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 .
The amendment filed 8/20/2026 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-11 and 17-18 in the reply filed on 8/20/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 12-16 are withdrawn.
Abstract
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 250 words. It is important that the abstract not exceed 250 words in length since the space provided for the abstract on the computer tape used by the printer is limited. The form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as "means" and "said," should be avoided. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, "The disclosure concerns," "The disclosure defined by this invention," "The disclosure describes," etc.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the term “The present invention relates to”. It is suggested to be – A vibrating grate for a filling ….forming machine comprises a vibrating grate carriage rod linkage… --. Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsuda (JP 2003-320512, herein referred as Tsuda and see the English Translation attached in PTO-892).
With respect to claim 17, Tsuda discloses a floor covering element (Fig. 3a) made of concrete, in particular, concrete paving stone or concrete slab, comprising at least one multi-layer concrete block body with at least one concrete-block lower face 31 for laying on a foundation layer of an underlying surface and a concrete- block upper face 32, 33 opposite thereto, wherein the multi-layer concrete block body comprises at least one core concrete layer and at least one face concrete layer, wherein the face concrete layer comprises at least one first face concrete section 32 and at least one second face concrete section 33, wherein the first face concrete section comprises a first face concrete mixture and the second face concrete section comprises a second 999face concrete mixture which differs from the first face concrete mixture, wherein the floor covering element thereby comprises a surface play on the upper surface on the concrete-block upper face, and wherein at least one first face concrete section comprises a non-fines porous concrete material (water-permeable mortal; see claim 1) and the at least one second face concrete section 33 comprises a structurally dense concrete material (impermeable concrete mortar, see claim 1) (see Para [0010]-[0011]).
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.
Claims 1-7, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda (JP 2003-320512).
With respect to claims 1, Tsuda teaches a method for the manufacturing of floor covering elements (Figs. 3a-3c) made of concrete, for the manufacturing of concrete paving stones or concrete slabs by a paving stone machine (optional feature), wherein the floor covering elements are manufactured as multi-layer floor covering elements 31, 32, 33 and comprise at least one core concrete layer 31 produced from a core concrete and at least one face concrete layer produced from a face concrete, the method comprising the steps of introducing the core concrete into at least one mold 11, 112 and forming a compressed core concrete 31, wherein the face concrete 32,33 is then charged onto the compressed core concrete and also compressed, and wherein the core and face concrete are cured, wherein for manufacturing the face concrete layer at least a first face concrete mixture 113 and at least a second face concrete mixture 114 are prepared and provided and the face concrete used to be charged onto the compressed core concrete comprises at least a proportion of the first face concrete mixture and at least a proportion of the second face concrete mixture, wherein the first face concrete mixture is a structurally dense concrete material (impermeable mortar, see claim 1) and the second face concrete mixture is a non-fines porous concrete material (water-permeable mortar, see claim 1).
Although Tsuda fails to specifically teach or fairly suggest the step of pre-compacting/compressing the core concrete, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to choose this pre-compacting procedure as to the circumstances for easy production and installation.
With respect to claim 2, Tsuda discloses the first and second face concrete mixtures are each prepared and provided in a separate storage container (see Fig.1a, Para [0007]).
With respect to claim 3, Tsuda discloses the first face concrete mixture is prepared with an aggregate comprising a first particle size distribution and the second face concrete mixture is prepared with an aggregate comprising a second particle size distribution, wherein the first and second particle size distributions are different (so the grain size distribution actually results from the permeability of the different parts of the face concrete layer as taught by Tsuda, see Fig. 2a-2c, Para [0009]).
With respect to claim 4, Tsuda discloses the first and second face concrete mixtures, for charging onto the compressed core concrete of the core concrete layer are introduced into the mold simultaneously or in successive steps, wherein the first and second face concrete mixtures for charging the mold are fed preferably via at least one feeding device and/or that the face concrete mixtures are introduced chaotically into the mold (Fig. 1a, Para [0007]).
With respect to claim 5, Tsuda discloses the first and second face concrete mixtures for charging the mold are fed commonly and simultaneously by a feeding device 13 designed as a common feeding device (Fig. 1a, Para [0007]).
