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 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 1-15 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.
Regarding claim 1: Line 16 indicates “wherein the PUR adhesive is located between the top panel portion of the elongate first…” It is unclear if this is the same PUR adhesive indicated previously or an additional adhesive. It is assumed it is an additional (line or bead) of adhesive and will be examined accordingly. It is suggested it read “wherein a PUR adhesive is additionally located…” or similar.
Regarding claim 10: Line 19 indicates “wherein the PUR adhesive is located between the top panel portion of…” It is unclear if this is the same PUR adhesive indicated previously or an additional adhesive. It is assumed it is an additional (line or bead) of adhesive and will be examined accordingly. It is suggested it read “wherein a PUR adhesive is additionally located…” or similar.
Additional claims rejected under 35 USC 112 but not addressed are rejected as being dependent on a rejected base claim and failing to further remedy the issue(s).
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(s) 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schmid (US PGPub No 2007/0251162) in view of Hofmann (US PGPub No 2005/0069693).
Referring to claim 16: Schmid teaches a method of making a furring strip, the method comprising the steps of: providing a panel component (item 2) and a solid component (item 3); applying a adhesive between the panel component and the solid component; closing the panel component onto the solid component (paragraph 0014); and adhering the panel component to the solid component with the adhesive forming the furring strip (paragraph 0014). Schmid does not teach the adhesive is polyurethane reactive (PUR). However, Hofmann teaches a polyurethane reactive adhesive (paragraph 0011).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to create the device using the method of Schmid with the adhesive taught by Hofmann in order to provide a strong bond between the two components.
Referring to claim 17: Schmid and Hofmann teach all the limitations of claim 16 as noted above. They do not specifically teach further comprising the step of applying a corona treatment to a surface of the panel component. However, the Examiner gives Official Notice that it is known in the art to apply corona treatments to plastic materials in order to aid in the bonding of said materials using adhesive.
Referring to claim 18: Schmid and Hofmann teach all the limitations of claim 16 as noted above. They do not teach further comprising the step of curing the PUR adhesive while packaging the furring strip. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to let the adhesive cure during packaging in order to speed up the assembly process to deliver materials earlier.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK J MAESTRI whose telephone number is (571)270-7859. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7-3.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached at 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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/PATRICK J MAESTRI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635
