DETAILED ACTION
The Amendment filed on 01/20/2026 has been entered. Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, and 6 have been amended. Therefore, claims 1-15 are now pending in the application.
Response to Amendment
The previous claim objections have been withdrawn in light of applicant's amendments.
The previous 35 USC 112 rejections are withdrawn in light of applicant's amendments.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 7 is 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. In particular, the limitation “wherein the top portion has at least one projection extending into the groove to engage the carrier and hold the carrier within the groove” would overcome the prior art rejection since no prior art of record, alone or in combination, teaches this configuration and such a modification to include the projection would require modifying the modifier reference which would involve hindsight reconstruction.
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 of this title, 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) 1-6, 8, 9, 11-13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kodi (U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0115449) in view of Plunkett (U.S. Patent No. 3,722,670).
Regarding claim 1, Kodi teaches a fastener assembly (bar connecting apparatus; title) capable of tying a first rebar extending in a first direction to an underlying second rebar extending in a second direction transverse to the first direction (figure 2), the fastener assembly comprising: a plurality of plastic clips (4; paragraph 41) arranged serially in end-to-end relation (figure 3), each clip having a unitary body with a top portion (14; figure 3), a first longitudinal side wall (14-left), a second longitudinal side wall (14-right) longitudinally spaced from the first longitudinal side wall (figure 3), a first lateral side wall (10-left), a second lateral side wall (10-right) laterally spaced from the first lateral side wall (figure 3), the top portion having a generally downwardly extending periphery (figure 3), the side walls extending downwardly from the periphery of the top portion (figure 3); a first channel passing through the longitudinal side walls and extending between the lateral side walls (channel through which 11 extends; figure 2), the first channel having an open lower end (figure 3), a closed upper end (at 12; figure 3), and a width allowing the first rebar to be closely positioned therein (figure 2); a second channel passing through the lateral side walls and extending between the longitudinal side walls (channel through which 9 extends; figure 2), the lateral side walls having an open lower end (figure 3), a closed upper end (at 7; figure 2), and a width allowing the second rebar to be closely positioned therein (figure 2), the lower ends of the lateral side walls forming a constriction (at 10) in the second channel to define a gap narrower than the width of the second channel (figure 2); a severable carrier (18) extending longitudinally from the clip at one end of the serially-arranged clips to the clip at the other end of the of the serially-arranged clips (figure 3), whereby an individual clip may be detached from the other clips of the fastener assembly when the first rebar and the second rebar are tied together (paragraph 49).
Kodi does not specifically disclose a flexible carrier being attached to and extending longitudinally along a lateral peripheral face of the top portion of each clip, the lateral peripheral face including a groove, the carrier being at least partially disposed within and extending along the groove.
Plunkett discloses a clip stack (abstract) including a flexible carrier (22; col. 3, lines 1-5) being attached to and extending longitudinally along a lateral peripheral face of the top portion of each clip (figure 3), the lateral peripheral face including a groove (12), the carrier being at least partially disposed within and extending along the groove (figure 3).
Therefore, from the teaching of Plunkett, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the bar connecting system of Kodi to replace the carrier and with a carrier being attached to and extending longitudinally along a lateral peripheral face of the top portion of each clip, the lateral peripheral face including a groove, the carrier being at least partially disposed within and extending along the groove, as taught by Plunkett, in order to provide the optimal amount of flexibility to the string of clips to compactness for storage, shipping, and dispensing.
Regarding claim 2, Kodi teaches the first channel and the second channel are orthogonal to one another (figure 2).
Regarding claim 3, Kodi teaches the depth of the longitudinal channel is greater than the depth of the lateral channel (figure 2).
Regarding claim 4, Kodi teaches the first channel and the second channel intersect allowing the second rebar to bear against an overlying first rebar (figure 2).
Regarding claim 5, Kodi teaches wherein the top portion of the clip has an upper face, a pair of spaced lateral peripheral faces, and a pair of spaced longitudinal peripheral faces (figure 2).
Regarding claim 6, Plunkett in the combination discloses further comprising a plurality of grooves (12, 14) formed in the top portion (figure 3) and a plurality of carriers (22), one carrier being at least partially disposed within and extending along each of the grooves (figure 3).
