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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 10-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Invention and/or Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 02/19/2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of Invention I (claims 1-10 and 19-22); Species B (Figs 4-10) and Subspecies aa (Figs 16 & 17) in the reply filed on 12/29/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that “claim 11 has been amended to recite all of the limitations of claim 1. As such, the basis for restriction is moot. Next, the Office Action also requires election of Species and Subspecies. The Applicant elects, with traverse, Species B, Figures 4-10, Subspecies aa, Figures 16 and 17, and identifies claims 1-10 and 19-22 as encompassing the elected species/subspecies. The Applicant traverses these election requirements because the noted species and subspecies are interrelated. For example, "in at least one example, the board 100 includes the NFC device 500 (shown in Figures 16 and 17), and the nut 602 (shown in Figures 18 and 19). See present application at [0067]. Further, the Applicant traverses this restriction requirement because "if the search and examination of all the claims in an application can be made without serious burden, the examiner must examine them on the merits, even though they include claims to independent or distinct inventions." See MPEP at § 803. The Applicant respectfully submits that the Office Action has not established a prima facie serious burden with respect to a search and examination of all the claims”. This is not found persuasive because Invention I (claims 1-10 and 19-22) can still be the product as claimed can be made by another and materially different process such as injection molding. In addition, the examiner maintains that the embodiments of Species A-Species L are each patentably distinct and each would require a different search. For example Species A would require a text search such as (eight near2 tab$2) with (four near2 shelves). Species B: would require a text search such as (two near2 tab$2) with (one near2 shelf). Species C: would require a text search such as (two near2 shelves) with (back near2 board). Species D: would require a text search such as (three near2 shelves) with (back near2 board). Species E: would require a text search such as (four near2 shelves) with (elongated near2 back near2 board). Species F: would require a text search such as (six near2 shelves) with (back near2 board). Species G: would require a text search such as (five near2 shelves) with (back near2 board). Species H: would require a text search such as ((peg near2 board) with rear or back). Species I: would require a text search such as (four near2 (partition$1 or divider$1) with wide$1 with (five near2 shelves). Species J: would require a text search such as (two near2 shelves) with (angl$3 near2 (side near2 wall$1). Species K: would require a text search such as (box$2 with (four near2 shelves)). Species L: would require a text search such as (five near2 shelves) with (kick near2 plate). The examiner also maintains that Subspecies aa (Figs 16-17) and Subspecies bb (Figs 18-19) are also patentably distinct and Subspecies aa (Figs 16-17) and Subspecies bb (Figs 18-19) are not disclosed by the applicant as being used simultaneous in the same board.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim 10 is withdrawn as being directed to Subspecies bb (Figs 18-19) which was not elected by the applicant. Subspecies bb (Figs 18-19) is the only Species/Subspecies that discloses a nut (Fig 18, #602).
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.
Claims 1, 4, 5, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin 5,612,111.
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a board (Fig 4) configured to or capable of forming one or more portions of a product holder system, the board (Fig 4) comprising:
a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Fig 1, #1);
a second exterior PVC layer (Fig 1, #2); and
an interior foam layer (Fig 1, #3) having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface) opposite from the first surface (top surface), wherein the first PVC layer (Fig 1, #1) is coupled to the first surface (top surface of #3), and wherein the second PVC layer (Fig 1, #2) is coupled to the second surface (bottom surface of #3).
Regarding claim 4, Lin discloses the board (Fig 4) , wherein the board (Fig 4) is configured to or capable of being cut, sized, shaped, and folded to form the one or more portions of the product holder system.
Regarding claim 5, Lin discloses the board (Fig 4), wherein the board (Fig 4) is configured to or capable of being cut, sized, shaped, and folded without being heated.
Regarding claim 19, Lin discloses a product holder system (Fig 4) comprising:
one or more shelves (one shelf) (Fig 4) formed by one or more boards (one board) (Fig 4) (the board Fig 4 of Lin is capable of being used as a shelf), wherein the one or more boards (Fig 4) include:
a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Fig 1, #1);
a second exterior PVC layer (Fig 1, #2); and
an interior foam layer (Fig 1, #3) having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface) opposite from the first surface (top surface), wherein the first PVC layer (top surface) is coupled to the first surface (top surface of #3), and wherein
the second PVC layer (Fig 1, #2) is coupled to the second surface (bottom surface of #3).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 2 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin 5,612,111 in view of Paillot 2020/0198304.
Regarding claims 2 and 20, Lin has been discussed above but does not explicitly teach wherein the first PVC layer is adhesively secured to the first surface, and wherein the second PVC layer is adhesive secured to the second surface.