With respect to claim 6, Tsuda discloses the first and second face concrete mixtures are charged onto the compressed core concrete in such a way that the face concrete layer extending over an upper surface of the floor covering element is formed by at least one first face concrete layer section comprising the first face concrete mixture and at least one second face concrete layer section comprising the second face concrete mixture, the face concrete layer is formed by a plurality of different face concrete layer sections (Fig. 1a, Para [0007]).
With respect to claim 7, Tsuda discloses the face concrete charged onto the compressed core concrete and comprising the first and second face concrete mixtures is distributed on the core concrete layer by a distribution device prior to compression, wherein the first and second face concrete mixtures are blended at least in sections and/or partially mixed (Fig. 1a, Para [0007]).
With respect to claim 9, Tsuda discloses the face concrete mixtures are introduced into the mold in fixed or randomly selected proportions (Fig. 1a, Para [0007]). Although Tsuda fails to specifically discloses the determination and/or selection of the proportions of the face concrete mixtures and feeding for introduction into the mold is automated, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date to provide a notoriously old and conventional automatic weight system for the calculation of the concrete mixtures in order to efficiently mix the concrete with aggregates for the design requirement.
With respect to claim 10, Although Tsuda fails to specifically discloses the face concrete layer is produced with a layer thickness in a range of 4 mm to 15 mm, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date to provide such a dimension of the thickness of the concrete layer in order to meet the design criteria when used for a floor of multi-purpose locations.
Claims 8, 11 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda (JP 2003-320512) in view of Yamada et al (JP H06-185005, referred as Yamada et al herein and see the English translations attached in PTO-892).
With respect to claims 8 and 11, Tsuda fails to disclose or fairly suggest additional/further face concrete mixtures prepared by being introduced into the mold and compressed to be provided and that the face concrete comprises at least one proportion of one or a plurality of the further face concrete mixtures before the core concrete is introduced into at least one mold and/or before the face concrete is charged onto the compressed core concrete, thereby producing at least one further concrete layer, wherein the further concrete layer is produced on the side of the core concrete layer facing away from the face concrete layer and/or between the core concrete layer and the face concrete layer.
However, Yamada et al disclose additional/further face concrete mixtures prepared by being introduced into the mold and compressed to be provided and that the face concrete used for charging onto the compressed core concrete 20 also comprises at least one proportion of one or a plurality of the further face concrete mixtures before the core concrete is introduced into at least one mold and/or before the face concrete is charged onto the compressed core concrete (see Para [0025]-[0026], “Fig.3 is a sectional view…”), thereby producing at least one further concrete layer 1a, 1b (being an aggregate 10 as depicted in Fig. 1, Para [0018]), wherein the further concrete layer is produced on the side of the core concrete layer (see Fig. 6) facing away from the face concrete layer (see Figs. 1-5, Para [0011]-[0032]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date to provide such an additional/further concrete layer onto the core concrete layer as taught by Yamada et al for installing water permeable flat plate for excellent aesthetics, versatility, and easy production.
With respect to claim 17, Tsuda fails to disclose or fairly suggest the face concrete layer comprises a plurality of face concrete sections, wherein the face concrete sections are randomly and irregularly distributed over the concrete-block upper face.
However, Yamada et al disclose the face concrete layers having a plurality of face concrete sections 1a, 1b which are randomly and irregularly distributed over the concrete block upper face (see Figs. 3-4, Para [0028]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date to provide the face concrete sections randomly and irregularly distributed over the upper face of the concrete block as taught by Yamada et al for installing desired drainage flat plate made of plural kinds of colors and materials.
Relevant Prior art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 109469043 B Multi-layer block stone filling foundation dynamic compaction replacement reinforcing structure and reinforcing method
KR 102186295 B1 MULTILAYER MAT
US 20190316365 A1 Installation of Floorcovering Article on Chemically Abated Flooring Surface and Composite Article
KR 20160027468 A Floor with High Thermal Isolation and Absorption Capability of Interfloor Noise of Building
JP H0734405 A PERMEABLE PAVEMENT BLOCK AND ITS WORK
CONSTRUCTION METHOD OF BOTH DRAINABLE PAVEMENT AND WATER-PERMEABLE PAVEMENT
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jong-Suk (James) Lee whose telephone number is (571) 272-7044. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday 6AM- 4PM. 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.
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/JONG-SUK (JAMES) LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2875
