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 .
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 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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Van Der Lely (US Patent No. 3,931,859).
In reference to claim 8, Van Der Lely discloses a harvester (Fig. 7) for broccoli (col. 8, lines 37-43) which is movable along a plant row of broccoli, the broccoli comprising a stem rising up from the ground and a head on top of the stem, the harvester comprising:
a first wheel 12 and a second wheel 12 (Fig. 9), which wheels 12 are cooperating and are generally horizontally oriented with reference to the ground from which the broccoli is standing up and from which the broccoli is to be harvested (Fig. 1),
wherein the first and second wheels 12 are each rotatable around a vertical axis (Fig. 7), and the first and second wheels define a path for the stems of the broccoli to pass through at least in part (Fig. 7),
wherein the first and second wheels 12 are arranged on different altitudes (Fig. 8 and 9) with reference to the ground so that the first and second wheels 12 partly overlap (Figs. 8 and 9), and that each of the first and second wheels 12 comprises fingers 13 protruding away from the vertical axis of the wheels 12 so that the fingers 13 of the first wheel 12 that during rotation of the first wheel 12 point towards the second wheel 12 and the fingers of the second wheel 12 that during rotation of the second wheel 12 point towards the first wheel 12 completely cross the path defined by the first and second wheels 12 so as to provide a restriction for the stems of the broccoli at least partially passing the path (Fig. 9),
wherein the respective fingers 13 of the first and second wheels 12 are arcuate shaped such that the fingers 13 are bent and have their pointy extremity 14 which is pointing away from the vertical axis directed forwards and leading in the respective directions of rotation of the first and second wheels 12 (Fig. 9).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments to claim 1 have overcome the previous rejection.
Applicant has not provided any arguments against the rejection to claim 8.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 BRAD HARCOURT whose telephone number is (571)272-7303. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Doug Hutton can be reached at (571)272-4137. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRAD HARCOURT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674
1/27/26