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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (claims 1-15) in the reply filed on 08 April 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 16-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 08 April 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent Application Publication No. 2022/2022/0099229 A1 to Hairston et al. (Hairston).
With regard to claim 1, Hairston discloses a method of creating and installing a reinforced pipe comprising:
laying several sections of host conduit in a trench (paragraph 0018, disclosing a host pipe that is not illustrated but that receives a liner held in place by the device of Hairston. As described in paragraph 0033, the system of Hairston is useful for the installation of a pipe liner within a water supply pipe, industrial pressure pipes or sanitary sewer pipes. Water and sewer pipes are deployed under the ground. The space around an existing underground pipe is a trench);
joining the host conduit sections end-to-end to form a length of host conduit with first and second open ends (the existing host pipe of Hairston that is in need of rehabilitation is a pipe that is of the type that are installed in sections such as a water supply pipe or a sewer pipe as described in paragraph 0033. The liner of Hairston extends the length of the pipe that needs to be remediated to create a repaired pipe);
pulling a pipe liner (PL, fig. 2) through the length of host conduit before the host conduit is used to carry fluid such that a first end of the pipe liner extends from the first end of the length of host conduit and a second end of the pipe liner extends from the second end of the length of host conduit (the device of Hairston is designed to be attached to ends of the liner and to secure the liner between ends of the host pipe. To accomplish this the liner necessarily extends past the end of the host pipe to interface with end termination. In situ pipe repair methods involve the fluid isolation of the pipe in need of repair and prior to the completion of the repair the pipe liner is installed before the repaired pipe is then used to carry fluid);
attaching the first end of the pipe liner to the first end of the length of host conduit (shown in fig. 2 attached to the host pipe system);
attaching the second end of the pipe liner to the second end of the length of host conduit (not shown in the figures, the structure of fig. 2 is duplicated at the other end of the host pipe. The pipe termination fittings of Hairston are attached to both ends of the liner in a manner that the lined pipe section can be fluidly connected to the other pipe sections); and
attaching the first and second open ends of the host conduit to other fluid-carrying components (once installed the system is connected to other fluid carrying components of the system).
With regard to claim 2, Hairston discloses the method of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the host conduit sections are sections of unreinforced concrete, polyethylene, or other corrosion resistant storm drain pipes (paragraph 0033, disclosing pipes to be lined as water supply, industrial pressure supply or sanitary sewer)
With regard to claim 3, Hairston discloses the method of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the pipe liner is a seamless, flexible, fabric-reinforced pipe liner or other similar pressure pipe liner system (paragraph 0003).
With regard to claim 4, Hairston discloses the method of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the other fluid-carrying components are selected from the group consisting of valves, access points, closure pieces, and other host conduit sections (a damaged pipe section that has been repaired using a pipe liner and the fluid system placed back into service will then have a lined section of pipe connected to other host conduit sections upstream and downstream from the location of the repair using the liner and termination fitting of Hairston).
With regard to claim 5, Hairston discloses the method of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the joining step comprises pressing the host conduit sections together but attaching no collars, rings, or other securement devices to the host conduit sections (prior to the repair process using the pipe liner and termination fitting of Hairston, the host conduit sections are pressed together into an integrated whole.).
With regard to claim 9, Hairston discloses the method of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses comprising covering the trench with fill materials (the pipe liner system of Insituform described in paragraph 0003 are designed to be installed into existing pipe sections that are in a trench that has been covered with fill materials. The claimed process does not specify the order of the steps of the claimed process).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 6-8 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication No. 2022/2022/0099229 A1 to Hairston et al. (Hairston) in view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0157784 to Kiest, Jr. (Kiest).
Kiest discloses a method and apparatus for pipe repair (Kiest, title, abstract), an analogous field of endeavor to the pipe repair system and method of Hairston.
With regard to claims 6, 7, and 8, Hairston discloses the method of claim 1 as set forth above, but does not further disclose wherein the pulling step comprises attaching a pulling head to the first end of the pipe liner, attaching a pulling cable to the pulling head, and pulling the pipe liner through the length of host conduit by the pulling cable (6) and inflating the pipe liner after it has been pulled through the length of host conduit to press an outside surface of the pipe liner against an interior surface of the length of host conduit (7) and attaching an air fitting and pipe clamp to the first end of the pipe liner and introducing pressurized air into the pipe liner through the air fitting (8)..
