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 .
The amendment filed on July 31, 2026 has been considered.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 July 31, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment to the claims filed on July 31, 2026 does not comply with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.121(c) because claims 4-6 are not marked relatively to the respective claims filed on July 7, 2023. Amendments to the claims filed on or after July 30, 2003 must comply with 37 CFR 1.121(c) which states:
(c) Claims. Amendments to a claim must be made by rewriting the entire claim with all changes (e.g., additions and deletions) as indicated in this subsection, except when the claim is being canceled. Each amendment document that includes a change to an existing claim, cancellation of an existing claim or addition of a new claim, must include a complete listing of all claims ever presented, including the text of all pending and withdrawn claims, in the application. The claim listing, including the text of the claims, in the amendment document will serve to replace all prior versions of the claims, in the application. In the claim listing, the status of every claim must be indicated after its claim number by using one of the following identifiers in a parenthetical expression: (Original), (Currently amended), (Canceled), (Withdrawn), (Previously presented), (New), and (Not entered).
(1) Claim listing. All of the claims presented in a claim listing shall be presented in ascending numerical order. Consecutive claims having the same status of “canceled” or “not entered” may be aggregated into one statement (e.g., Claims 1–5 (canceled)). The claim listing shall commence on a separate sheet of the amendment document and the sheet(s) that contain the text of any part of the claims shall not contain any other part of the amendment.
(2) When claim text with markings is required. All claims being currently amended in an amendment paper shall be presented in the claim listing, indicate a status of “currently amended,” and be submitted with markings to indicate the changes that have been made relative to the immediate prior version of the claims. The text of any added subject matter must be shown by underlining the added text. The text of any deleted matter must be shown by strike-through except that double brackets placed before and after the deleted characters may be used to show deletion of five or fewer consecutive characters. The text of any deleted subject matter must be shown by being placed within double brackets if strike-through cannot be easily perceived. Only claims having the status of “currently amended,” or “withdrawn” if also being amended, shall include markings. If a withdrawn claim is currently amended, its status in the claim listing may be identified as “withdrawn—currently amended.”
(3) When claim text in clean version is required. The text of all pending claims not being currently amended shall be presented in the claim listing in clean version, i.e., without any markings in the presentation of text. The presentation of a clean version of any claim having the status of “original,” “withdrawn” or “previously presented” will constitute an assertion that it has not been changed relative to the immediate prior version, except to omit markings that may have been present in the immediate prior version of the claims of the status of “withdrawn” or “previously presented.” Any claim added by amendment must be indicated with the status of “new” and presented in clean version, i.e., without any underlining.
(4) When claim text shall not be presented; canceling a claim.
(i) No claim text shall be presented for any claim in the claim listing with the status of “canceled” or “not entered.”
(ii) Cancellation of a claim shall be effected by an instruction to cancel a particular claim number. Identifying the status of a claim in the claim listing as “canceled” will constitute an instruction to cancel the claim.
(5) Reinstatement of previously canceled claim. A claim which was previously canceled may be reinstated only by adding the claim as a “new” claim with a new claim number.
Claim Objections
Claims 5 and 6 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because multiple dependent claims 5 and 6 cannot depend from any other multiple dependent claim. See MPEP § 608.01(n). Accordingly, the claims have not been further treated on the merits.
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 1-4 and 7 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, “subtracting a remaining amount of agricultural material mixture” (line 10) is unclear since it is not indicated from where the remaining amount of agricultural material mixture subtracted. Examiner interprets the limitation to read – subtracting a remaining amount of agricultural material mixture in the storage tank from the amount of material to be applied to the unapplied area – (see paragraph 0034).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1, 2 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cavender-Bares et al. (US 2015/142250) in view of Long et al. (US 2021/0078853).
Regarding claim 1, Cavender-Bares et al. discloses a method comprising:
applying an agricultural material mixture to a field from an agricultural implement as the agricultural implement is driven across the field, wherein the agricultural implement includes a storage tank for storing an initial amount of the agricultural material mixture, wherein there is an initial amount of agricultural material mixture in the storage tank, and wherein the field has an applied area and an unapplied area;
after at least a portion of the agricultural material mixture has been applied to the field, determining a refill amount of agricultural material mixture to be added to the storage tank (increase/decrease the amount of … fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, seed, water, or combination thereof to be used, paragraph 0081, lines 6-11, where increasing/decreasing the amount implies that the amount of material to be added is continuously adjusted after the initial agricultural material has been applied), wherein the refill amount is determined by determining an amount needed to be applied to the unapplied area (the anticipated quantities can be computed using a variety of inputs, including the field layout, topography, soil condition, and anticipated weather conditions, and other conditions that may increase or decrease the amount of … fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, seed, water, or combination thereof to be used, paragraph 0081, lines 6-11, where increasing/decreasing the amount implies that the amount of material to be added is continuously adjusted to apply to unapplied areas),
determining a refill amount of each material in the agricultural material mixture from a formula for the agricultural material mixture and the refill amount of agricultural material mixture (the anticipated quantities can be computed using a variety of inputs, including the field layout, topography, soil condition, and anticipated weather conditions, and other conditions that may increase or decrease the amount of fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, seed, water, or combination thereof to be used, paragraph 0081, lines 6-11),
refilling the storage tank with the refill amount of each material in the agricultural material mixture (the anticipated quantities to be used can be computed using a variety of inputs, including the field layout, topography, soil condition, and anticipated weather conditions, and other conditions that may increase or decrease the amount of fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, seed, water, or combination thereof to be used, paragraph 0081, lines 6-11).
