DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 13 April 2026 has been entered.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
One of the information disclosure statements filed 20 February 2026 has been crossed out because it is a duplicate of the other.
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 1-8 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.
CLAIM 1 The newly added functionality of the claimed processing unit renders the scope of the claimed invention indefinite. Specifically, the limitation “to determine planting depth … based on the seed environment data including one or more of predicted wind speed and predicted amount of cloudiness” lacks clear antecedent basis because properties of seed environment data obtained by the processing unit do not necessarily include “predicted wind speed” and “predicted amount of cloudiness.” The properties are recited in a group of which the processing unit is only required to obtain “at least one of.” (beginning on l. 4)
CLAIMS 2-7 are rejected because they depend from CLAIM 1.
CLAIM 8 is rejected similarly to CLAIM 1.
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.
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.
CLAIMS 1-5, 7 AND 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sauder et al. (US 2016/0037709 A1).
Sauder et al. ‘709 (“Sauder”) discloses a processing system (Figs. 1-4C, 11-23) comprising:
CLAIM 1 a processing unit (50; “central processing unit” [0032]) to execute instructions for processing agricultural data; and
a memory (50; “memory” [0032]) to store agricultural data;
wherein the processing unit is configured
a) to execute instructions to obtain properties for seed environment data (1600, [0071]; from base station (345) and weather data server (340)) including at least one of: soil color, residue, topography, soil texture, organic matter, seed shape and size, seed cold germ, predicted amount of cloudiness, and predicted wind speed to determine seed environment data based on the properties, and
b) to determine planting depth (1100, [0052]; 1600, [0071]) or to stop planting [0098] of an agricultural implement based on the seed environment data including one or more of: predicted wind speed and predicted amount of cloudiness (1630; “forecasted cloud conditions”, [0071]) during seed germination;1,2
CLAIM 2 wherein the processing unit (50) is further configured to generate a seed environment indicator to indicate whether soil conditions are ready for planting during a specified time period (“Keep Planting” or “Stop Planting”, [0098]);
CLAIM 3 wherein the processing unit (50) is further configured to generate an indicator to indicate whether soil conditions will remain acceptable through at least germination (“probability P of successful germination” [0094]) and emergence (map overlay of “plant emergence” [0084]-[0085]);
CLAIM 4 wherein the processing unit (50) is further configured to generate a seed environment score (Fig. 20, “Germination Summary,” including “Germination Potential” 2015) based on the seed environment data with a display device (2000) to display the seed environment score;
CLAIM 5 wherein the display device (2000) to display the seed environment score (Fig. 20, “Germination Summary”) including a first indicator to indicate acceptable planting conditions (2035, “Keep Planting”) or a second indicator (2035, “Stop Planting”) to indicate unacceptable planting conditions;
CLAIM 7 wherein the seed environment data further comprises at least one of: soil type, soil temperature (cl. 1), soil moisture (cl. 3), furrow depth (per 385, Fig. 3), predicted temperature (“forecasted air temperature”, [0071]), predicted precipitation (“forecasted rainfall”, [0076]), and predicted cloud cover (“forecasted cloud conditions”, [0071]); and
CLAIM 8 wherein the processing unit (50) is further configured to adjust planting depth ([0035]) or downforce of a row unit of the agricultural implement to minimize a time period for germination (“probability P of successful germination”, [0094]) based on the seed environment data including one or more of predicted wind speed and predicted amount of cloudiness during seed germination.
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.
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.
CLAIM 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sauder et al. (US 2016/0037709 A1).
CLAIM 6 Sauder teaches the display device (2000) to display seed environment score properties including:
a current temperature (2025);
a current moisture (2020); and
whether each of these properties are within an acceptable range (2100, Fig. 21).
Sauder further discloses the seed environment data including predicted temperature ([0071]) and predicted precipitation ([0076]) but fails to teach display of the data. It would have been an obvious modification for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the display to include predicted temperature and predicted precipitation, as well their acceptability. The motivation for making the modification would have been to provide more comprehensive data to a user.
Conclusion
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/TARA MAYO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
/tm/
22 June 2026
1 In [0071], Sauder discloses temperature data received from a weather data server (340), wherein the temperature data includes “forecasted cloud conditions.” Later, in the same paragraph, Sauder teaches modification of planting depth based upon “forecasted temperature during the germination period.”
2 Weather data of “forecasted cloud conditions” also relate to “forecasted rainfall” and affect the moisture-depth relationship (1640, [0076]).
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