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Claims 15-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 05/03/2026.
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.
Claim 14 is 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.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “wherein the preconsolidated fines layer is extruded onto the top surface of the strand matrix.” This step is mutually exclusive with the method of claim 1 because claim 1 requires that the preconsolidated fines layer comprises a plurality of fines which are consolidated on a medium prior to application to the strand matrix. If the preconsolidated layer is formed and consolidated on a medium before application to the strand matrix, then the same layer cannot be extruded directly onto the strand matrix, as this direct extrusion would mean that the fines layer is not preconsolidated on a medium as required in claim 1, instead being applied directly to the strand matrix. Since the limitations of claim 14 are distinct and mutually exclusive with those recited in claim 1, one of ordinary skill in the art cannot be reasonably apprised of the metes and bounds of the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 are allowed.
The closest prior art references are Calve (US 5,951,795) and Dubelsten (US 6,821,614).
Calvé teaches a method of manufacturing surfaced panels, the method comprising: forming an oriented strandboard (OSB) mat (13), compressing a fines mat (10) between two rollers (11a,11b), applying the compressed fines mat to a top surface of the OSB mat, and laminating the OSB mat and the compressed fines mat together under heat and pressure (See Figures; col. 2, lines 24-59; col. 5, lines 40-63). In the method of Calve, a surface of the compressed fines mat which contacts the OSB mat is left uncured such that it may bond to the OSB mat during consolidation. Therefore one of ordinary skill would not form the fines mat of Calve on a medium (i.e. backer) in the manner claimed because to do so would prevent the uncured portion of the fines mat from interacting with the OSB mat.
Dubelsten teaches a method of making a multi-layer cellulosic product, the method comprising pre-forming face layers which include wood fines and thermoplastic polymeric materials (See col. 17, line 49 to col. 18, line 55). The method of Dubelsten utilizes only thermoplastic and wood fines only in forming the face layers, and there is no motivation or teaching in the prior art which would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Dubelsten to form the face layers on an additional medium (i.e. backer) in the manner claimed.
Conclusion
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/CARSON GROSS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
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