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 .
Specification
The following guidelines illustrate the preferred layout for the specification of a utility application. These guidelines are suggested for the applicant’s use.
Arrangement of the Specification
As provided in 37 CFR 1.77(b), the specification of a utility application should include the following sections in order. Each of the lettered items should appear in upper case, without underlining or bold type, as a section heading. If no text follows the section heading, the phrase “Not Applicable” should follow the section heading:
(a) TITLE OF THE INVENTION.
(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS.
(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT.
(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT.
(e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A READ-ONLY OPTICAL DISC, AS A TEXT FILE OR AN XML FILE VIA THE PATENT ELECTRONIC SYSTEM.
(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR.
(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.
(1) Field of the Invention.
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.
(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S).
(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.
(k) CLAIM OR CLAIMS (commencing on a separate sheet).
(l) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE (commencing on a separate sheet).
(m) SEQUENCE LISTING. (See MPEP § 2422.03 and 37 CFR 1.821 - 1.825). A “Sequence Listing” is required on paper if the application discloses a nucleotide or amino acid sequence as defined in 37 CFR 1.821(a) and if the required “Sequence Listing” is not submitted as an electronic document either on read-only optical disc or as a text file via the patent electronic system.
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Claim Objections
Claims 3,7,8,9 and 10 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claim should refer to other claims in the alternative only, and cannot depend from any other multiple dependent claim(claims 7,8,9,10). See MPEP § 608.01(n). Accordingly, the claims 3-10 not been further treated on the merits.
Claims 1 and 2 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 1, “Modular and polyvalent top panel” should be “A modular and polyvalent top panel”.
In claim 1, line 20, “of similar cooperating panel” should be “of a similar cooperating panel”.
In claim 2, line 1, “Top panel” should be “The top panel”.
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 and 2 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.
The scope of claim 1 is unclear. In claim 1, line 2, “particularly of the type consisting of” is unclear. It is unclear if the limitations following the phrase “particularly of the type consisting of” are to be required by the claim, or merely an example of a preferred, but not required limitation. Further in claim 1, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Further in claim 1, lines 5-6 and lines 18-19, “on a lower face and in any case on a face of the panel not exposed in use” is unclear. It is unclear if the claim requires that the recesses be on a lower face of the top panel, which is not exposed in use, or if they could alternatively be formed on another face of the panel that is not exposed in use.
Further in claim 1 it is unclear how the respective adhesive patches are meant to cover the sides of the panel, as they are only disclosed as covering the recesses on the lower face of the panel. It is unclear if the “covering means” are meant to further include the breakable edges on the sides of the panel, which would contradict the limitation in claim 1, that the covering means “consisting of respective adhesive patches”.
Further in claim 1, it is unclear how the adhesive of the respective adhesive patches would act as a “means of removal of said covering means”, as the adhesive acts in the opposite manner providing a means of securing the covering means to the panel.
Further in claim 1, lines 16-20, it is unclear what element is providing the “seat for the further portion thereof”, what “the further portion thereof” is referencing, and what would or would not be considered a “similar recess”, “similar cover means”, and “similar cooperating panel”.
In claim 2 it is unclear what is meant by “consisting of a segment incident therein of the covering means formed by the edging of the sides of the panel”, and whether the breakable edge is meant to be a part of the claimed covering means.
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.
(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(s) 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chen(US20150351542).
[claim 1] Chen teaches a modular and polyvalent top panel(100) for furnishing pieces of furniture, particularly of the type consisting of plywood such as chipboard or MDF (medium-density fibreboard)(para[0022]) veneered with plastic and/or paper coatings on planar extensions and sides, characterized in that it comprises:- recesses (171) excavated on a lower face(fig 2) and in any case on a face of the panel not exposed in use, terminating outside on the sides of the panel (fig 2-6);- covering means (200) to conceal and disguise on the lower face(fig 2) and on the sides (fig 5,6) said recesses consisting of respective adhesive patches (sheet 200 is adhered to the panel, see para[0023])) made of the same plastic and/or paper coverings (decoration paper, para[0023]) that coat the faces and/or the sides of the panel (fig 6);- means of removal of said covering means consisting of the adhesive of said respective adhesive patches (adhesive used to adhere the sheet 200 to the panel) to uncover those recesses which in use constitute a seat for a portion of one tensioning hardware (300) which provides a seat for the further portion thereof in one similar recess which can be concealed using similar cover means excavated on a lower face and in any case on a face not exposed in use terminating outside on the sides of similar cooperating panel arranged adjacent(the recesses could be used to receive hardware to connect the panel to a similar panel positioned adjacent to the panel).
[claim 2] wherein said recess are defined on a respective portion thereof by means of a breakable edge(edge of sheet 200 penetrated by fastening means, para[0024]) consisting of a segment incident therein of the covering means formed by the edging of the sides of the panel(fig 5,6).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US20150351542, US12507798.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADLEY H DUCKWORTH whose telephone number is (571)272-2304. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at 5712724979. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADLEY DUCKWORTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
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