Patent decision

BL number

O/145/19

Concerning rights in

GB1517570.6

Hearing Officer

Mr P Mason

Decision date

20 March 2019

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Norcros Group (Holdings) Limited

Provisions discussed

section 1(1)(b)

Keywords

Inventive step

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application relates to a wall surface covering system for fixing a rigid covering such as a ceramic tile to a vertical wall surface. The invention provides a non-permanent bond by the use of hook-and-loop technology whereby a loop component may be glued onto the back of a tile and a corresponding hook component secured to the wall. Specific parameters are chosen regarding the hook shape and material, hook and loop component thicknesses and loop density to ensure the tile does not move once it is fixed to a wall but can be easily removed without fracturing the tile.

The Hearing Officer considered the Windsurfing/Pozzoli steps and found the invention as defined by claim 1 to involve an inventive step in light of prior art cited by the examiner. The application was remitted to the examiner for further processing.

Full decision O/145/19 314Kb