Paillot discloses a board (Fig 4) comprising a first exterior layer (Fig 4, #2), a second exterior layer (Fig 4, #3), and an interior layer (Fig 4, #5) having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface), wherein the first layer (Fig 4, #2) is adhesively secured to the first surface (top surface of #5), and wherein the second layer (Fig 4, #3) is adhesive secured to the second surface (bottom surface of #5) (as shown in Fig 4) [0071].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adhesively attach the first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Lin Fig 1, #1) of Lin to the first surface (top surface) of the interior foam layer (Lin, Fig 1, #3) of Lin and attach the second exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #2) of Lin to the second surface (bottom surface) of the interior foam layer (Lin, Fig 1, #3) of Lin using the teachings of Paillot in order to further secure the connection between the first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Lin Fig 1, #1) of Lin, the interior foam layer (Lin, Fig 1, #3) of Lin and the second exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #2) of Lin. Further, the substitution of one known connection means for another would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin 5,612,111 in view of Kim 2020/0095776.
Regarding claim 7, Lin has been discussed above but does not explicitly teach wherein one or both of the first exterior PVC layer or the second exterior PVC layer includes one or both of text or graphics printed thereon.
Kim discloses a multiple layered board (Figs 1 & 2, #1) comprising a first exterior layer (Figs 1 & 2, #20) includes one or both of text or graphics (Figs 1 & 2, #21) printed thereon.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add graphics (Kim, Figs 1 & 2, #21) to the
first exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #1) of Lin in order to make the board (Lin, Fig 1) of Lin more aesthetically appealing.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin 5,612,111 in view of Marciello 2018/0330219.
Regarding claim 9, Lin has been discussed above but does not explicitly teach the board further comprising a near field communication device secured to the interior foam layer.
Marciello discloses a foam board layer (Figs 1 & 2) comprising a near field communication device (RFID tag, shown in Fig 2) secured to the foam layer (as shown in Fig 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add a RFID tag to the interior foam layer (Lin, Fig 1, #3) of Lin as taught by Marciello in order to store identifying information that remains associated with the boards and that can be read even after installation of the boards (Marciello, Abstract).
Claims 1, 3-6, 19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng 2020/0055289 in view of Lin 5,612,111 and Paillot 2020/0198304.
Regarding claim 1, Cheng discloses a board (Fig 1) configured to or capable of forming one or more portions of a product holder system, the board (Fig 1) comprising:
a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Fig 1, #1A) or (Fig 1, #1A & #2A);
and a foam layer (Fig 1, #3A) [0018] [0020] having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface) opposite from the first surface, wherein the first PVC layer Fig 1, #1A) or (Fig 1, #1A & #2A) is coupled to the first surface (top surface of #3).
Cheng has been discussed above but does not explicitly teach wherein the board comprises a second exterior PVC layer; wherein the foam layer is an interior foam layer; and wherein the second PVC layer is coupled to the second surface of the interior foam layer.
Lin discloses a board (Fig 4) configured to or capable of forming one or more portions of a product holder system, the board (Fig 4) comprising:
a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Fig 1, #1) ;
a second exterior PVC layer (Fig 1, #2); and
an interior foam layer (Fig 1, #3) having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface) opposite from the first surface (top surface), wherein the first PVC layer (Fig 1, #1) is coupled to the first surface (top surface of #3), and wherein the second PVC layer (Fig 1, #2) is coupled to the second surface (bottom surface of #3).
Paillot teaches that it is old and well known in the art for multilayered boards (Fig 4) or (Fig 3) to have layers that are each flat and not corrugated (as shown in Figs 3 & 4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to attach a second PVC layer to the
second surface (bottom surface) of the foam layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #3A) of Cheng using the teachings of Lin in order to protect the bottom surface of the foam layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #3A) of Cheng from becoming scratched or damaged.
It also would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to fabricate the second PVC layer of modified Cheng to be flat and not corrugated similar to the first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A) or (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A & #2A) and the foam layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #3A) [0018] [0020] of Cheng in order to make the board of modified Cheng more aesthetically appealing and consistent.
Regarding claim 3, modified Cheng discloses the board (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified), wherein the board (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) is configured to be formed as a flat panel (as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 4, modified Cheng discloses the board (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified), wherein the board (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) is configured to be or capable of being cut, sized, shaped, and folded to form the one or more portions of the product holder system.
Regarding claim 5, modified Cheng discloses the board (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) wherein the board (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) is configured to be or capable of being cut, sized, shaped, and folded without being heated.
Regarding claim 6, modified Cheng discloses the board, wherein none of the first exterior PVC layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A) or (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A & #2A), the second exterior PVC layer (explained in the rejection of claim 1 above), or the interior foam layer (Fig 1, #3A) is corrugated.
