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
Claim 15 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 1/26/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-14 in the reply filed on 1/26/2026 is acknowledged.
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 10 is 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 10 recites the limitation "the lower surface" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-6, 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sporer [EP2453072, machine translation provided].
Sporer discloses an apparatus for attaching a building material to a base, the apparatus comprising: at least one infrared heater (305) for producing heat to a surface of the building material (paragraphs 0083-84; Figure 6); and at least one motor (311) for moving the apparatus (paragraph 0078; Figure 6) wherein, in the apparatus, the building material, once straightened out onto the base, is adapted to be fed in from a first end of the apparatus; heated by the infrared heater; and discharged from a second end of the apparatus while being attached to the base (Figure 6; paragraphs 0077-88).
With respect to claim 2, Sporer discloses at least three rollers (302, 303, 320) adapted to guide travel of the building material (Figure 6; paragraphs 0077, 0080-82).
With respect to claim 3, Sporer discloses at least one of three rollers comprises a pressing roller (303) adapted to press the building material against the base (Figure 6; paragraph 0077-78).
With respect to claim 4, Sporer discloses the motor is a roller motor (paragraph 0078).
With respect to claim 5, Sporer discloses a guiding table (304) (Figure 6; paragraph 0079).
With respect to claim 6, Sporer discloses a control unit (308) adapted to adjust at least one of a speed of the apparatus or a temperature of the infrared heater (paragraph 0088).
With respect to claim 10, Sporer discloses the infrared heater is adapted to direct the heat perpendicularly to the lower surface of the building material (Figure 6; paragraph 0083).
With respect to claim 11, Sporer discloses the at least one infrared heater is configured to swivel (paragraph 0083).
With respect to claim 12, Sporer discloses the at least one infrared heater is adapted to steplessly swivel for one or more of (a) different positions or (b) different temperatures (paragraph 0083-84).
With respect to claim 13, Sporer discloses the infrared heater comprises at least one lamp (paragraph 0084).
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.
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sporer in view of Marzouki [US2011/0000611].
Sporer discloses an apparatus. Applicant is referred to paragraph 7 for a detailed discussion of Sporer. Sporer discloses a controller but does not disclose a temperature sensor.
Marzouki discloses an apparatus for applying a building material. Marzouki discloses the apparatus includes a temperature sensor to measure a temperature which can be compared to a set temperature, which is used by a controller to provide control over the operation of the apparatus (paragraph 0055).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the method of Sporer to include a temperature sensor as taught by Marzouki in order to provide a feedback loop to a controller in order to provide better performance and efficiency of the apparatus
With respect to claim 8, Marzouki discloses the control unit is adapted to adjust the speed of the apparatus based on the temperature measured by the at least one temperature sensor (paragraph 0055).
With respect to claim 9, Marzouki discloses the control unit is adapted to turn off the at least one infrared heater when the temperature measured by the at least one temperature sensor exceeds a threshold (paragraph 0055).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sporer in view of Dyal et al. [US2009/0017226].
Sporer discloses an apparatus. Applicant is referred to paragraph 7 for a detailed discussion of Sporer. Sporer discloses an apparatus but fails to disclose a fan or extractor.
Dyal discloses an apparatus for applying a building material. Dyal discloses the apparatus includes a blower fan (paragraph 0016).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the apparatus of Sporer to include a fan as taught by Dyal in order to improve control of the heating temperature of the material worked upon.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2685. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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 supervisor, Michael Orlando can be reached at 571-270-5038. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL MCNALLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
DPM
March 30, 2026
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