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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/13/26 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 3 the claim recites “wherein the first and second surface in contact when”. It appears it should read “are in contact”. 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.
Claims 1, 3-8, 16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lai, CN 104032928.
Regarding claim 1:
Lai discloses a floor tile (1) for use in a flooring system, comprising:
a floor tile body (1);
female connecting member (2) associated with a lateral edge of the floor tile body, the female connecting member being configured to mate with an adjacent floor tile and having a continuously curved profile comprising two concave arcs and one convex arc; and
a male connecting member (3) associated with an opposite lateral edge of the floor tile body, the male connecting member having a continuously curved profile corresponding to the female connecting member of an adjacent tile to thereby allow secure lateral mating of the floor tile with the adjacent floor tile.
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Regarding claims 3 and 19:
Lai discloses wherein a draft angle of a first surface on the female connecting member and a draft angle of a second surface on the male connecting member are substantially parallel (they are both 90° relative to the surface of the panel), and wherein the first and second surface are in contact when the female connecting member is in contact with the male connecting member.
Regarding claim 4:
Lai discloses wherein the female connecting member and the male connecting member are configured to at least partially flex when mated to form a connection with a female connecting member or a male connecting member of an adjacent tile (the undulating shape and plastic material allows flexure including what occurs with temperature difference deformation as discussed in the abstract of Lai).
Regarding claim 5:
Lai discloses wherein the female connecting member is formed integrally with the floor tile body (refer to Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 6:
Lai discloses wherein the male connecting member is substantially encompassed on all sides by a female connecting member of an adjacent tile when the male connecting member is mated with the adjacent tile.
Regarding claim 7:
Lai discloses wherein the male connecting member extends in a downward direction from the floor tile body.
Regarding claim 8:
Lai discloses wherein the male connecting member includes a channel formed therein having clearance between a tab (3-2) and the continuously curved profile.
Regarding claim 16:
Lai discloses a method of floor tile engagement, comprising:
providing at least two floor tiles, each of the at least two floor tiles comprising a tile body, the tile body comprising:
a female connecting member associated with a lateral edge of the tile body, the female connecting member comprising a curved profile with at least a concave and a convex segment; and
a male connecting member associated with an opposite lateral edge of the tile body; and
engaging the female connecting member of a first of the at least two floor tiles with a male connecting member of a second of the at least two floor tile such that a space between engaged male and female connecting members is substantially uniform (it is noted that the instant invention has a contact area and a non-contact area between the male and female connecting members. Lai also has a contact area and a non-contact area such that the space is substantially uniform, though not exactly uniform).
Regarding claim 20:
Lai discloses wherein the female connecting member and male connecting member each comprise a sidewall, and wherein a distance between a top portion of each sidewall is substantially the same as a distance between a bottom portion of each sidewall (refer to Figs. 3 and 4), the sidewalls extends straight down.
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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lai, CN 104032928 in view of Stegner et al., US 2002/0189176.
Regarding claim 17:
Lai implies providing a third floor tile (the floor tiles make up a flooring) but does not disclose the specified connection.
Stegner discloses a method of floor tile engagement including first, second and third tiles each having male and female connecting members wherein a female connecting member of the third floor tile engages with a male connecting member of the first tile, and a male connecting member of the third floor tile engages with a female connecting member of the second tile (Fig. 11).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to provide the configuration suggested by Stegner to he flooring of Lai in order to provide a staggered design.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 9-15 are allowable.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 2 and 18, the most relevant prior art to Lai does not disclose wherein the female connecting member includes an m-shaped profile. There is no reason to modify Lai to have an m-shaped profile devoid of improper hindsight reasoning and reconstruction.
Regarding claims 9-15, the most relevant prior art to Lai does not disclose wherein the male connecting member comprises a curved profile having at least a convex and a concave segment. There is no reason to modify Lai to have both a concave and a convex segment devoid of improper hindsight reasoning and reconstruction.
Further, modifying Lai to have either an m-shaped profile or a male connecting member with at least a convex and a concave segment could compromise the functionality of the device of Lai.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENT W HERRING whose telephone number is (571)270-3661. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30a-6:00p MT.
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/BRENT W HERRING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633
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