Kiest discloses a repair apparatus that includes a pulling head (30, fig. 5, paragraph 0057) attached to a first end of a pipe liner with an attached pulling cable (57, fig. 6, paragraph 0059). The pulling cable is used to pull the liner into a pipe in need of remediation as shown in figs. 10 and 11 and described in paragraph 0065. The liner is located where desired and then everted by pressurizing the carrier bladder through an air fitting that provides air pressure as described in paragraph 0066 that also presses the pipe liner in place against the interior surface of the length of host conduit.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use the system and method of Kiest described above with the connecting hardware of Hairston to deploy and anchor a pipe liner to an interior surface of a host pipe such as a storm water drain pipe to either remediate an existing system with leaks or to line a new pipe system capable of handling large quantities of fluids by providing a uniform and relatively smooth finish surface of the pipe.
With regard to claim 10, Hairston discloses a method of creating and installing a reinforced pipe comprising:
digging a trench (not disclosed);
laying several sections of unreinforced concrete storm drain pipes in the trench (Concrete storm drain pipes are not disclosed by Hairston. paragraph 0018, discloses a host pipe that is not illustrated but that receives a liner held in place by the device of Hairston);
joining the unreinforced concrete storm drain pipe sections end-to-end to form a length of host conduit with first and second open ends (the existing host pipe of Hairston that is in need of rehabilitation. Pipes that are replaced in situ are installed in sections. The liner of Hairston extends the length of the pipe that needs to be remediated to create a repaired pipe);
pulling a seamless, flexible, fabric-reinforced pipe liner through the length of host conduit such that a first end of the pipe liner extends from the first end of the length of host conduit and a second end of the pipe liner extends from the second end of the length of host conduit (not disclosed);
attaching the first end of the pipe liner to the first end of the length of host conduit (as shown in fig. 2);
attaching the second end of the pipe liner to the second end of the length of host conduit (the other end of the pipe liner as attached to the assembly that is described in the specification but not shown in the figures);
attaching the first and second open ends of the host conduit to other fluid-carrying components (as shown in fig. 2, the liner lined host conduit is attached to the next pipe section PS as described in paragraph 0018); and
covering the trench with fill materials (not disclosed).
Kiest discloses a main (10, fig. 10) that is located between two manholes as shown in fig. 10. Paragraph 0013 discloses the process of municipal installation of such a straight and professionally designed sewer system. As show in the cross section view of fig. 10, sewer systems are located below the surface of the ground. Two options exists for the location of an underground conduit which include excavation/placement/backfill or Bore creation such as tunnel boring which involves specialized machinery. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the system of fig. 10 of Kiest with the buried pipeline that is located in a trench and covered with fill materials that is subsequently lined with the pipe liner of Hairston
With regard to claim 11, Hairston in view of Kiest discloses the method of claim 10 as set forth, and Kiest further discloses wherein the other fluid-carrying components are selected from the group consisting of valves, access points, closure pieces, and other host conduit sections (as shown in fig. 10 of Kiest, the manholes up and down stream of the section of conduit to be lined are other host conduit sections that are fluidly connected).
With regard to claim 12, Hairston in view of Kiest discloses the method of claim 10 as set forth above, and Kiest further discloses wherein the joining step comprises pressing the unreinforced concrete storm drain pipe sections together but attaching no collars, rings, or other securement devices to the pipe sections (the connecting sections between the conduit portion of Kiest and the access opening in the manholes are shown without collars, rings or other securement device).
With regard to claim 13, Hairston in view of Kiest discloses the method of claim 10 as set forth above, and Kiest further discloses wherein the pulling step comprises attaching a pulling head to the first end of the pipe liner, attaching a pulling cable to the pulling head, and pulling the pipe liner through the length of host conduit by the pulling cable (as set forth above in the rejection of claim 6).
With regard to claim 14, Hairston in view of Kiest discloses the method of claim 10 as set forth above, and Kiest further discloses comprising inflating the pipe liner after it has been pulled through the length of host conduit to press an outside surface of the pipe liner against an interior surface of the length of host conduit (as set forth above in the rejection of claim 7).
With regard to claim 15, Hairston in view of Kiest discloses the method of claim 14 as set forth above, and Kiest further discloses wherein the inflating step comprises attaching an air fitting and pipe clamp to the first end of the pipe liner and introducing pressurized air into the pipe liner through the air fitting (as set forth above in the rejection of claim 8).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. USPNs 2016/0348827 discloses another inflatable bladder deliverable pipe liner. USPNs 5094795 and 2982311 disclose methods of forming attachment structures at the ends of lined pipes. USPNs 2016/0258567, 2018/0066788 and 20120012217 disclose other methods of installing a liner within a host pipe.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID R DEAL whose telephone number is (469)295-9216. The examiner can normally be reached M-F generally 8-4 pm CST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached at: Craig M Schneider (571) 272-3607 and Ken Rinehart (571) 272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID R DEAL/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3753
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