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 Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10 recites “wedge insert with, the”, which has an unnecessary comma. 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.
Claims 7, 9, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claims 7 and 16 recite the limitation "the first inner surface and the second inner surface" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims. It is unclear what inner surfaces they are referring to.
Dependent claims 9 and 17-18 fail to resolve the deficiency.
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 1-2, and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hou (CN 201474343).
Regarding claim 1, Hou teaches of (fig. 5) an aquaculture tank system (Examiner notes MPEP §2111.02(II) with regard to intended use; The apparatus can be used as an aquaculture tank system), comprising:
a first wall panel (heightening board 10); a second wall panel (cell wall plates 1); and
a wedge insert (T-shaped profile 9 is wedged between the panels 1, 10) positioned between and coupled with the first wall panel and the second wall panel such that the first wall panel (10) and the second wall panel (1) are thereby arranged straight relative to one another (seen in fig. 5).
With regard to the intended use of claim 1 in the preamble, Examiner notes "if the body of a claim fully and intrinsically sets forth all of the limitations of the claimed invention, and the preamble merely states, for example, the purpose or intended use of the invention, rather than any distinct definition of any of the claimed invention’s limitations, then the preamble is not considered a limitation and is of no significance to claim construction", such that the intended use does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus. Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 182 F.3d 1298, 1305, 51 USPQ2d 1161, 1165 (Fed. Cir. 1999). See MPEP §2111.02(II).
Regarding claim 2, Hou teaches of claim 1, and further comprising a first row of wall panels (fig. 1, wall panels 10 would make a first row of wall panels under the panels 1), a second row of wall panels (fig. 1, wall panels 1 would make a second row of wall panels when assembled to make the tank), and a plurality of the wedge insert (fig. 5, wedge insert 9 is at each wall panels 1, 10 to hold them together), the first row of wall panels including the first wall panel (10), the second row of wall panels including the second wall panel (1) (seen in fig. 5),
the plurality of the wedge insert (9) being positioned between and coupled with the first wall panel and the second wall panel such that the first wall panel and the second wall panel are thereby arranged straight relative to one another (seen in fig. 5).
Regarding claim 10, Hou teaches of (fig. 5) a method of using an aquaculture tank system (the apparatus can be used as an aquaculture tank system), the method comprising the steps of:
providing that the aquaculture tank system includes a first wall panel (heightening board 10) and a second wall panel (cell wall plates 1); and
positioning a wedge insert between (T-shaped profile 9 is wedged between the panels 1, 10), and coupling the wedge insert with the first wall panel (10) and the second wall panel (1) such that the first wall panel and the second wall panel are thereby arranged straight relative to one another (seen in fig. 5).
Regarding claim 11, Hou teaches of claim 10, and wherein the aquaculture tank system further includes a first row of wall panels (fig. 1, wall panels 10 would make a first row of wall panels under the panels 1), a second row of wall panels (fig. 1, wall panels 1 would make a second row of wall panels when assembled to make the tank), and a plurality of the wedge insert (fig. 5, wedge insert 9 is at each wall panels 1, 10 to hold them together), the first row of wall panels including the first wall panel (10), the second row of wall panels including the second wall panel (1) (seen in fig. 5),
the plurality of the wedge insert (9) being positioned between and coupled with the first wall panel and the second wall panel such that the first wall panel and the second wall panel are thereby arranged straight relative to one another (seen in fig. 5).
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 3-5, 7, 12-14, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou.
Regarding claim 3, Hou teaches of claim 1, and (fig. 5) wherein the first wall panel (10) and the second wall panel (1) are arranged vertically relative to one another (seen in fig. 5) such that the second wall panel (1) is positioned above the first wall panel (10) (seen in fig. 5), the first wall panel (10) including a first main wall (front wall of panel 10), and the second wall panel (1) including a second main wall (fig. 3, filling plate 2 of panel 1) and a second flange (fig. 5, bottom flange) connected to the second main wall (1) (seen in fig. 5).
Hou does not appear to teach of a first flange connected to the first main wall.