Regarding claim 19, modified Cheng discloses a product holder system comprising: one or more shelves (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) formed by one or more boards (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) (the board (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) is capable of being used as a shelf), wherein the one or more boards (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) include: a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A) or (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A & #2A); a second exterior PVC layer (as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above); and an interior foam layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #3A) having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface) opposite from the first surface (top surface), wherein the first PVC layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A) or (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A & #2A) is coupled to the first surface (Cheng, top surface of #3A), and wherein the second PVC layer (explained in the rejection of claim 1 above) is coupled to the second surface (Cheng, bottom surface of #3A).
Regarding claim 21, modified Cheng discloses the product holder system wherein the one or more boards (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) are configured to be formed as a flat panel, wherein the one or more boards (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) are configured to be or capable of being cut, sized, shaped, and folded to form the one or more shelves, wherein the one or more boards (Cheng, Fig 1 as modified) are configured to be or capable of being cut, sized, shaped, and folded without being heated, and wherein none of the first exterior PVC layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A) or (Cheng, Fig 1, #1A & #2A), the second exterior PVC layer (as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above), or the interior foam layer (Cheng, Fig 1, #3A) is corrugated.
Claims 1, 8, 19, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Volz 2019/0075942 in view of Lin 5,612,111.
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Volz discloses a board (Fig 4, #412) or (Fig 2A, #108) configured to or capable of forming one or more portions of a product holder system (claim 1); the board (Fig 4, #412) or (Fig 2A, #108) further comprising one or more walls (Fig 4, #412) or (Fig 2A, #108), tabs (Fig 4, #420) or (annotated Fig 1 below), and slots (Fig 4, #402) or (annotated Fig 1 below) (claim 8).
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Volz has been discussed above but does not explicitly teach, the board comprising: a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer; a second exterior PVC layer; and an interior foam layer having a first surface and a second surface opposite from the first surface, wherein the first PVC layer is coupled to the first surface, and wherein the second PVC layer is coupled to the second surface (Claim 1); wherein the one or more walls and the tabs include the first exterior PVC layer, the second exterior PVC layer, and the interior foam layer (claim 8).
Lin discloses a board (Fig 4) configured to or capable of forming one or more portions of a product holder system, the board (Fig 4) comprising:
a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Fig 1, #1);
a second exterior PVC layer (Fig 1, #2); and
an interior foam layer (Fig 1, #3) having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface) opposite from the first surface (top surface), wherein the first PVC layer (Fig 1, #1) is coupled to the first surface (top surface of #3), and wherein the second PVC layer (Fig 1, #2) is coupled to the second surface (bottom surface of #3) (claim 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to fabricate the board (Volz, Fig 4, #412) or (Volz, Fig 2A, #108) of Volz and tabs (Volz, Fig 4, #420) or (Volz, annotated Fig 2A above) to be a multilayered comprising a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Lin Fig 1, #1), a second exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #2); and an interior foam layer (Lin, Fig 1, #3) as taught by Lin because the substitution of one known board material for another would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention. Further, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
The combination of Volz and Lin results in wherein the one or more walls (Volz, Fig 4, #412) or (Volz, Fig 2A, #108) and the tabs (Volz, Fig 4, #420) or (Volz, annotated Fig 1 below) include the first exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #1), the second exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #2), and the interior foam layer (Lin, Fig 1, #3).
Regarding claim 19, modified Volz discloses a product holder system comprising: one or more shelves (Volz, Fig 4, #412) or (Volz, Fig 2A, #108) (each capable of being used as shelf) formed by one or more boards (Volz, Fig 4, #412) or (Volz, Fig 2A, #108), wherein the one or more boards (Volz, Fig 4, #412) or (Volz, Fig 2A, #108) include: a first exterior polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer (Lin, Fig 1, #1); a second exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #2); and an interior foam layer (Lin, Fig 1, #3) having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface) opposite from the first surface (top surface), wherein the first PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #1) is coupled to the first surface (Lin, top surface of #3), and wherein the second PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #2) is coupled to the second surface (Lin, bottom surface of #3).
Regarding claim 22, modified Volz discloses the product holder system wherein the one or more board (Volz, Fig 4, #412) or (Volz, Fig 2A, #108) further include one or more walls (Volz, Fig 4, #412) or (Volz, Fig 2A, #108), tabs (Volz, Fig 4, #420) or (Volz, annotated Fig 1 above), and slots (Volz, Fig 4, #402) or (Volz, annotated Fig 2A above), and wherein the one or more walls (Volz, Fig 4, #412) or (Volz, Fig 2A, #108) and the tabs (Volz, Fig 4, #420) or (Volz, annotated Fig 1 above) include the first exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #1), the second exterior PVC layer (Lin, Fig 1, #2), and the interior foam layer (Lin, Fig 1, #3).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVIN K BARNETT whose telephone number is (571)270-1159. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11am-7:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at 571-272-8227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEVIN K BARNETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631