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 .
Election/Restrictions
Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
I. Claims 1-19, drawn to a modular pocket system, classified in E06B 9/17023.
II. Claim 20, drawn to a method of building a modular pocket, classified in E06B 2009/17092.
The inventions are independent or distinct, each from the other because:
Inventions I and II are related as product and process of use. The inventions can be shown to be distinct if either or both of the following can be shown: (1) the process for using the product as claimed can be practiced with another materially different product or (2) the product as claimed can be used in a materially different process of using that product. See MPEP § 806.05(h). In the instant case the process as claimed positively requires the step of cutting the plurality of panels, as well as assembling the second side profile onto an inside surface of the second side panel. The product as claimed can be used in a materially different process, including installation with panels that do not need to be cut to length, and installation of the second profile to the top panel of the pocket system.
Restriction for examination purposes as indicated is proper because all the inventions listed in this action are independent or distinct for the reasons given above and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply:
The inventions have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classifications, as set forth above. Furthermore, searches for the different inventions would require different search strategies and/or queries, including a search for the step of cutting the panels and the particular arrangement of the second side profile on the inside surface of the second side panel for the method claims.
Applicant is advised that the reply to this requirement to be complete must include (i) an election of an invention to be examined even though the requirement may be traversed (37 CFR 1.143) and (ii) identification of the claims encompassing the elected invention.
The election of an invention may be made with or without traverse. To reserve a right to petition, the election must be made with traverse. If the reply does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election shall be treated as an election without traverse. Traversal must be presented at the time of election in order to be considered timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are added after the election, applicant must indicate which of these claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
During a telephone conversation with Shannon Vittengl on 2/3/26 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of Group I, claims 1-19. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claim 20 is withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
The examiner has required restriction between product or apparatus claims and process claims. Where applicant elects claims directed to the product/apparatus, and all product/apparatus claims are subsequently found allowable, withdrawn process claims that include all the limitations of the allowable product/apparatus claims should be considered for rejoinder. All claims directed to a nonelected process invention must include all the limitations of an allowable product/apparatus claim for that process invention to be rejoined.
In the event of rejoinder, the requirement for restriction between the product/apparatus claims and the rejoined process claims will be withdrawn, and the rejoined process claims will be fully examined for patentability in accordance with 37 CFR 1.104. Thus, to be allowable, the rejoined claims must meet all criteria for patentability including the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 101, 102, 103 and 112. Until all claims to the elected product/apparatus are found allowable, an otherwise proper restriction requirement between product/apparatus claims and process claims may be maintained. Withdrawn process claims that are not commensurate in scope with an allowable product/apparatus claim will not be rejoined. See MPEP § 821.04. Additionally, in order for rejoinder to occur, applicant is advised that the process claims should be amended during prosecution to require the limitations of the product/apparatus claims. Failure to do so may result in no rejoinder. Further, note that the prohibition against double patenting rejections of 35 U.S.C. 121 does not apply where the restriction requirement is withdrawn by the examiner before the patent issues. See MPEP § 804.01.
Claim Objections
Claims 3-5, 9, 12, and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 3-5 each reference “the at least one protruding feature on the first side profile”, but claim 1 previously recites “wherein the plurality of metal profiles includes at least one protruding feature”. Claim 1 does not specify that the at least one protruding feature is required to be provided on the first side profile. In the context of the disclosure, claims 3-5 are understood to require that said protruding feature be specifically provided on the first side profile. If a different configuration is intended to be set forth, the claims should be amended to clearly distinguish/identify the required location or number of protruding features. Claim 18 similarly references “the at least one protruding feature on the first side profile”, but claim 16 does not specify that the protruding feature is provided on the first side profile. Claim 18 is understood to require that the protruding feature is specifically provided on the first side profile.
