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 .
This non-final Office action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on 2/23/2026.
Currently, claims 1-18 are pending and examined.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US No. 2024/0093506 to De Rick et al. (‘De Rick’).
Re claim 1: De Rick discloses a decorative tile with a glowing grout receiving feature (par. [0026], last line), comprising: the decorative tile 1 (Fig. 3), including: a decorative face 20; and the grout receiving feature 30 formed into the decorative tile 1, wherein the grout receiving feature 30 includes a recess 30 from the decorative face 20 (see Fig. 3, par. 0383], lines 1-2) and wherein the grout receiving feature 30 is configured for receiving the glowing grout after the grout receiving feature has been formed (see Fig. 3).
Re claim 2: further comprising glowing grout 31 disposed within the grout receiving feature 30.
Re claim 3: wherein the grout receiving feature 30 includes a grout receiving groove 30 (see Fig. 3) formed in a straight line (see Fig. 1).
Re claim 5: wherein the grout receiving feature 30 is configured for providing one of a logo, a word, a phrase, or an image upon the decorative face (i.e. a print image; see par. [0311], line 6)
Re claim 6: wherein the decorative tile 1 is a planar tile (Fig. 1).
Re claim 9: wherein the grout receiving feature 30 includes a grout retaining feature (i.e. a recess feature) configured to create an undercut in the grout receiving feature configured to enhance grout retention (Fig. 3).
Re claim 10: De Rick discloses a method for forming a tile with a glowing grout receiving feature, comprising: creating the tile 1 including a decorative face 20 and the grout receiving feature 30 including a recess 30 from the decorative face 20(see Fig. 3).
Re claim 12: wherein creating the tile 1 includes cutting (par. {0085]) the grout receiving feature 30 into the decorative face 20 of the tile 1.
Re claim 13: further comprising disposing grout 31 into the grout receiving feature 30.
Re claim 17: De Rick discloses a decorative tile system with inset glowing grout, comprising: a decorative tile 1, including: a decorative face 20; the grout receiving feature 30 formed into the decorative tile 1, wherein the grout receiving feature 30 includes a recess 30 from the decorative face 20 and wherein the grout receiving feature 30 is configured for receiving the glowing grout after receiving feature has been formed (Fig. 3); and glowing grout 31 disposed within the grout receiving feature 30.
Re claim 18: further comprising a plurality of decorative tiles (Fig. 1) wherein the grout receiving feature 30 on each of the plurality of decorative tiles combine to create a decorative pattern in the plurality decorative tiles 1(see Fig. 1).
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(s) 4, 7, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US No. 2024/0093506 to De Rick et al. (‘De Rick’).
Re claims 4, 7, 8: De Rick discloses basic structures of the claimed invention as stated but does not disclose expressly wherein the decorative tile further includes a plurality of oval-shaped grout receiving features; a curved tile or a corner tile. However, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have different shapes, e.g. a plurality of oval shaped grout receiving features or a curved or corner tile in order to facilitate a desirable and aesthetical flooring assembly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11, 14, 15, 16 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-10, 12, 13, 17-18 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (see attached PTO-892).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to CHI Q. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6847. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7AM-5PM or email: chi.nguyen@uspto.gov. If attempt to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached at (571) 270-3238. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pairdirect.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197.
/CHI Q NGUYEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635
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