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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/22/2025 was considered by the examiner.
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 10, 16, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “nearly parallel” in claim 10 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “nearly parallel” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim 16 states manufacturing the interlocking installation panel of claim 1. Said claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential steps, such omission amounting to a gap between the steps. See MPEP § 2172.01.Since there are no method steps claimed, the scope of the invention is unclear because there could be many different ways to manufacture a panel, but none are claimed. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would not know how to manufacture the panel in light of the claim.
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.
Claims 1, 10, 13, 14, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Knight, Jr US9926707 .
Claim 1. Knight, Jr discloses an interlocking installation panel for masonry objects comprising: a mounting plate (230), said mounting plate having a wall side and an installation side, said mounting plate further comprising a first interlocking edge (denoted. 232a below) and a second interlocking edge (denoted. 232b below); at least one offsetting flare (denoted. 2335 below) extending away from the first interlocking edge of the mounting plate, said offsetting flare comprising a first end (denoted. 235a below) and a second end (denoted. 235b below); whereby the first end of the offsetting flare is integrally attached to the first interlocking edge of the mounting plate; the second end of the offsetting flare being integrally attached to an interlocking tab (235), said interlocking tab extending from the second end of the offsetting flare (Fig.15); further providing that the second interlocking edge comprises at least one offsetting flare (denoted. 2333 below) that extends away from the second interlocking edge of the mounting plate, said second interlocking edge comprising a first end (denoted. 233a below) and a second end (denoted. 233b below), whereby the first end of the offsetting flare is integrally attached to the second interlocking edge of the mounting plate and the second end of the offsetting flare is integrally attached to the second interlocking edge of the mounting plate; further providing that the second end of the offsetting flare is integrally attached to an interlocking tab (233), said interlocking tab extending from the second end of the offsetting flare; said interlocking stone installation panel being free of external fasteners (as shown in Fig.15 below).
Claim 10. Knight, Jr discloses the interlocking tab extends nearly parallel from the second end of the offsetting flare (see Fig. below).
Claim 13. Knight, Jr discloses y the panel comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of metal, wood, rubber, polymer, resin, composite, plastic, fiber, and combinations thereof (Col.9:26-28 and 14:6-7).
Claim 14. Knight, Jr discloses that is at least partially coated with a coating selected from the group consisting of paint, powder coating, sealant, and resin (Col.14:6).
Claim 16 as best understood. Knight, Jr discloses manufacturing the interlocking installation panel of claim 1.
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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 2-9, 11, 12, 15, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Knight, Jr US9926707 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Passeno US20050204666.
Claim 2-8 and 17-18. Knight, Jr discloses stems (portion connecting 234 to 232) integrally formed with the mounting plate and extending from the mounting plate with an aperture, whereby the stems extend nearly perpendicular to the mounting plate (compare portion connecting 234 to 232 and 232 of Fig.15), whereby the stems are comprised of a far end that is integrally attached to a retention flange (234), whereby the retention flange is nearly perpendicular to the stem (Fig.15), whereby the retention flange can extend towards the first interlocking edge (232a above) or the second interlocking edge but is silent a plurality of stems.
Knight, Jr discloses the mounting plate for mounting metal panel but silent on the rest of the limitation herein. Passeno before the filing date of the instant invention to discloses a mounting plate similar to that of Knight with a plurality of stems (80) and apertures (78) the apertures have a similar width as the stem and are positioned to line up with a retention flange (82) for mounting bricks (20). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify the edges of Passeno’s mounting plate with the motivation of easy installation/mounting as it would result in a leveled alignment on every row installed. Besides a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue known options within his or her technical grasp.
Claim 9 and 11. Knight, Jr is silent on the offsetting flare extends away from the first/second interlocking edge of the mounting plate at a less than a 180 degree angle, said offsetting flare comprising a first end and a second end. Passeno before the filing date of the instant invention to discloses a foot potion (82) that is less than 180 degree. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify the offsetting flare extends away from the first/second interlocking edge of the mounting plate at a less than a 180 degree angle with the motivation of better locking the mounting plate to an adjacent plate, since there is no invention in merely changing the shape or form of an article without changing its function except in a design patent.
Claim 12. Knight, Jr as modified discloses the interlocking tab (235) extending from the second end of the offsetting flare is oriented to be nearly parallel with the mounting plate (as shown in Fig.15 Above).
Claim 15. Knight, Jr is silent on that is at least partially texturized on the installation side or on the wall side. Passeno before the filing date of the instant invention to discloses a panel texturized (79) on the installation side or on the wall side. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify the plate of Knight, Jr with the teaching of Passeno with the motivation of stiffening the plate as taught by Passeno.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to attached NOTICE OF REFERENCE CITED.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BABAJIDE A DEMUREN whose telephone number is (571)270-7017. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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BABAJIDE A. DEMUREN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3633
/BABAJIDE A DEMUREN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633