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 § 102
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.
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)(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(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Johnson (US Pat. No. 12,037,185).
Regarding claim 16, Johnson discloses A device for sampling granular material from within a granular medium, the device comprising: a body; a rotatable part for rotational movement about a rotational axis (see annotated fig 4g below), the rotatable part being externally-exposed and arranged to cause agitation of an adjacent portion of a granular medium in which the device is to be provided (Abstract); a motor (drive motors 106) configured to cause the rotational movement of the rotatable part to thereby move the device through the granular medium; and a sampling portion operable to selectively capture a sample of granular material from the granular medium for removal from the granular medium (col 9, lines 39-42).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-15, 17-18 and 25-30 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art when taken alone or in combination does not appear to teach or fairly suggest at this time the combination of limitations of independent claim 7 or 14. In particular, there are a limited number of granular medium agitation robots (see references cited). Many of the prior art references include auger shafts or similar to agitate the granular medium (see references cited). However, the prior art does not appear to teach A device for moving through a granular medium, the device comprising: a body; a rotatable part for rotational movement about a rotational axis, the rotatable part being externally-exposed and arranged to cause agitation of an adjacent portion of a granular medium in which the device is to be provided; a motor configured to cause the rotational movement of the rotatable part; and one or more agitating portions provided with the rotatable part to cause the agitation of the adjacent portion of the granular medium, and wherein at a first rotational position of the rotatable part relative to the body, the device is configured such that a first portion of the rotatable part and the one or more agitating portions cause a first degree of agitation in a first region of the granular medium and a second portion of the rotatable part and the one or more agitating portions cause a second degree of agitation in a second region of the granular medium, and at a second rotational position of the rotatable part relative to the body, the first portion of the rotatable part and the one or more agitating portions cause the second degree of agitation in the second region of the granular medium [claim 7]; or A device for moving through a granular medium, the device comprising: a body; a rotatable part for rotational movement about a rotational axis, the rotatable part being externally-exposed and arranged to cause agitation of an adjacent portion of a granular medium in which the device is to be provided; a motor configured to cause the rotational movement of the rotatable part; and one or more agitating portions provided with the rotatable part to cause the agitation of the adjacent portion of the granular medium, wherein the one or more agitating portions is movable relative to an outer surface of the rotatable part in a direction having at least a component normal to the outer surface of the rotatable part to alter a degree of the agitation of the adjacent portion of the granular medium that is caused when the rotatable part is caused to move relative to the granular medium [claim 14].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB B MEYER whose telephone number is (571)270-3535. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9-7.
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JACOB B. MEYER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3613
/JACOB B MEYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613