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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
In the information disclosure statement filed 04 April 2024, foreign patent citation no. 6 (EP 3951067 A1) has been considered to the extent of the information presented in the attached search report, which is the only part that can be understood.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to for the following reason(s).
Every line shown in Figures 3a and 3b is not sufficiently dense, dark and well-defined to permit adequate reproduction. See 37 1.84(l).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because:
it well exceeds the 150-word limit;
it refers to purported merits and/or speculative applications; and
it uses phrases, which can be implied.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 8 and 11-14 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.
In claim 8, the phrase "particularly preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention.
In claim 11, line 1, the phrase “in particular” renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation following the phrase are part of the claimed invention.
In claim 12, it is unclear how the one or more bolts of the second connecting elements are capable of insertion into the bolt receptacles when the first and second bolts of the retaining device are positioned in the receptacles.
Claim 13 is rejected because it depends from claim 12.
In claim 14, line 1, “Method according to claim 5” renders the claim indefinite because claim 5 is drawn to the excavator bucket and not a method. For the purpose of prosecution on the merits, the examiner has considered the claim to depend from claim 13.
In claim 14 (considered dependent from claim 13), it is unclear how the second connection is established with the bolt receptacles if they are occupied by the first and second bolts.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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(s) 1-7 and 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Weaver (US 10,458,094 B2).
Weaver ‘094 (“Weaver”) discloses an excavator bucket, which can be used both as a front loader bucket and as a backhoe bucket, comprising:
CLAIM 1 a shell (14; cl. 1) delimiting a bucket volume, and a retaining device (30, Figs. 3B, 3F) connected to the shell, via which the excavator bucket can be detachably connected to a quick coupling device of an implement, wherein the retaining device comprises
a first bolt (18, Fig. 2A) for establishing a first connection to the quick coupling device and bolt receptacles (17) arranged in a collinear manner to each other for establishing a second connection to the quick coupling device, wherein the retaining device comprises a second bolt (18, Figs. 2A) by means of which the first connection to the quick coupling device can be established as an alternative to the first bolt, wherein the second bolt is arranged on a side of the bolt receptacles opposite to the first bolt when viewed from above the retaining device, wherein the bolts are arranged such that the second connection can be established via the same bolt receptacles, both when using the first bolt and when using the second bolt;
CLAIM 2 wherein the first bolt (18, Fig. 2A) has the same distance from an imaginary connecting line extending centrally through the bolt receptacles (17) as the second bolt (18, Fig. 2A);
CLAIM 3 wherein the retaining device (30) does not have any further connecting elements besides the two bolts and the bolt receptacles for connection to a quick coupling device1;
CLAIM 4 wherein the retaining device (30) comprises two fastening flanges (32A, 32B) projecting from the shell (14) and extending parallel to each other, in which flanges the bolt receptacles (17) are formed and the two bolts (18) are fastened, wherein the fastening flanges are formed by sheets projecting vertically from the shell;
CLAIM 5 wherein the fastening flanges (32A, 32B) comprise a first portion, which is arranged in the region of an opening of the excavator bucket defined by a front edge of the shell and comprise a second portion, which is arranged in the region of a rounded rear wall of the shell, wherein the first bolt is arranged on the first portions and the second bolt is arranged on the second portions of the fastening flanges;
CLAIM 6 wherein the fastening flanges (32A, 32B) in the first portion run substantially parallel to the shell. and the fastening flanges in the second portion extend in a direction away from the shell and taper;
CLAIM 7 wherein the longitudinal axes of the two bolts (18) and an imaginary connecting line extending centrally through the bolt receptacles (17) do not lie in a common plane;
CLAIM 9 wherein the two bolts (18) run parallel to each other, wherein the second bolt has a greater distance from the shell than the first bolt (Figs. 3B, 3F);
CLAIM 10 wherein two protective devices (inverted V-shaped member, Fig. 3F) for mechanical protection of an energy circuit coupling half of the quick coupling device are arranged on the retaining device or on the shell in the region of the retaining device, wherein the protective devices have a flat protective side facing away from the shell and the protective sides of the two protective devices assume an angle to one another;
CLAIM 11 an implement having an excavator bucket (14, cl. 1), wherein the implement comprises a boom (cl. 1), on the end of which a quick coupling device is arranged for mounting the excavator bucket.
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) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weaver (US 10,458,094 B2).
CLAIM 8 Weaver teaches all of the features of the claimed invention with the exception of the acute angle between the second bolt and the shell. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have made acute angle between the second bolt (18) and the shell (14) between 20° and 40°, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. In this instance, one of ordinary skill would have recognized that the value of the acute angle varies the tilt of the bucket relative to the vertical boom.
Claim(s) 12 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weaver (US 10,458,094 B2) in view of Friedrich (US 2014/0373401 A1).
CLAIM 12 Weaver fails to teach the quick coupling device. Friedrich ‘401 (“Friedrich”) shows a quick coupling device, which comprises first connecting elements (6, 7) for establishing a first connection optionally to first or second bolts (13, 14) of the excavator bucket (4), and further comprises second connecting elements (10, 11) for establishing a second connection to the bolt receptacles of the excavator bucket, wherein the first connecting elements (6, 7) comprise open bolt receptacles. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have included first and second connecting elements on the quick coupling device of the prior art excavator, as suggested by Friedrich. The motivation for making the modification would have been to include structure readily connectable to and removable from the retaining device, and to have done so with a reasonable expectation of success.
CLAIM 13 The method steps recited therein are inherent to assembly of the excavator apparatus taught by the combination of Weaver and Friedrich, as applied above to claim 12.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kelly (US 3,130,843 A) and Collins (US 5,692,852 A) show excavator buckets comprising retaining devices for attachment to a boom.
Crane et al. (US 6,662,681 B2) shows a retaining dive comprising first and second bolts, and first and second receptacles.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TARA MAYO whose telephone number is (571)272-6992. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:30AM-5:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph 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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/TARA MAYO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
/tm/
12 December 2025
1 In Fig. 3A, Weaver shows bearings 19 adjacent the receptacles but discloses the same as optional, “can further comprise bushings 19” in col. 3, ll 37-8.