DETAILED ACTION
This communication is a first Office Action Non-Final rejection on the merits. The Restriction election received on 07/20/2026 has been acknowledged. Claims 1-15 are now pending and have been considered below.
Election/Restrictions
1. Applicant’s election of Group I (claims 1-7) in the reply filed on 07/20/2026 is acknowledged.
2. Claims 5-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected invention Group II. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/20/2026.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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. In particular, the limitation “the movement of the head of the pull-mandrel along the axial through-opening of the rivet causing a contact pressure between the mouthpiece resting on the back of the panel holder and the mushroom-shaped head of the rivet and displacing of the material surrounding the axial passage opening both radially outwards and in an axial pulling direction of the pull-mandrel, wherein the displacement of the material in the axial pulling direction of the pull-mandrel is stopped when the free end of the shank of the rivet strikes the bottom of the cavity, and the material is only displaced radially outwards” would overcome the prior art rejection since no prior art of record, alone or in combination, teaches this configuration and such a modification to include such a configuration would require modifying the modifier reference which would involve hindsight reconstruction.
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 of this title, 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) 1-3, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over applicant’s admitted prior art in view of Knoche et al. (DE 10156843 A1) with Espacenet translation.
Regarding claim 1, applicant’s admitted prior art teaches a method for manufacturing a fastening assembly (para 1; figure 1) including a composite panel (100) and a panel holder (200), the method comprising: providing the composite panel as a sandwich panel with a rear cover sheet (140), a front cover sheet (110) and a non-metallic core layer (120) located therebetween (figure 1); and providing at least one keyhole-shaped groove (opening and undercut 156; it is understood that the opening with an undercut would comprise a keyhole-shaped groove) on a rear side of the composite panel (figure 1); which has a widened insertion opening at a first longitudinal end (top end opposite 156; figure 1) and an elongated hole-shaped retaining area with an undercut (156) in the core layer at an other longitudinal end (bottom end at 156; figure 1); and providing the panel holder with a through-opening (opening through which fastener 300 extends; figure 1); forming the mechanical connection between the composite panel and the panel holder by a setting process (figure 1) and a resulting connection, including a head (head of fastener 300) and a shank (shank of fastener 300), and inserting the head through the insertion opening and into the undercut of the retaining area of the groove in the composite panel (figure 1) so that a free end of the shank protrudes from the rear cover panel (figure 1); pushing the panel holder onto the free end of the shank via the through-opening (figure 1) so that the panel holder rests on the cover panel (figure 1).
The applicant’s admitted prior art does not specifically disclose a resulting riveted connection, including providing a rivet, comprising a mushroom-shaped head and a shank; and setting the rivet by forming the free end of the shank with a rivet setting tool such that the rivet creates a positive fit connection between the composite panel and the panel holder.
Knoche et al. discloses a rivet for mounting façade panels (para 1) a resulting riveted connection (figure 6), including providing a rivet (10), comprising a mushroom-shaped head (16) and a shank (13); and setting the rivet by forming the free end of the shank with a rivet setting tool (figure 5) such that the rivet creates a positive fit connection between the composite panel and the panel holder (figure 5).
Therefore, from the teaching of Knoche et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the fastening assembly of applicant’s admitted prior art to include a resulting riveted connection, including providing a rivet, comprising a mushroom-shaped head and a shank; and setting the rivet by forming the free end of the shank with a rivet setting tool such that the rivet creates a positive fit connection between the composite panel and the panel holder, as taught by Knoche et al., in order to provide a permanent hold of the façade to a framework while simultaneously providing a clean button-like aesthetic.
Regarding claim 2, Knoche et al. in the combination discloses the rivet comprises a pull-through rivet (figures 4-6), and the shank and the head have a continuous axial through-opening (opening of 13) with a diameter Di (inner diameter of 13), a pull-mandrel (30) with a head (33) having a head diameter Dk>Di (figure 5) and a pull-mandrel shank is provided (shank of 30 [not labeled]), prior to setting the rivet (figure 4), the pull-mandrel is inserted through the axial through-opening of the rivet so that the pull head of the pull-mandrel rests against the head of the rivet (figure 5); the setting is effected by the rivet setting tool actuating the pull-mandrel to form the riveted joint (figures 4-6); and the head of the pull-mandrel is moved along the axial through-opening of the rivet (para 28) and the positive fit between the composite panel and the panel holder is achieved by material displacement caused thereby (para 34).
Regarding claim 3, Knoche et al. in the combination discloses the rivet setting tool has a tubular mouthpiece (40) with a substantially cylindrical cavity that is axially open on one side and a receptacle for the pull-mandrel shank arranged at a bottom of the cavity (figure 5), the method further comprising, for the setting process, arranging the cavity of the mouthpiece above the free end of the shank (figure 5) such that the rivet setting tool is adapted to grip the pull-mandrel shank in a functional manner (figures 4-6), and the mouthpiece is arranged to rest on the rear of the panel holder (figure 5), with a non-contact gap remaining between the free end of the shank of the rivet and the bottom of the cavity (figure 5).
Knoche et al. in the combination does not specifically disclose gap of 0.1 mm-2mm. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to contrive any number of desirable ranges such that the gap is 0.1mm - 2mm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Further, it has been held that by discovering an optimum value of a result, the effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). Refer to MPEP § 2144.05. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to contrive any number of desirable ranges such that the gap is 0.1mm - 2mm, in order to allow the facade to expand and contract smoothly in response to temperature fluctuations and changes in humidity.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The cited patents listed on the included form PTO-892 further show the state of the art with respect to façade fastening systems in general.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR HIJAZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5790. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-6 EST Monday-Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached on (571) 270-3238. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OMAR F HIJAZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3633
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