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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group II in the reply filed on 1/8/2026 is acknowledged. Applicant’s arguments are found persuasive and the requirement is therefore withdrawn.
The status of claims 1-5 is “Original” as of the 1/8/2026 filing date.
Drawings
Figures 1 and 2 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: “506” in Fig. 4 (it appears this may be one of the row units 50b, instead). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to because it appears “116, 140b” in Fig. 4 should be changed to –116, 140a—. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Friggstad et al. 8,047,301.
Independent Claim 1: Friggstad discloses a row unit coupling device for securing a first row unit and a second row unit (12, 14, respectively, see col. 1, lns. 31-33) to a tool bar (26) of an agricultural implement, the row unit coupling device comprising:
a swing arm (18) having a first end (the front end) and a second end (the rear end), the first end configured for pivotal coupling to the tool bar (at 42); and
a walking beam (16) having a central beam (also 16), a first row adapter (58, 60), and a second row adapter (a similar mount to 58, 60, col. 4, lns. 25-28), the central beam having a proximal end (the front end) and a distal end (the rear end), the first row adapter and the second row adapter secured to the central beam on opposing sides of a position at which the swing arm is pivotally coupled to the central beam (seen in Figs. 4-5), the first row adapter configured to be coupled to the first row unit, the second row adapter configured to be coupled to the second row unit (as seen in Figs. 4-5), as per claim 1.
Dependent Claims 2-4: Friggstad further discloses wherein the first row adapter (58, 60) is positioned at or around the proximal end of the central beam (the front end of central beam 16), and the second row adapter (a similar mount to 58, 60, col. 4, lns. 25-28) is positioned at or around the distal end of the central beam (the rear end of central beam 16), as per claim 2;
wherein the first row adapter (say the mount of forward right-side disc 48, as seen in Fig. 5) extends from the central beam in a first direction (to the right), and the second row adapter (the mount of rear left-side disc 50, as seen in Fig. 5) extends from the central beam in a second direction (to the left), the first direction being opposite to the second direction, the first and second directions being perpendicular to a direction that the central beam extends (in the front-to-back direction) from the distal end (the rear end) to the proximal end (the front end), as per claim 3;
wherein the second end of the walking beam (the rear end of beam 18) is pivotally coupled (via 22) to the central beam (16) at a location adjacent to the distal end (the rear end of 16) of the central beam (as seen in Fig. 4), as per claim 4.
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) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Friggstad in view of Pingry 5,406,897.
Dependent Claim 5: The coupling device is disclosed as applied above. However, Friggstad fails to disclose wherein the first row adapter is separated from the second row adapter by a distance at which, when the first row unit is coupled to the first row adapter and the second row unit is coupled to the second row adapter, the first and second row units are in a partial overlapping side-by-side alignment, as per claim 5.
Pingry discloses a similar coupling device wherein the first row adapter (34 of 16B-1 in Fig. 3) is separated from the second row adapter (34 of 16C-1) by a distance at which, when the first row unit (16B-1) is coupled to the first row adapter and the second row unit (16C-1) is coupled to the second row adapter, the first and second row units are in a partial overlapping side-by-side alignment (as seen in Fig. 3, depth gauge wheel 28 of front row unit 16B-1 overlaps with coulter blade 32 of rear row unit 16C-1), as per claim 5.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to overlap the row units as taught by Pingry on the coupling device of Friggstad in order to provide a wide seeding width with a relatively compact machine.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-20 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the attached PTOL-892. Norman WO 03/032707 A1discloses a similar coupling device to that of the claimed invention but discloses wherein the central beam is made up of two relatively movable parts.
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 January 30, 2026