Claim 9 recites “the outer surface of the first side profile has at least one protruding feature configured to engage with the notch on the first side panel, and wherein the inner surface of the first side profile has at least one protruding feature for coupling to a component”. In the context of the disclosure, the “at least one protruding feature configured to engage with the notch” is understood to be a new protruding feature, but the “at least one protruding feature for coupling to a component” is understood to be referencing the protruding feature and component set forth in claim 1. It is recommended that the protruding features be referenced in a manner that distinguishes them from each other, and that the reference (in claim 9) to the previously introduced protruding feature (introduced in claim 1) be recited as “the at least one protruding feature”, or similar.
Claim 12 recites “wherein the bracket comprising”, which should be amended to recite --wherein the bracket comprises--.
Claim 14 recites “a plurality of first side profiles”. In the context of the disclosure, it is clear that this limitation includes the first side profile introduced in claim 1. It is recommended that the claim be amended to recite --wherein the first side profile includes a plurality of first side profile segments-- or similar, and to reference the segments instead of “the plurality of first side profiles” later in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-9, 13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sundelin (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0349229) in view of Romoli (IT 202000003587). Note: A copy of a machine translation of the Romoli patent document has been provided with this Office action. References to the disclosure of Romoli are directed to the machine translation.
Regarding claim 1, Sundelin discloses a modular pocket system (140) for recessing into a ceiling [FIG. 14a], the modular pocket system comprising:
a plurality of panels including a top panel (146), a first side panel (148), and a second side panel (144), which are configured to be assembled to form a pocket having at least one lower open face (as shown in Figure 21, the panels form a pocket with an open lower face at the cover element 8); and
a plurality of metal profiles (152 and the corresponding profile on the opposite panel 144 as shown in Figure 21; paragraph 0034 discloses that the elongated support members may be made from aluminum) including a first side profile (152) configured to be coupled to the first side panel [FIG. 21], and a second side profile (opposite profile shown in Figure 21) configured to be coupled to the second side panel [FIG. 21] or the top panel, wherein the plurality of metal profiles includes at least one protruding feature for coupling to a component (as shown in Figure 21, the profile 152 and the opposing profile each include protruding features that couple to at least component 10).
Sundelin does not disclose that the panels are formed of a wood-based material.
Nonetheless, Romoli discloses a modular pocket system comprising a plurality of panels (10, 11, 12, 13), wherein each of the plurality of panels is formed of a wood-based material (paragraphs 0060, 0062) so that the panels can be cut to a desired length prior to assembly (paragraphs 0120 and 0123 disclose cutting panels 10, 11, and 13 to a desired length).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the panels of Sundelin to be formed from a wood-based material, as taught by Romoli, in order to allow for rapid adjustment of dimensions of the pocket system using commonly available tools, so as to ensure a more precise or custom fit in a given installation.
Regarding claim 2, Sundelin discloses a plurality of end plates including a first end plate configured to be assembled to a first end of the plurality of panels, and a second end plate configured to be assembled to a second end of the plurality of panels (paragraph 0132 discloses that end plates may be attached to opposite ends of the pocket system).
Regarding claims 3-5, Sundelin discloses a cover profile (8) configured to be coupled to the first side profile to at least partially enclose the open face of the pocket [Fig. 21], wherein the cover profile has at least one protruding feature (hook shown in Figure 21 connecting the cover profile 8 to the connecting member 10) which is configured to engage with the at least one protruding feature on the first side profile (via connecting member 10) to couple the cover profile to the first side profile; wherein the at least one protruding feature on the first side profile includes at least two hooks to provide two vertically offset positions to couple the cover profile (as shown in Figure 21, profile 152 includes at least two protruding hooks engaging the connecting member 10 that are vertically offset); wherein the at least one protruding feature on the first side profile includes at least two hooks (hooks shown in Figure 21 on the first side profile 152), and the at least one protruding feature on the cover profile includes at least two hooks to provide two spaced apart locations for the cover profile to engage with the first side profile [FIG. 21].
Regarding claim 6, Sundelin discloses the panels, but does not disclose that they are made of fiberboard.
Nonetheless, Romoli discloses panels made of fiberboard (paragraph 0060). As set forth with respect to claim 1 above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the panels of Sundelin from the wood-based fiberboard material taught by Romoli, in order to allow for precise and simple adjustment of the dimensions using commonly available tools.
