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 patent application number 18/725,715 filed on 6/28/2024.
Currently, claims 1-16 are pending and examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/28/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 3-7, 9, 12-16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3, line 3; a phrase “each comprise” should be read as --each comprises--. Correction is required. Claims 4-7, 9, 12-14 depending upon the objected claim 3 are also objected.
Claims 12-16 “underlines” are not required for the “New” claims. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-16 are 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.
Re claim 1, lines 6, 9; a citation “the edge” does not have a proper antecedent basis. Correction is required. Claims 2-16 depending upon the rejected claim 1 are also rejected.
Re claim 1, line 21; a citation “its” renders the claim indefinite and confusing because it’s unclear whether “its” referring to which structure specifically? Clarification is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 8, 10, 11 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US No. 12,247,405 to Boucke.
Re claim 1: Boucke discloses a floor or wall covering panel 1 (Fig. 1) comprising at least one side with an upper coupling (wherein 3 points to, Fig. 2) and an opposite parallel side with a lower coupling (wherein 4 points to, Fig. 2); the lower coupling 4 comprises at least one lower groove 4 made from the upper face of the panel 1, extending parallel along the side to define a lower tongue 14 extending at the edge of the panel 1 towards the upper face of the said panel 1; the upper coupling comprises at least one upper groove 11 made from the lower face of the panel 1, extending parallel along the side to define an upper tongue 7a extending at the edge of the panel 1 towards the lower face of the said panel 1, the upper coupling and the lower coupling are complementary so that the upper tongue 7a and the upper groove 11 of the panel 1 are intended to engage with the lower groove 4 and the lower tongue 14 of an adjacent panel 1 according to assembly kinematics by rotation around an axis parallel to the assembled sides, wherein the lower tongue 14 has external and internal walls inclined relative to a vertical plane towards the outside of the panel 1 moving away from the lower face of the panel 1; the upper groove 11 has external and internal walls inclined relative to a vertical plane towards the outside of the panel 1 moving away from the upper face of the panel 1; the upper tongue 7a has at its free end a lip (i.e. near 7a) protruding laterally towards the outside of the panel 1, defining an external wall comprising an upper section 1a on the side of the upper face of the panel 1, vertical or inclined relative to a vertical plane towards the outside of the panel 1 moving away from the upper face of the panel 1, and a lower section 10 inclined at a steeper angle than the upper section 1a relative to a vertical plane and towards the outside of the panel 1 moving away from the upper face of the panel 1; the lower groove 4 has a lateral recess 15 towards the interior of the panel 1 defining an internal wall comprising an upper section 13 on the side of the upper face of the panel 1, vertical or inclined relative to a vertical plane towards the outside of the panel 1 moving away from the lower face of the panel 1, and a lower section 18 inclined at a steeper angle than the upper section 13 relative to a vertical plane and towards the outside of the panel 1 moving away from the lower face of the panel 1; and in that the external wall of the lower tongue 14 and the internal wall of the upper groove 11 have a complementary locking (Fig. 4).
Re claim 2: wherein the external wall of the lower tongue 14 and the internal wall of the upper groove 11 are stepped, so that the free end of the lower tongue 14 and the bottom of the upper groove 11 are widened to form the complementary locking (Fig. 4).
Re claim 8: wherein the internal wall of the lower tongue 14 is inclined at an angle between 5° and 45° and is parallel to the external wall (i.e. a portion between 7a/7b) of the upper groove 11.
Re claim 10: wherein the upper section 1a of the external wall of the upper tongue 7a is vertical and is parallel to the upper section 13 of the internal wall of the lower groove 4.
Re claim 11: wherein the lower section 10 of the external wall of the upper tongue 7a is inclined at an angle between 45° and 80° and is parallel to the lower section 18 of the internal wall of the lower groove 4.
Re claim 15: wherein the internal wall of the lower tongue 14 is inclined at an angle between 25° and 30°, and is parallel to the external wall of the upper groove 7a.
Re claim 16: wherein the lower section 10 of the external wall of the upper tongue 7a is inclined at an angle between 55° and 70°, and is parallel to the lower section 18 of the internal wall of the lower groove 14.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 9, 12-14 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (see attached PTO-892).
Contact Information
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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