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 16 and 17) in the reply filed on 03/18/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 18-42 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/18/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/06/2023 has been 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.
Claim 16-17 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.
Claim 16 contains the trademark/trade name “Velcro” in line 5. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark/trade name is used to identify/describe a type of fastener and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite as “Velcro Co. has a multitude of fastening systems.
"Velcro" is a brand. It is unclear what this limitation constitutes because there are different types of Velcro hooks, and it is unclear which would or would not read on this limitation. Does the prior art have to use "Velcro" brand products, or would any hook and loop Velcro-like product meet this limitation?
Further, it is unclear whether the claimed “Velcro hook layer with Velcro hooks” is being used to specify the Velcro brand or if this term is being used to establish a general class of fasteners that use hook and loops as discussed in Gershenson (US 5097570) which recites:
“The other or third common type of interlocking fastener, is a "pressure-type" device. This pressure-type device is commonly known as a "VELCRO"-type device or fastener, VELCRO fasteners, generally, comprise two nylon members that are joined together by pressure. One nylon member has multiple plastic hooks and the other member has multiple plastic loops. The hooks of the one member latch onto the multiple loops of plastic or fabric formed or provided on the second or opposed member. When the two members are joined by pressing them together their respective, planar movement is restricted and their perpendicular movement is restricted, until pulled apart.”
Claim 17 is indefinite because it depends from indefinite claim 16.
See the following link for further information on the term “Velcro”:
https://www.velcro.com/original-thinking/the-velcro-brand-trademark-guidelines/dont-say-velcro/
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) 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by Fisher (US 8002612) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Fisher (US 8002612) in view of Gershenson (US 5097570) and/or Ferronato et al. (US 2010/0267319), hereinafter ‘Ferronato’.
Fisher discloses:
Claim 16 (currently amended):
A grinding plate (8) for a grinding disk of a grinding machine,
the grinding plate comprising: a rear side (16 faces grinding machine 6) facing the grinding machine and an active side facing a grinding attachment (side 14 faces grinding attachment 21);
a basic body including a fiber-reinforced plastic (16 is vulcanized fiber board which is a fiber-reinforced plastic because it is a laminated plastic that comprises fibers that reinforce the material); and
a Velcro hook layer with Velcro hooks (26, hook and loop fastening system) on the active side, the Velcro hook layer including a nonreinforced plastic (layer 14 is nonreinforced plastic as indicated by the drawing shading, further the disclosure does not discuss layer 14 as comprising reinforced plastic therefore indicating that this material is a non-reinforced plastic, see crosshatching from MPEP 608.02 (IX). Drawing Symbols copied below).
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It is unclear whether the specific Velcro brand hook is required in this limitation because this term appears to be a general term that refers to hook and loop fastening systems as discussed in Col. 1 of Gershenson (US 5097570).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of Fisher to have used a Velcro brand hook layer including Velcro brand hooks comprising nylon members (nylon members are not reinforced plastic) as taught by Gershenson as a matter of simple substitution of one known hook and loop fastener system for another to yield only the predictable result a functioning hook and loop fastening system.
Further, Ferronato et al. (US 2010/0267319) discloses that it is known in the art to use a Velcro hook as the hook and loop connection means. Ferronato establishes obvious equivalence between the Velcro hooks and other hook and loop fasteners (see Ferronato claim 4 which recites “fixation means…comprise Velcro-Type.RTM. or other hook & loop connection means”).
Since Velcro hooks and other hook and loop connect means are obvious equivalents, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of Fisher to have used Velcro hooks as taught by Gershenson and/or Ferronato as a matter of simple substitution of its hooks to yield only the predictable result of a Velcro hook layer including non-reinforced nylon Velcro hooks that functions the same as the originally disclosed hook layer as a fixation means.
Fisher discloses/ the combination of Fisher, Gershenson and/or Ferronato renders obvious:
Claim 17 (previously presented):
The grinding plate as recited in claim 16 wherein a surface of the grinding plate is completely covered by the Velcro hook layer (Fisher, surface 14 is completely covered by the Velcro hook layer 26; the hook layer 26 would be replaced by a Velcro hook layer in light of the teachings from Gershenson and/or Ferronato).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Rivard et al. (US 7731573) discloses a grinding plate for a grinding disk of a grinding machine, the grinding plate 40 comprising:
a rear side facing 50 the grinding machine and an active side 54 facing a grinding attachment 56, 58;
a basic body including core 42 that includes plastics, and
a Velcro hook layer 54 with Velcro hooks on the active side, the Velcro hook layer including a nonreinforced plastic.
Bay et al. (US 6843944) and Kennedy et al. (US 5260015) discloses a hook and loop fastener and discusses the Velcro brand
Stout et al. (US 5316812) discloses a grinding disk including a fiber reinforced plastic material
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dustin T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-0163. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel E. Wiehe can be reached at (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUSTIN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745 April 15, 2026
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