Regarding claim 7, Sundelin discloses that the plurality of metal profiles is made of aluminum (paragraph 0034).
Regarding claims 8 and 9, Sundelin discloses the panels, and that the inner surface of the first side profile has at least one protruding feature (hook projections on the side profile 152 engaging connecting member 10) for coupling to a component (8) [FIG. 21], but does not disclose that the panels include notches for assembling the panels, or a notch in the first side panel configured to engage a protruding feature of the first side profile.
Nonetheless, Romoli discloses notches in the plurality of panels (notches are shown in panels 11, 10 and 13 in at lest Figure 9) for assembling the panels together; and a panel (15) having a notch configured to engage a protruding feature on a profile element (150; the protruding feature of the profile element 150 and the engagement with the notch of the panel 15 are both shown in at least Figure 9).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the panels and profile member of Sundelin to include the notch attachment and protruding feature taught by Romoli, in order to facilitate assembly by ensuring reliable and consistent alignment of the components with each other, and to provide additional mechanical strength for the connections.
Regarding claim 13, Sundelin discloses that the pocket is configured to house a bracket (164, 166) or track which is configured to hold a shade, screen, light, or drapery [FIG. 18].
Regarding claim 15, Sundelin discloses that the first and second side profiles are configured to be coupled, respectively, to the first and second side panels adjacent the open face of the pocket [FIG. 21], and wherein a portion of each of the first and second side profiles extends around a lower end of the first and second side panels and outside of the pocket (as shown in Figure 21, the profile 152 and the opposite profile on the second side panel 144 extend from an interior face of the respective panels 148, 144, and wrap around the lower sides thereof and out of the pocket).
Claims 10, 11, and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sundelin (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0349229) in view of Romoli (IT 202000003587) and Shopp (U.S. Patent No. 6,532,109).
Regarding claims 10 and 11, Sundelin, as modified above, discloses the modular pocket system and a bracket (164, 166) configured to hold a rolled shade or screen (46) within the pocket [FIGS. 18a, 24], but does not disclose a bracket mounting profile coupled to the op panel.
Nonetheless, Shopp disclose a modular pocket system comprising a bracket mounting profile (upper profile defined by projections 80 and 84) provided on a top panel (15); and a bracket (102) configured to be coupled to the bracket mounting profile [FIG. 4], wherein the bracket has an angled edge (at 113, 114) so that the bracket twists into the bracket mounting profile (column 8, lines 36-46).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pocket system and bracket of Sundelin, as modified above, to include a bracket mounting profile and attachment of the bracket to the top panel, as taught by Shopp, in order to provide an adjustable attachment for the roller shade that securely locates the bracket of the shade in an aligned location within the pocket.
Regarding claim 16, Sundelin discloses a modular pocket shade system (140) for recessing into a ceiling [FIG. 14a], the modular pocket system comprising:
a plurality of panels including a top panel (146), a first side panel (148), and a second side panel (144), which are configured to be assembled to form a pocket having at least one lower open face (as shown in Figure 21, the panels form a pocket with an open lower face at the cover element 8); and
a plurality of metal profiles (152 and the corresponding profile on the opposite panel 144 as shown in Figure 21; paragraph 0034 discloses that the elongated support members may be made from aluminum) including a first side profile (152) configured to be coupled to the first side panel [FIG. 21], wherein the plurality of metal profiles includes at least one protruding feature for coupling to a component (as shown in Figure 21, the profile 152 and the opposing profile each include protruding features that couple to at least component 10).
Sundelin does not disclose that the panels are formed of a wood-based material, or a top profile coupled to the top panel.
Nonetheless, Romoli discloses a modular pocket system comprising a plurality of panels (10, 11, 12, 13), wherein each of the plurality of panels is formed of a wood-based material (paragraphs 0060, 0062) so that the panels can be cut to a desired length prior to assembly (paragraphs 0120 and 0123 disclose cutting panels 10, 11, and 13 to a desired length).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the panels of Sundelin to be formed from a wood-based material, as taught by Romoli, in order to allow for rapid adjustment of dimensions of the pocket system using commonly available tools, so as to ensure a more precise or custom fit in a given installation.
