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 .
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.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2020/0080300 to Pilz (“Pilz”).
Regarding claim 18, Pilz discloses a fire-rated building assembly (Fig. 2), comprising: a first wall 58; a second wall 50 oriented at an angle relative to the first wall 58, the second wall 50 comprising: a plurality of studs 54 that includes an end stud (last stud of the plurality of studs); at least one wallboard 56 coupled to the plurality of studs and the end stud and having a cantilevered portion (portion of 56 extending past an upper edge of 54) that extends beyond the end stud in a first direction (upward) away from a remainder of the plurality of studs; wherein the at least one wallboard 56 has an end surface facing the first wall 58, the end surface spaced from the first wall to create a gap (gap where component 100 is inserted) therebetween; a wallboard support 52 coupled to the end stud and extending in the first direction (upward), the wallboard support positioned between the stud 54 and the cantilevered portion (portion of 56 extending past an upper edge of 54) of the at least one wallboard; an elongated fire-rated component 100 (Fig. 1) coupled to the at least one wallboard 56, the elongated fire-rated component including a profile having a first leg 102 and a second leg 104 defining an L-shape in cross-section, wherein the first leg 102 is positioned along an outward-facing surface of the wallboard 56 and the second leg 104 is positioned along the end surface of the at least one wallboard, the component further comprises a fire-blocking material strip 130 attached to the profile, wherein at least a portion of the elongated fire-rated component is positioned within the gap.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-17 are allowed.
Claims 19-20 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the prior art, alone or in obvious combination absent hindsight, discloses applicant’s invention as recited in claims 1 or 19.
With respect to claim 1, the closest prior art to Pilz (US 20200080300 applied above), discloses a junction between a horizontal wall (ceiling, Pilz 58) and a vertical wall (stud wall Pilz 50). Pilz does not disclose junction between a glass window with a mullion and a stud wall, but instead discloses sealing a head of wall gap between a ceiling and top of wall. While another relevant prior art to Burgess (US 20120180414) discloses a junction between an interior stud wall (Burgess 12) and a window mullion (Burgess 14) with a glass panel (Burgess 16), Burgess’s wallboard (Burgess 20) does not have an overhang to extend beyond an end stud. Instead, the wallboard is flush with the end of a stud. There is absent motivation to modify Burgess to have an overhang along a vertical direction where Pilz discloses an overhang along a horizontal direction. Moreover, the components (Pilz 100 and Burgess 54) to fill a gap between the two perpendicular walls are structured in a particular manner to fit into a specific arrangement with components the walls. Modifications to include an overhang in Burgess or provide a mullioned window assembly in Pilz would render various components in the wall junction to no longer be able to fit and operate as intended.
With respect to claim 19, neither Pilz nor Burgess disclose that the wallboard support (Pilz 52; Burgess 52) includes an abutment portion configured to contact the end surface of the at least one wallboard. In both Pilz and Burgess, the wallboard supports do not contact the wallboard end edge that faces the first wall or the glass window. Pilz’s wallboard support is part of a header with a portion of a header extending in a direction away from the end edge of the wallboard while Burgess’ wallboard support aids in securing an end edge of insulating material 54. The wallboard supports in both prior arts are designed to function entirely differently from the claimed wallboard supports and there is absent motivation to have a portion of the prior art wallboard supports to contact an end surface of the wallboard.
Conclusion
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/CHRISTINE T CAJILIG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633