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 .
Application Status
Claims 1-11 are pending in this application. Claims 1, 4, and 5 were amended in the correspondence received 17 October 2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-11 have been considered but are moot because the new 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.
Claims 1-4 and 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Clark (US 8844657).
With respect to claim 1, Clark discloses an outdoor power equipment (in figure 1, Clark discloses a stand-on lawnmower, which reads on outdoor power equipment), comprising:
a frame (in figure 1, Clark discloses a stand0be lawnmower 100 that has a mowing deck 103, wheels 110 and 112, an operator platform 101 all connected together; the apparatus on which these elements reside reads on a frame);
a plurality of drive elements coupled to the frame (in figure 1, Clark discloses wheels 110 and 112 as well as hydraulic motor 108 that drives the right wheel; hydraulic motor 106 that drives the left wheel is disclosed in figure 2; the wheels and/or wheel motor read on a plurality of drive elements);
a prime mover configured to provide power to the plurality of drive elements (in figure 2, Clark discloses hydraulic pump 114, which provides power to motors 108 and 106; see also lines 26-39 of column 2);
an operator standing platform secured to a rear of the frame and behind the prime mover (in figures 1-3, Clark discloses a platform 101 with foot pedals 102 and 104 that is located behind the prime mover/hydraulic pump 114), the operating standing platform comprising one or more controls configured to receive foot-based inputs from an operator of the outdoor power equipment (in figure 1, Clark discloses pedals 102 and 104 which read on controls that receive foot-based inputs – see also the abstract of Clark and lines 49-61 of column 2); and
a control system configured to control a steering and a speed of the outdoor power equipment based on the foot-based inputs (in figures 1-3 – 2 in particular – Clark discloses a control system by which adjustment of the pedals 102 and 104 steers and accelerates or brakes the lawnmower; see also the abstract which explains that the drive wheels are controlled by the foot pedals).
With respect to claim 2, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 1. Clark further discloses the one or more controls comprise a left control and a right control (in the abstract, Clark discloses that the foot pedals control either the left or the right wheel).
With respect to claim 3, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 2. Clark further discloses the plurality of drive elements comprises one or more left drive elements and one or more right drive elements (in figure 1, Clark discloses that left and right wheels as well as right wheel motor 108; figure 2 discloses left wheel motor 106), wherein the control system is configured to control a left speed of the one or more left drive elements based on foot-based inputs received via the left control, wherein the control system is configured to control a right speed of the one or more right drive elements based on foot-based inputs received via the right control (in line 49 of column 2 through line 4 of column 3, Clark discloses controlling each of the driving wheels by the foot pedal that is on the same side as the wheel), and wherein the steering and the speed of the outdoor power equipment are based on the left speed and the right speed (in the abstract, Clark discloses that the wheels can be driven in forward and reverse; in lines 26 through 39 of column 2, Clark discloses that the wheels can be driven at a desired speed and that they are independent; a system like this where the wheels can be driven in opposite rotations will turn, which anticipates steering).
With respect to claim 4, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 1. Clark further discloses the one or more controls are configured to be operated by the operator in a standing position on the operator standing platform (in lines 44-48 of column 2, Clark discloses that the operator is in a standing position).
With respect to claim 6, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 1. Clark further discloses the foot-based inputs comprise rotations of the one or more controls (in figure 3, Clark discloses bar 120 about which the foot pedals rotate).
With respect to claim 7, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 6. Clark further discloses one or more mechanisms to bias each control of the one or more controls to a neutral position of that control (in figures 2 and 3, Clark discloses biasing springs 145 and 147 that bias the foot pedals back to their neutral positions, as described in lines 15-20 of column 3).
With respect to claim 8, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 1. Clark further discloses the foot-based inputs comprise pressures applied to the one or more controls (in the abstract, Clark discloses independently moving pedals which, as shown in figures 1-3 by their ability to be rotated, are responsive to foot-based inputs where the inputs push on the controls, which reads on applying pressure).
With respect to claim 9, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 1. Clark further discloses the control system is one or more of mechanical, electrical, electromechanical, hydraulic, hydrostatic, or pneumatic (in lines 26-30 of column 2, Clark discloses that the system can be hydraulic).
With respect to claim 10, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 1. Clark further discloses the plurality of drive elements are one of a plurality of wheels or a plurality of tracks (in figure 1, Clark discloses that the drive elements are wheels).
With respect to claim 11, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 1. Clark further discloses the outdoor power equipment is a lawn maintenance apparatus (in the abstract, Clark discloses that the machine is a lawn mower, which is a type of lawn maintenance apparatus).
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Clark in view of Sugden et al. (US 2011/0277433 hereinafter Sugden).
With respect to claim 5, Clark discloses the limitations of claim 1. Clark does not explicitly disclose the one of more controls are coupled to a suspension system.
However, Sugden discloses one of more controls are coupled to a suspension system (in the abstract and paragraph 41, Sugden discloses that the entire body of a lawn working device operator and the controls 55 are supported by a suspension system 100).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the instant invention to modify the outdoor power equipment of Clark by supporting the operator and hence the operator’s foot pedals with a suspension system as taught by Sugden with the motivation to “reduce the imposition of shock loads to operators” (Sugden, paragraph 5).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS JAMES MEISLAHN whose telephone number is (703)756-1925. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:30 EST M-Th, M-F.
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/DOUGLAS J MEISLAHN/Examiner, Art Unit 3671
/JOSEPH M ROCCA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3671