DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Preliminary Amendment
2. The preliminary amendment filed on May 21, 2024 has been entered in the above-identified application. Claims 3-12 and 14-20 are amended. Claims 1-20 are pending and under consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
3. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Frank et al. (US 2017/0204604 A1).
Frank et al. disclose an acoustical tile having a wet laid mineral fiber basemat (equivalent to the single-layer, high-caliper basemat of the claimed invention), a non-woven porous fiberglass veil (equivalent to porous scrim of claim 12 and meeting the limitations of claim 13) adhered to the basemat and covered with a light reflecting air permeable coating (equivalent to the decorative coating of claim 14), at least 90% of the weight of the basemat comprising mineral wool (equivalent to the mineral wool in the single-layer, high-caliper basemat of the claimed invention and meeting the concentration limitations of claim 1) and binder, a weight of the binder being less than 1/11 of the weight of the mineral fiber (meeting the binder concentration limitations of claim 1; 1/11th of at least 90% of the mineral wool), the basemat having a density of between about 11.4 and about 14.2 lbs/cubic foot (meeting the limitations of claim 9), the mineral fiber having an average diameter of between 4.5 and 8.3 microns (meeting the mean diameter limitations of claims 1 and 6), the composite of the basemat, veil and coating exhibiting good NRC and CAC performance values. The mat is formed in a conventional wet laid or water felted process well known in the industry. The basemat constituents are thoroughly mixed in a dilute water slurry which is then deposited on a moving foraminous screen in a layer of controlled height. Water is drained from the solids through the screen by gravity and vacuum. The still wet basemat is slightly pressed on the screen with another overlying screen and/or rollers to a desired thickness and subsequently dried in an oven. The binder serves to fix the mineral fibers together in a rigid porous mass. FIG. 1 illustrates a tile 10 comprising a basemat or core 11 covered by a non-woven veil or scrim 12 on a side of the basemat towards a room when the tile is installed. The veil 12 may be painted on the room side and the back side of the basemat may be provided with an optional backcoating. The basemat 11 comprises latex and starch as binders (meeting the limitations of claim 5). Minor amounts of other materials such as a biocide or a fire retardant may be included (meeting the limitations of claim 8). Frank et al. also teach acoustically reflective back coats non-blocking paint face coats as seen on the Product Description Table below paragraph 0033. (see Abstract and paragraphs 0007, 0011-0019, 0023, 0024, 0033, 0036, and 0039).
Frank et al. do no teach that the basemat has a thickness of greater than about 1.1 inches (2.80 cm) and less than 1.4 inches (3.56 cm) (as recited in claims 1 and 10) or the coating weight of the decorative or back coating layers.
However, workable physical properties, thicknesses, and coating weight concentrations are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties and in this case, Frank et al. specifically state that the basemat can be manufactured to a desired thickness. Furthermore, Frank et al. do not teach the use of cellulose, glass beads, or perlite, clay, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, and/or vermiculite or use of perforation or fissures (thus meeting the limitations of claims 2-4, 11, and 20). With regards to claim 7, the patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process. With regards to claims 18 and 19, the Product Description Table below paragraph 0033, recites the claimed NRC and CAC values.
Conclusion
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEEBA AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-1504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CALLIE SHOSHO can be reached at 571-272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHEEBA AHMED/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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