Furthermore, Shopp discloses a modular pocket system comprising a top profile (upper profile defined by projections 80 and 84) provided on a top panel (14) including a protruding feature (82, 86) for coupling to a component.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pocket system of Sundelin to include a top profile, as taught by Shopp, in order to provide an adjustable attachment for the roller shade that securely locates the bracket of the shade in an aligned location within the pocket.
Regarding claim 17, Sundelin discloses the modular pocket shade system, a rolled shade (46) or screen held within the pocket [FIGS. 23, 24], but does not disclose the top profile.
Nonetheless, Shopp discloses that the top profile is a bracket mounting profile [FIG. 4] configured to receive a bracket (106) configured to hold a rolled shade or screen within the pocket (column 8, lines 47-60) [FIG. 4]. As described with respect to claim 16 above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pocket system of Sundelin to include the top profile taught by Shopp, in order to provide an adjustable attachment for the roller shade that reliable locates and aligns the shade within the pocket.
Regarding claims 18 and 19, Sundelin discloses a first cover profile (8) configured to be coupled to the first side profile to at least partially enclose the open face of the pocket [FIG. 21], wherein the first cover profile has at least one protruding feature (hook feature extending from the cover profile 8 and coupling to the connecting member 10) which is configured to engage with the at least one protruding feature on the first side profile to couple the first cover profile to the first side profile (via the connecting member 10); and a second side profile (opposite profile shown in Figure 21, connected to panel 144) configured to be coupled to the second side panel [FIG. 21], and a second cover profile (108) configured to be coupled to the second side profile to at least partially enclose the open face of the pocket, wherein the second cover profile has at least one protruding feature which is configured to engage with at least one protruding feature on the second side profile to couple the second cover profile to the second side profile (the engagement of the second cover profile 108 is shown in Figure 24; at least paragraph 0199 discloses that the cover configurations are usable with the different embodiments, and the two cover profiles 8 and 108 are usable with the embodiment shown in Figure 21).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sundelin (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0349229) in view of Romoli (IT 202000003587) and Shopp (U.S. Patent No. 6,532,109), as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Feldstein (U.S. Patent No. 9,206,641).
Regarding claim 12, Sundelin, as modified above, discloses the bracket and engagement of the bracket with the bracket mounting profile (as modified by Shopp above), but does not disclose first and second bracket components and a height adjusting bolt.
Nonetheless, Feldstein discloses a bracket (100) comprising a first bracket component (102) and a second bracket component (112) configured to hold a rolled shade or screen (column 4, lines 16-21); and a height adjusting bolt (116) positioned between the first and second bracket components [FIGS. 1, 2] configured to level the rolled shade or screen while the rolled shade or screen is installed (column 4, lines 30-41).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the bracket of Sundelin, as modified above, to have the two component configuration and height adjustment bolt taught by Feldstein, in order to allow for realignment of the shade during or after installation, so as to ensure that it does not become crooked or wrinkled during use.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sundelin (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0349229) in view of Romoli (IT 202000003587), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hulka (U.S. Patent No. 9,464,433).
Regarding claim 14, Sundelin, as modified above, discloses the first side profile, but does not disclose a plurality of side profiles and a plurality of joiner bars.
Nonetheless, Hulka discloses a plurality of profiles (30) that extend in a substantially linear arrangement; and a plurality of joiner bars (10) coupling the plurality of profiles together [FIG. 8].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the profile of Sundelin to be formed from different profiles linearly arranged and coupled via joiner bars, as taught by Hulka, in order to allow for installation of longer pocket systems with shorter length profiles, so as to reduce packaging and shipping costs for the assembly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABE L MASSAD whose telephone number is (571)272-6292. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:00.
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/ABE MASSAD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3634