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 without traverse of invention II, claims 7-13, in the reply filed on 4-13-2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rich (USPN 5517809) in view of Beal (USPN 7712751) and in view of Bartel (US 2018/0037183) .
Regarding claim 7, Rich discloses an outdoor power equipment, comprising: a frame (14); a plurality of drive wheels (18) rotatable about a drive wheel rotation axis; an operator seat (20) secured to the frame; drive controls (seen in figure 1 in front of seat 20) for operator-initiated drive and steering functions of the outdoor power equipment; wherein the drive controls comprise left drive controls and right drive controls (Figure 3 shows left and right controls for a typical zero turn lawn mower, columns 10-11 lines 63-67 and 1-15), wherein the left drive controls and the right drive controls are both movable between an associated sitting configuration and an associated standing configuration of the outdoor power equipment (As seen in figures 1 and 2).
The mower of Rich is lacking roll over protection (ROP).
Bartel discloses a riding lawnmower and teaches the use of a ROP bar (100) attached to a frame (192) of the mower.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Rich by attaching a ROP bar to the frame of the mower as taught by Bartel for the purpose of adding a ROP safety feature to the mower during riding operation.
The mower of Rich is usable between a riding mode and a walking mode to allow the operator to mow where vertical clearance is limited (Column 1 lines 33-40). Rich is lacking the use of a standing platform rearward of the mower.
Beal discloses a mower and teaches the use of a standing platform (figure 1) that may be attached to the rear of the mower.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Rich by attaching a standing platform to the rear end of the frame of the mower as taught by Beal for the purpose of allowing the operator to ride during operation behind the mower while still allowing the operator to avoid fatigue during operation.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wynn (USPN 11297766).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM J BEHRENS whose telephone number is (303)297-4336. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-2pm MST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph M. Rocca can be reached at (571) 272-8971. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ADAM J BEHRENS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
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