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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2,7-10,12-13,17-20,22-23,26,34,36 and 40-60 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 10, filed 04/28/2026, with respect to claims 1-2, 8-13, 18-20, 22-23, 26, 34, 40, 45-48, and 58-60 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of the above claims has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 11, filed 04/28/2026, with respect to claims 7, 17, and 36 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of the above claims has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 61 have been considered but are moot because the ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 61 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Clendenning (Pat. No.: 6,047,487).
Regarding independent claim 61, Clendenning teaches a wear member (1012) for earth working equipment comprising
a mounting cavity opening in a rear end to receive a supportive base (1026 corresponds to the supportive base; See Fig. 30 for the depiction of the wear member 1012, note that this figure depicts the supportive base/adapter 1026 onto which a tip or tooth having a cavity with complimentary shape to the supportive base is fastened to. Accordingly, the surfaces depicted of the support base thereby correspond to the surfaces of the tooth cavity. See col. 5, lns. 34-37 where it discloses the cross sectional configuration of the cavity compliments the cross sectional configuration of the nose portion of the adapter),
the mounting cavity including a front portion and a rear portion (i.e., the portion tooth cavity that is closest to the base portion 24 corresponds to the claimed rear portion and the portion of the tooth cavity that is furthest from the base portion 24 corresponds to the claimed front portion),
the front portion including front bearing surfaces having a first front bearing surface (surface 1037 disposed in the front portion) extending side to side at a top of the mounting cavity (as seen in Fig. 30), two second front bearing surfaces (1047 and 1046 disposed in the front portion) at a bottom of the mounting cavity (as seen in Fig. 30) converging in a direction away from the first front bearing surface (See Fig. 30 where the surfaces do not converge in the same direction), and two third front bearing side surfaces (1049 and 1048) each extending between the first front bearing surface (1037) and one of the second front bearing surfaces (See Fig. 30 where 1049 extends between 1037 and 1047, and where 1048 extends between 1037 and 1046), and
the rear portion including rear bearing surfaces having a first rear bearing surface (surface 1047 disposed in the rear portion) extending side to side at the bottom of the mounting cavity (as seen in Fig. 30) and two second rear bearing surfaces (1036 and 1037) at the top of the mounting cavity converging in a direction away from the first rear bearing surface (See Fig. 30 where the surfaces do not converge in the same direction), wherein the front and rear bearing surfaces bear against complementary surfaces on the supportive base during a digging operation (See col. 5, lns. 17-37 for general disclosure of the complementary surfaces between the tooth cavity and the supportive base; further See cols. 23-24, lns. 1-14 for general disclosure of surfaces depicted in Fig. 30).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following prior art is directed towards wear assemblies for earth working machines and are considered reasonably pertinent: Johnston et al. (Pat. No.: 9,322,150), Renski et al. (Pat. No.: 9,062,436), and Carpenter (Pat. No.: 7,730,651). Additional references relevant but not discussed here can be found in the attached 892.
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/A.L.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3671
/CHRISTOPHER J SEBESTA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3671
