DETAILED ACTION
This is the third Office Action regarding application number 18/383,484, filed on 10/25/2023, which claims priority to provisional application number 63/419,410, filed on 10/26/2022. PCT/IB2023/060756 is related to this application.
This action is in response to the Applicant’s Response received 02/05/2026.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-3, 5-12, and 14-20 are currently pending.
Claims 4, 13, 21, and 32 are canceled.
Claims 1 and 10 are amended.
Claims 1-3, 5-12, and 14-20 are examined below.
Claims 1-3 and 5-10 are allowed. Claims 11, 20, and 14-20 are rejected.
Response to Arguments
The Applicant’s arguments received 02/05/2026 have been carefully considered and are found sufficient. The applicant did not amend independent claims 11 and 20 to correct the new matter issue identified in the previous office action, as it did with claim 1.
The examiner does not understand the prior art to discuss the optimization of a value function based on maximizing combined revenues from electricity generation and crop growing or selling.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Written Description - New Matter
Claims 11, 12, and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor had possession of the claimed invention.
The limitation “wherein the optimization of the value function is further based on maximizing combined revenues from electricity generation and crop-growing” appears unsupported. The applicant’s disclosure only describes “maximized combined revenues from selling electricity and crops”. The examiner distinguishes the acts of “crop growing” and “crop selling” as two different actions, understood to have two different value functions. The examiner asserts that growing and selling are different concepts, and requests further explanation from the applicant to how “crop-growing” is supported by its disclosure.
Conclusion
Claims 1-3 and 5-10 are allowed. Claims 11, 20, and 14-20 are rejected.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELO TRIVISONNO whose telephone number is (571) 272-5201 or by email at <angelo.trivisonno@uspto.gov>. The examiner can normally be reached on MONDAY-FRIDAY, 9:00a-5:00pm EST. The examiner's supervisor, NIKI BAKHTIARI, can be reached at (571) 272-3433.
/ANGELO TRIVISONNO/
Primary Examiner
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