However, Hou teaches of flanges connected to the main wall (top and bottom flanges of panel 1) that couples with the wedge insert (10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hou to incorporate the teachings of Hou of having top and bottom flanges on each panel such that the top flange is a first flange connected to the first main wall in order to provide further structure, support, and strong securement between the panels.
Regarding claim 4, Hou as modified teaches of claim 3, and (fig. 5) wherein the wedge insert (9) between the first wall panel (10) and the second wall panel (1) is straight or curved (fig. 5, ¶0031, wedge insert 9 is straight back and has a front curve to follow the arc of the plate 10).
Regarding claim 5, Hou as modified teaches of claim 4, and (fig. 5) wherein the wedge insert (9) includes a support (front vertical support) and a tab (horizontal tab) such that the wedge insert forms a T-shaped configuration (seen in fig. 5).
Regarding claim 7, Hou as modified teaches of claim 5, and (fig. 5) wherein the first inner surface and the second inner surface (as best understood by the 112b rejection above, inner surfaces of the panels 1, 10) are arranged on a first axis by way of the wedge insert (the inner surfaces are arranged along a first axis by the wedge insert 9).
Regarding claim 12, Hou teaches of claim 10, and (fig. 5) wherein the first wall panel (10) and the second wall panel (1) are arranged vertically relative to one another (seen in fig. 5) such that the second wall panel (1) is positioned above the first wall panel (10), the first wall panel (10) including a first main wall (front wall of panel 10), and the second wall panel (1) including a second main wall (fig. 3, filling plate 2 of panel 1) and a second flange (fig. 5, bottom flange) connected to the second main wall (1) (seen in fig. 5).
Hou does not appear to teach of a first flange connected to the first main wall.
However, Hou teaches of flanges connected to the main wall (top and bottom flanges of panel 1) that couples with the wedge insert (10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hou to incorporate the teachings of Hou of having top and bottom flanges on each panel such that the top flange is a first flange connected to the first main wall in order to provide further structure, support, and strong securement between the panels.
Regarding claim 13, Hou as modified teaches of claim 12, and (fig. 5) wherein the wedge insert (9) between the first wall panel (10) and the second wall panel (1) is straight or curved (fig. 5, ¶0031, wedge insert 9 is straight back and has a front curve to follow the arc of the plate 10).
Regarding claim 14, Hou as modified teaches of claim 13, and (fig. 5) wherein the wedge insert (9) includes a support (front vertical support) and a tab (horizontal tab) such that the wedge insert forms a T-shaped configuration (seen in fig. 5).
Regarding claim 16, Hou as modified teaches of claim 14, and (fig. 5) wherein the first inner surface and the second inner surface (as best understood by the 112b rejection above, inner surfaces of the panels 1, 10) are arranged on a first axis by way of the wedge insert (the inner surfaces are arranged along a first axis by the wedge insert 9).
Claims 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou in view of Fingerhut (US 20180002107).
Regarding claim 6, Hou as modified teaches of claim 5, but does not appear to teach of wherein the wedge insert includes a plurality of the tab.
Fingerhut is in the field of panel construction and teaches of (fig. 7) wherein the wedge insert (figs. 1 and 7, elongated strip 100 is an insert wedged into a segment 30) includes a plurality of the tab (fig. 6, plurality of tabs 104).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hou to incorporate the teachings of Fingerhut of wherein the wedge insert includes a plurality of the tab in order to provide lightness in weight and easy of assembly of the insert across the length of the panel as motivated by Fingerhut in para. 0048.
Regarding claim 15, Hou as modified teaches of claim 14, but does not appear to teach of wherein the wedge insert includes a plurality of the tab.
Fingerhut is in the field of panel construction and teaches of (fig. 7) wherein the wedge insert (figs. 1 and 7, elongated strip 100 is an insert wedged into a segment 30) includes a plurality of the tab (fig. 6, plurality of tabs 104).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hou to incorporate the teachings of Fingerhut of wherein the wedge insert includes a plurality of the tab in order to provide lightness in weight and easy of assembly of the insert across the length of the panel as motivated by Fingerhut in para. 0048.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 and 17-18 are 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.
Claim 9 and 17-18 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 1.
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/ZOE TAM TRAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3647