DETAILED ACTION
Receipt is acknowledged of the amendment filed on June 22, 2026, which has been fully considered in this action. Claim 1 and 6 have been amended and claim 5 canceled. Claims 1-4 and 6-18 remain in the application and an action as to the merits follows.
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 .
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) 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0048055 A1 (Earles et al) in view of US 4,967,960 (Futrell).
As to claim 10, Earles et al ‘055, discloses a skid sprayer system comprising a frame comprising first and second support members 38 the frame being open-style frame defining a first portion and a second portion separated by vertical portion 40 as noted by the dash-line, see marked up Fig. 1C; a tank 20 holding fluid; a hydraulic control system including a pump 28/52/60 and control valve 36; a hose 14 coupled to the tank for dispensing the fluid; an electric motor 30 operably coupled to the hydraulic pump see paragraph [0025]; and a power module comprising a battery 68 electrically coupled to the electric motor; wherein the pump is operably driven by the electric motor; and wherein the pump comprises an input 54 fluidly coupled to the tank 20 and an outlet 56 fluidly coupled to the hose 14 and wherein the tank 20 is arranged in the first portion and at least part of the pump 28 including the pump body 52 and pump piston 60 and the motor 30 are arranged in the second portion, except for a hose reel assembly coupled to the frame and the hose reel being arranged in the second portion. See Figures 1-4A and paragraphs [0021-0061]. Futrell ‘960 discloses a sprayer system 100 with a hose reel assembly 144 coupled to a frame 264 by extending frame 260 and a tank 120 arranged on a first portion of the frame 264 and the hose reel 144 being arranged on the second portion of the frame, see Figure 4. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a hose reel assembly coupled to the frame and the hose reel being arranged in the second portion in the apparatus of Earles et al ‘055, as taught by Futrell ‘960, since with such a modification the hose can be easily stored and maintained on the frame for easy storage.
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As to claim 11, see tank 20 between the first support and the second support 38, see Figures 1A, 1B and 3A in Earles et al ‘055.
As to claim 12, see controller 34, see Earles et al ‘055.
As to claim 13, see housing 22/24/70, see Earles et al ‘055.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0048055 A1 (Earles et al) in view of US 4,967,960 (Futrell) as applied to claims 10, 12 and 13 above, and further in view of US 2015/0165459 A1 (Venard et al)..
Earles et al ‘055, as modified by Futrell ‘960, discloses all the featured elements of the instant invention except for the power module comprising a control interface including a battery charge level indicator, a charging port, and one or more controls. Venard et al ‘459, discloses a skid sprayer system comprising a frame 20; a tank 8 holding fluid; a hydraulic control system including a pump 28 and control valve, see paragraph [0042] and valve regulated pump; a hose 12 coupled to the tank for dispensing the fluid; an electric motor operably coupled to the hydraulic pump see paragraph [0013]; and a power module comprising a battery 52 electrically coupled to the electric motor; wherein the pump is operably driven by the electric motor; and wherein the pump comprises an input fluidly coupled to the tank 8, see paragraph [0048] and input 24, and an outlet 34 fluidly coupled to the hose 12 and a control interface with microcontroller 220 and paragraph [0029] in US 20120226764 A1, which is incorporated by reference in Venard et al ‘459, see paragraph [0040] and a battery charge level indicator, see paragraph [0041], a charging port 18 and one or more controls, see paragraph [0041]. See Figures 1-6 and paragraphs [0008-0050]. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the power module comprise a control interface including a battery charge level indicator, a charging port, and one or more controls in the apparatus of Earles et al ‘055, as modified by Futrell ‘960, as taught by Venard et al ‘459, since with such a modification the battery can be easily recharged and monitored for power level.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 22, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Earles et al ‘055 teaches that the pump 28 is on the same side as the tank 20, therefore, it does not disclose wherein the tank is arranged in the first portion and at least the pump, the motor and the hose reel assembly are arranged in the second portion. As disclosed in paragraph 5 above, the pump 28 is located both in the second portion and the first portion wherein the pump body 52, the pump piston 60 and pump motor 30 are arranged in the second portion. The claims do not recite or require that the entire pump be arranged in the second portion and does not preclude the pump being arranged in both the first and second portion.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4 and 6-9 are allowed.
Claims 15-18 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter of claims 1-4 and 6-9: The closest prior art being Brandt ‘763, Venard et al ‘459 and Earles et al ‘055 did not teach or suggest separately or in combination a skid sprayer system as claimed by the applicant, specifically a skid sprayer system as currently amended in independent claim 1, together in combination with the other claimed features of applicant’s invention and in view of applicant’s arguments which are well taken and found to be convincing.
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 STEVEN J GANEY whose telephone number is (571)272-4899. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur Hall can be reached at (571)270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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STEVEN J. GANEY
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/STEVEN J GANEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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