Cavender-Bares et al. does not disclose subtracting a remaining amount of agricultural material mixture in-the storage tank.
Long et al. discloses subtracting a remaining amount of agricultural material mixture in-the storage tank (determine a refill amount of product from the current amount and the projected amount, paragraph 0001, lines 7-8, where the refill amount is the difference between the projected amount and the current amount).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide Cavender-Bares et al. with subtracting a remaining amount of agricultural material mixture in-the storage tank as disclosed by Long et al. for the purpose of determining a refill amount of the agricultural material mixture.
Regarding claim 2, Cavender-Bares et al. discloses determining an amount of material application to the field (amount of fertilizer, agriculture chemicals, seed, water, paragraph 0081, lines 10-11).
Regarding claim 7, Cavender-Bares et al. discloses the agricultural material mixture comprises water (paragraph 0081, line 11), a first input chemical material (agricultural chemicals, paragraph 0081, lines 10-11) and a second input chemical material (agricultural chemicals, paragraph 0081, lines 10-11).
,
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cavender-Bares et al. in view of Long et al. as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of Klubertanz et al. (US 2019/0294150).
Regarding claim 3, Cavender-Bares et al. as modified by Long et al. discloses the claim limitations as discussed above except the determining the amount of material application is measured by flow meters.
Klubertanz et al. discloses determining the amount of material application is measured by flow meters (paragraph 0032, lines 8-21).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide Cavender-Bares et al. as modified with flow meters as disclosed by Klubertanz et al. for the purpose of determining determining the amount of material application.
.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cavender-Bares et al. in view of Long et al. as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of Wilger (US 2019/0029170).
Regarding claim 4, Cavender-Bares et al. as modified by Long et al. discloses the claim limitations as discussed above except the determining the amount of material application is calculated by multiplying a time of applying by a flow rate of application.
Wilger discloses a flow rate sensor for determining flow rates of liquid fertilizer (paragraph 0018). Flow rate is defined as amount of material application (volume/mass of fluid) per unit of time (see definition of flow rate). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to determine the amount of material application by multiplying a time of applying by a flow rate of application.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide Cavender-Bares et al. as modified with flow rates measured by flow rate sensors as disclosed by Wilger for the purpose of determining the amount of material application \given the time of application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on July 31, 2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant’s arguments and amendments with respect to the objection to the abstract have been considered and are persuasive. The objection to the abstract has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and arguments with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 112(a) have been fully considered. The rejections under 35 USC 112(a) have been withdrawn.
With respect to the rejections under 35 USC 103, Applicants argue “Cavender-Bares describes a "pre-calculated payload" intended to complete an in-season management task and mitigate repeated travel to a refilling station. That disclosure is materially different from the amended claim, which requires a post-application calculation based on the unapplied area and the remaining amount actually in the storage tank after at least a portion of the mixture has already been applied.” Examiner’s position is that Cavender-Bares discloses the anticipated quantities can be computed using a variety of inputs, including the field layout, topography, soil condition, and anticipated weather conditions, and other conditions that may increase or decrease the amount of … fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, seed, water, or combination thereof to be used, paragraph 0081, lines 6-11. Increasing/decreasing the amount implies that the amount of material to be added is continuously adjusted to apply to unapplied areas. Thus, Cavender-Bares teaches the refill amount is determined by determining an amount needed to be applied to the unapplied area.
Applicants further argue “even if Cavender-Bares and Long were combined, such a combination would lack the limitations "after at least a portion of the agricultural material mixture has been applied to the field, determining a refill amount of agricultural material mixture to be added to the storage tank, wherein the refill amount is determined by determining an amount needed to be applied to the unapplied area and subtracting a remaining amount of agricultural material mixture in-the storage tank”.
Examiner’s position is that, as discussed above, Cavender-Bares discloses increase/decrease the amount of … fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, seed, water, or combination thereof to be used, paragraph 0081, lines 6-11). Increasing/decreasing the amount implies that the amount of material to be added is continuously adjusted after the initial agricultural material has been applied. Thus, Cavender-Bares teaches after at least a portion of the agricultural material mixture has been applied to the field, determining a refill amount of agricultural material mixture to be added to the storage tank, wherein the refill amount is determined by determining an amount needed to be applied to the unapplied area.
Cavender-Bares further discloses determining a refill amount of each material in the agricultural material mixture from a formula for the agricultural material mixture and the refill amount of agricultural material mixture (the anticipated quantities can be computed using a variety of inputs, including the field layout, topography, soil condition, and anticipated weather conditions, and other conditions that may increase or decrease the amount of fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, seed, water, or combination thereof to be used, paragraph 0081, lines 6-11),
refilling the storage tank with the refill amount of each material in the agricultural material mixture (the anticipated quantities to be used can be computed using a variety of inputs, including the field layout, topography, soil condition, and anticipated weather conditions, and other conditions that may increase or decrease the amount of fertilizer, agricultural chemicals, seed, water, or combination thereof to be used, paragraph 0081, lines 6-11).
Applicants further argue “dependent claims 2 and 5-7 are patentable for at least the same reasons by virtue of their dependence from amended claim 1.”
Regarding claims 2 and 7, please see the grounds of rejection discussed above.
Claims 5 and 6 are improper multiple dependent claims and have not been further treated on the merits (see discussions above).
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 3 and 4 have been considered but are traversed in view of the grounds of rejection discussed above.
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Nghiem whose telephone number is (571) 272-2277. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Schechter can be reached at (571) 272-2302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/MICHAEL P NGHIEM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857 August 27, 2026
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