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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/12/25 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: “of” was omitted before “force” in the second to last line of the claim. 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 10 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 10 recites, “each of the reinforcement ribs has a semi-dihedral spherical polygon geometry”. It is unclear what this geometry entails, as it is a combination of several different geometries.
Claim 18 recites that “the force applying ribs extend beyond the reinforcement ribs to a distance that is equal to or greater than a height of the sidewalls”. The comparison is unclear. Further, it is unclear if the claim is referring to a longitudinal/transverse distance or if the distance is referencing a relative height of the force applying ribs from the rear face which was previously defined in claim 14 as being a height greater than the wall height.
Claim 19 recites that “the force applying ribs extend beyond the reinforcement ribs to a distance that is equal to or greater than a height of the bottom edge of the tile frame”. The comparison is unclear. Further, it is unclear if the claim is referring to a longitudinal/transverse distance or if the distance is referencing a relative height of the force applying ribs from the rear face which was previously defined in claim 14 as being a height greater than the wall height.
Claim 19 recites the limitation "the bottom edge of the tile frame" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear what structure is being referenced.
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 1-3, 11-13 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chuang, US 2012/0117910.
Regarding claims 1 and 20:
Chuang discloses a construction tile (1) and a method of manufacturing it, comprising:
forming a tile body including a front face, a rear face opposite the front face (152 in Fig. 13), and a tile frame projecting from and extending around a perimeter of the rear face;
forming a fastener boss (16) projecting from the rear face of the tile body and configured to receive therethrough a fastener to thereby mount the construction tile to a support surface (B); and
forming a plurality of reinforcement ribs projecting from the rear face of the tile body, the reinforcement ribs being configured to transmit forces between a peripheral edge of the tile body and the fastener boss.
Regarding claims 2 and 3:
Chuang discloses wherein the reinforcement ribs include a force applying rib projecting from the rear face of the tile body, the tile frame including a pair of sidewalls having a wall height, and the force applying rib having a rib height greater than the wall height,
wherein the force applying rib includes a first force applying rib located at a first position and a second force applying rib located at a second position laterally spaced from the first position.
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Regarding claim 11:
Chuang discloses wherein the fastener boss includes first and second cylindrical fastener bosses projecting orthogonally from respective first and second location of the rear face of the tile body.
Regarding claim 12:
Chuang discloses wherein the tile frame projects orthogonally from and extends continuously around the perimeter of the rear face.
Regarding claim 13:
Chuang discloses wherein the tile body, the fastener boss and the reinforcement ribs are integrally formed as a single-piece structure from a polymeric material (para. 0034 specifies plastic).
Claims 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dupuis et al., US 11,634,195.
Regarding claim 14:
DuPuis discloses a polymeric roof tile (100, the tile may be used upon a roof), comprising:
a roof tile body (refer to Fig. 7) including a front face (104), a rear face opposite the front face (the underside), and a tile frame (124) projecting from and extending around a perimeter of the rear face, the tile frame including a pair of sidewalls having a wall height (as shown in Fig. 4);
a plurality of reinforcement ribs (114) integral with and projecting from the rear face of the tile body, each of the reinforcement ribs having a first rib height equal to or smaller than the wall height of the sidewalls (refer to Figs. 7 and 9 showing ribs of equal heights); and
a plurality force applying ribs (also labeled 114) integral with and projecting from the rear face of the tile body, each of the force applying ribs having a second rib height greater than the wall height.
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Regarding claim 15:
DuPuis discloses wherein the force applying ribs include first and second force applying ribs located at respective first and second positions on the rear face (there are adjacent ribs).
Regarding claim 16:
Dupuis discloses wherein the force applying ribs include a side force applying rib separate from or integral with a front force applying ribs to individually or collectively define a multiaxis force applying rib (the ribs are perpendicular to each other).
Regarding claim 17:
Dupuis discloses wherein the force applying ribs include a plurality of horizontal force applying ribs extending transversely across a width of the tile body and/or a plurality of vertical force applying ribs extending transversely across a longitudinal length of the tile body (the ribs are positioned perpendicularly to each other).
Regarding claim 18:
Dupuis discloses wherein the front face of the roof tile includes a nonplanar region (the corners, as shown in Fig. 3B), and wherein the force applying ribs extend beyond the reinforcement ribs (refer to Fig. 7, they cross each other) to a distance that is equal to a height of the sidewalls as measured in an uninstalled configuration (the force applying ribs terminate at the sidewalls).
Regarding claim 19:
Dupuis discloses wherein the front face of the roof tile includes a nonplanar region (the corners), and wherein the force applying ribs extend beyond the reinforcement ribs (they cross them) to a distance that is equal to or greater than a height of the bottom edge of the tile frame as measured in an uninstalled configuration (the lateral distance is clearly greater than a height of a bottom edge of the tile frame).
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 4-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chuang, US 2012/0117910 in view of Pegoraro, US 2005/0120663.
Regarding claim 4:
Chuang discloses a circular rib concentric with and circumscribing the fastener boss but does not disclose a plurality of circular ribs.
Pegoraro discloses a plurality of circular ribs.
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Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide a plurality of circular ribs as suggested by Pegoraro around the circular boss of Chuang in order to provide additional reinforcement to the boss.
Regarding claim 5:
Chuang modified in view of Pegoraro discloses wherein the reinforcement ribs include a plurality of curvilinear ribs extending between and adjoining the tile frame and an outermost circular rib of the plurality of ribs.
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Regarding claims 6 and 8:
Chuang discloses wherein the tile frame includes rectilinear sidewalls and end walls forming corners, wherein the curvilinear ribs adjoin the tile frame adjacent the first corner.
Regarding claim 7:
Chuang discloses wherein each of the curvilinear ribs includes an elongated straight segment adjoining the outermost circular rib and an elongated curved segment adjoining the elongated straight segment the tile frame.
Regarding claim 9:
Chuang discloses wherein the reinforcement ribs includes a series of arcuate ribs sharing a common geometry (outward from the circular rib) and each having a distinct size.
Allowable Subject Matter
No prior art rejection can be made of claim 10. It is unclear what a “semi-dihedral spherical polygon geometry” as applied to each rib entails. The prior art of record does not appear to disclose the specific shape within the claimed combination but a determination of allowability requires a better understanding and clarification of the structure that is being claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENT W HERRING whose telephone number is (571)270-3661. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30a-6:00p MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Glessner can be reached at (571)272-6754. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRENT W HERRING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633
