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 § 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.
Claim(s) 21-26 and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ruel et al. (US 6,086,288) inv view of Hilfiker (US 4,929,125).
With regards to claim 21, Ruel et al. discloses a retaining-wall panel (20, 210) for retaining a landfilling material, the retaining-wall panel comprising: a body (20, 120); a reinforcement structure (40, col. 5, line 66 too col. 6, line 3) embedded in the body (figure 3); and an anchor rod (anchor mesh 24 contains anchor rods) for coupling at least one flexible reinforcement sheet, the anchor rod having two leg sections (figure 1, the anchor mesh contains several leg sections) coupled to the reinforcement structure (figure 1); wherein the reinforcement structure comprises at least one horizontal rod coupled to a plurality of vertical rods (figure 3), wherein each leg section of the anchor rod separately wraps about the at least one vertical rod. Ruel et al. discloses the invention substantially as claimed. However, Ruel et al. is silent about a corresponding one of the plurality of vertical rods for coupling the anchor rod to the reinforcement structure. Hilfiker teaches a reinforced soil embankment comprising an anchor (76, 82; figure 13-14) and a reinforcement structure (G, 80, P2, figure 12), the anchor is secure to the reinforcement structure by wrapping about both a horizonal rod (80) and a corresponding vertical rod (80) of the reinforcement structure for coupling the anchor to the reinforcement structure (col. 6, lines 34-61; figure 12-14). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the retaining wall of Ruel et al. to incorporate the method of securing the anchor to bot vertical and horizontal rods of the reinforcement structure as taught by Hilfiker since it would increase strength of the connection.
As to claim 22, Ruel et al. discloses wherein the body comprises concrete, lightweight concrete, plastic, or a combination thereof (col. 1, lines 32-40).
As to claim 23-25, Ruel et al. does not explicitly disclose wherein the plastic comprises recycled plastic; wherein the body further comprises a plurality of compressible components distributed therein; and wherein the compressible components comprise air bubbles, air capsules, recycled empty water bottles, expanded polystyrene (EPS) foams, and/or a combination thereof. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to manufacture the body form the materials as claimed, since it has been held to be within the level of one skill in the art to select known materials on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
As to claim 26, Ruel et al. does not explicitly teach wherein each leg section of the anchor rod separately wraps about the at least one horizontal rod and the corresponding one of the plurality of vertical rods such that, when a pulling force is applied to the anchor rod, each leg section thereof applies forces to the at least one horizontal rod and the corresponding one of the plurality of vertical rods to press the at least one horizontal rod and the corresponding one of the plurality of vertical rods against each other. However, Hilfiker teaches a reinforced soil embankment comprising a reinforcement structure (G, 80, P2, Figure 12) and an anchor (76, 82; figures 13-14), the anchor is secured to the reinforcement structure by wrapping the anchor about both horizontal and vertical rod (80) (figure 12-14). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the retaining wall panel of Ruel et al. to secure the anchor to both the vertical and horizontal rods as taught by Hilfiker, since it would increase the overall strength of the connection.
As to claim 32, Ruel et al. discloses the body comprises complementary extrusions (72, col. 6, lines 41-47) on peripheral sides thereof for engaging with another one of the retaining wall panel.
Claim(s) 33-34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ruel et al. (US 6,086,288) inv view of Hilfiker (US 4,929,125) and Freitag et al. (US 8,573,894).
With regards to claim 33, Hilfiker as modified above discloses a retaining-wall panel system comprising: the retaining-wall panel of claim 21 (see claim 21 rejection above). However, Hilfiker as modified above is silent about at least one flexible sheet extending from the retaining-wall panel. Freitag et al. teaches a similar retaining wall panel (figure 7-9) including an anchor rod (100) wrap around a horizontal and vertical rod (figure 1), an further includes at least one flexible sheet extending from the retaining wall panel (col. 2, lines 53-60). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill int eh art to modify the retaining wall panel of Hilfiker to include a flexible strip as taught by Freitag et al., since it is well known in the art to use flexible strips or rigid anchors in the backfill to reinforce the wall.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 27-31 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 discloses “wherein a first leg section of the anchor rod is coupled to a first one of the at least one horizontal rod and a first one of the plurality of vertical rods; wherein the first vertical rod is on a load-bearing side of the first horizontal rod; and wherein the first leg section of the anchor rod is configured for:(i) extending from the load-bearing side of the first horizontal rod to an exterior side thereof opposite to the load-bearing side,(ii) vertically wrapping about the first horizontal rod and extending to the load-bearing side thereof, and(iii) horizontally wrapping about the first vertical rod and extending to the exterior side thereof”. The invention distributes the pulling force to the entire reinforcement structure and improves the strength.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARIB A OQUENDO whose telephone number is (571)270-7411. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5:30pm.
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, Amber Anderson can be reached at 571-270-5281. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CARIB A OQUENDO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678
Prosecution Insights