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 22 is objected to because of the following informalities: amended claim 22 sets forth “wherein one or more rear tires are driven independently”. However, it is unclear how one tire can be driven independently or what it would be driven independently of. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 28 is objected to because of the following informalities: amended claim 28 sets forth “wherein one or more rear tires are driven independently”. However, it is unclear how one tire can be driven independently or what it would be driven independently of. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chartier FR 2640463 A1.
Independent Claim 27: Chartier discloses a turf cultivating machine comprising:
a frame (12) with a standing operating platform (21) at the rear of the turf cultivating machine;
a cultivating tool (25) located forward of the standing operator platform;
an engine (1) to power the cultivating tool disposed on a forward half of the machine; and
a seeder (18) to deliver seed, wherein the seeder is disposed forward of the cultivating tool and behind the engine, as per claim 27.
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) 28-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chartier in view of Magda 4,901,655.
Dependent Claims 28-31: The machine is disclosed as applied above. However, Chartier fails to disclose wherein one or more rear tires are driven independently and one or more front tires are castering, as per claim 28;
wherein the cultivating tool may be turned on or off by the operator and the cultivating tool may be raised out of the ground for turning, as per claim 29;
a control coupled to a foot switch or a hand switch and configured to engage or disengage, based on actuation of the foot or hand switch, the cultivating tool, as per claim 30;
wherein the control is further configured to turn the seeder on and off, as per claim 31.
Magda discloses a similar turf cultivating and seeding machine wherein one or more rear tires (64, 68) are driven independently and one or more front tires are castering (26, 28), as per claim 28;
wherein the cultivating tool (270) may be turned on or off by the operator (via clutch engagement lever 97) and the cultivating tool may be raised out of the ground for turning (via lift lever 99), as per claim 29;
a control (97, 99) coupled to a foot switch or a hand switch (hand switch) and configured to engage or disengage, based on actuation of the foot or hand switch, the cultivating tool (270), as per claim 30;
wherein the control (not shown, see col. 9, lns. 11-18) is further configured to turn the seeder (120) on and off, as per claim 31.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the wheel arrangement and power control of Magda on the machine of Chartier in order to provide easy agility of the machine over a field and to provide an operator convenient means for controlling the machine at their fingertips.
Response to Arguments
Please see the updated art rejections above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21-23, 33 are allowed.
Claim 32 is 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alicia M. Torres whose telephone number is 571-272-6997. The examiner’s fax number is 571-273-6997. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph M. Rocca, can be reached at (571) 272-8971.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the group receptionist whose telephone number is 571-272-3600. The fax number for this Group is 571-273-8300.
/Alicia Torres/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671 July 29, 2026
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