Regarding claim 8, Plunkett in the combination discloses a groove (12, 14) is defined in each of the lateral peripheral faces of the top portion and extends longitudinally (figure 1).
Regarding claim 9, Kodi teaches the top face of the top portion includes a laterally extending recess (at 15) intermediate the longitudinal peripheral faces to form a pair of spaced ribs (top portions of 14-left and 14-right) in the top portion adjoining the longitudinal peripheral faces (figure 2).
Regarding claim 11, Plunkett in the combination discloses the material from which the carrier is fabricated is polyethylene (col. 3, lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 12, Plunkett in the combination discloses the material from which the carrier is fabricated is softer than the material from which the clips are fabricated (polyethylene; col. 3, lines 1-5; it is understood that polyethylene is softer than plastic).
Regarding claim 13, Plunkett in the combination discloses the carrier is a round cord attached to the clips (figure 3).
Regarding claim 15, Plunkett in the combination discloses the fastener assembly is nonlinear (since the assembly can be coiled; col. 3, lines 15-20; it is understood that this would constitute a nonlinear assembly).
Claim(s) 10, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kodi (U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0115449), in view of Plunkett (U.S. Patent No. 3,722,670), and further in view of Margo (U.S. Patent No. 6,298,525).
Regarding claim 10, Kodi as modified does not specifically disclose the material from which the clips are fabricated is polycarbonate.
Margo discloses a clip (abstract) whereby the material from which the clips are fabricated is polycarbonate (col. 1, lines 10-15).
Therefore, from the teaching of Margo, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the modified bar connecting assembly of Kodi such that the material from which the clips are fabricated is polycarbonate, as taught by Margo, in order to provide a material that is both flexible and strong to allow the assembly to flexibility to receive the rebar and the strength to keep the connected rebars together during construction.
Claim(s) 14, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kodi (U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0115449), in view of Plunkett (U.S. Patent No. 3,722,670), and further in view of Leistner et al. (U.S. Patent No. 6,317,970).
Regarding claim 14, Kodi as modified does not specifically disclose wherein the carrier is a tape strip adhesively attached to the clips.
Leistner et al. discloses a clip (abstract; figure 2) wherein the carrier is a tape strip adhesively attached to the clips (col. 3, lines 15-20).
Therefore, from the teaching of Leistner et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the modified bar connecting assembly of Kodi such that the carrier is a tape strip adhesively attached to the clips, as taught by Leistner et al., in order to provide a readily available off the shelf material for attaching clips in order to save on costs in lieu of developing a custom tooling and method for the attachment means.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments and amendments have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
New reference(s) Plunkett (U.S. Patent No. 3,722,670) has been added to overcome the newly added limitations. Applicant’s argument that Kodi does not teach or disclose a "flexible severable carrier” or that the carrier is attached to and extends “longitudinally along a lateral peripheral face of the top portion of each clip” has been carefully considered. Applicant further argues that a person of ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to modify Kodi to have a flexible carrier attached to and extending longitudinally along the top portion of each clip (e.g., lateral peripheral face of the top portion), since this would frustrate the purpose of the feed rod 18 of Kodi (to hold the clips in a constant orientation). However, the examiner contends that having some degree of flexibility would allow for some degree of coiling while still maintaining a consistent orientation for feeding the clips. Since flexibility is relative, the filament can be flexible in a limited manner, permitting deflection while retaining sufficient stiffness to preserve its intended orientation. In addition, the argument that Kodi does not teach or disclose "the lateral peripheral face including a groove, the carrier being at least partially disposed within and extending along the groove" has been considered and found persuasive. The previous secondary reference Poffenberger has been withdrawn. With regards to the argument that none of the references teach "the top portion has at least one projection extending into the groove to engage the carrier and hold the carrier within the groove", the argument is found persuasive and the claim is objected to as being allowable, depending on a rejected claim as detailed above.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR F HIJAZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5790. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-6 EST Monday-Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached on (571) 270-3238. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OMAR F HIJAZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3633