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Claims 9-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/23/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 3/23/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 1-6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wang et al. [US2021/0001519, “Wang”].
Wang discloses a system for bonding materials, the system comprising: a constraining container (constraining container 230) comprising a base and a cover and having an interior volume (including multiple parts such as base, walls and cover), wherein the constraining container is configured to enclose at least a portion of a first material and a second material being bonded (paragraph 0126-0127); and an expandable medium (expandable element 232) configured to be disposed within the interior volume between at least a portion of the constraining container and at least one of the first material and the second material and to expand such that the expandable medium applies positive pressure to the constraining container and at least one of the first material and the second material (paragraphs 0131-0132).
With respect to claim 2, Wang discloses at least one of the base and the cover is rigid (paragraph 0069, 0112).
With respect to claim 3, Wang discloses at least a portion of at least one of the base and the cover is flexible (paragraph 0123).
With respect to claims 4-6, the first material, the second material and the adhesive are considered to be the material worked upon. Wang discloses an expandable medium that is configured to expand when a temperature of the expandable medium is raised to an activation temperature, it is noted Wang discloses heating to both cure the material worked upon and expand the expandable medium (paragraph 0132-133, 0137-0140).
With respect to claim 8, Wang discloses a heater in thermal communication with the expandable medium (paragraph 0131-0132).
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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Fanucci [WO9013425].
Wang discloses a system for bonding materials. Applicant is referred to paragraph 5 for a detailed discussion of Wang. Wang discloses a producing a predetermined pressure (paragraph 0138), but does not disclose a pressure detector configured for detecting an interior pressure within the interior volume.
Fanucci discloses a system for producing fiber reinforced polymers. Fanucci discloses system includes a pressure sensor which is capable of keeping a record of the pressure during the process which can verity the quality of the final product (page 3, line 32-page 4, line 20; page3 5, lines 17-25).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the system of Wang by including a pressure detector as taught by Fanucci in order to improve control over the process and to verify the quality of the final product made by the system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2685. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Orlando can be reached at 571-270-5038. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL MCNALLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
DPM
June 12, 2026
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