invention and a system of fastening system, a supporting substrate and a plate-shaped element.
EP 2071197 teaches a bolt has two sleeve-like anchor bolt parts (2, 3) comprising openings (14, 15), which are bolted into cylindrical walls (7, 21), respectively. The anchor bolt part (3) is suspensed on the anchor bolt part (2), where the anchor bolt part (2) is snapped with the anchor bolt part (3). The anchor bolt part (2) is larger than the anchor bolt part (3), which comprises recesses (24), which are arranged at a distance from each other and in an axial direction. A projection of the part (2) is engaged and/or gripped into the recess for producing a catch mechanism.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZAKIYA W BATES whose telephone number is (571)272-7039. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am - 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Doug Hutton can be reached at 5712724137. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZAKIYA W BATES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674 2/20/2026