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 Group I, CLAIMS 16-29, in the reply filed on 09 March 2026 is acknowledged.
Group II, CLAIM 30, is herein withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
In compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a), the inventorship must be corrected upon the cancellation of any claims drawn to a non-elected invention if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by (i) an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name, and (ii) the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
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.
The drawings are objected to for the following reasons.
Figures 7 and 8 include solid black shaded areas, which are not permitted. See 37 C.F.R. 1.84(m).
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.
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(S) 25 and 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Maisch (US 5,493,977 A).
CLAIM 25 Maisch ‘977 (“Maisch”) shows a seed insertion device for placing seeds inside a growth substrate, wherein the seed insertion device comprises:
a tip (30) arranged to penetrate the growth substrate and to form a growth pocket inside the growth substrate;
a feed channel (72) into which the seeds are fed for feeding to the growth substrate, the feed channel having a feed head (18) adapted to be arranged inside the growth substrate such that the seeds are fed through the feed head to the growth pocket; and
an aperture (at 70; Fig. 8) provided at the feed head through which the seeds are fed from the feed channel (72) into the growth pocket of the growth substrate; and
CLAIM 26 wherein an insertion tube (66) forms the feed channel having the feed head (18), and the tip (30) is provided at the feed head of the feed channel such that the aperture (at 70) extends through the feed head at the tip.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
CLAIM(S) 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maisch (US 5,493,977 A) in view of Nagy-Szakaly (US 4,843,982 A).
CLAIM 28 In the seed insertion device of Maisch, the tip (30) is provided at the feed head (18) of the feed channel such that the aperture (at 70, Fig. 8) extends through the feed head at the tip.
Maisch fails to teach a spreading insert. Nagy-Szakaly ‘982 (“Nagy-Szakaly”) shows a seed insertion device comprising a spreading insert (46) that forms part of a feed channel (Figs. 15 and 16). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the feed head (Maisch, 18) of the prior art seed insertion device such that it would have comprised a spreading insert (Nagy-Szakaly, 46). The motivation for making the modification would have been to include means for enlarging the diameter of the growth pocket, and to have done so with a reasonable expectation of success.
CLAIM(S) 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maisch (US 5,493,977 A) in view of Fish, Jr. (US 2,065,678 A).
CLAIM 29 The seed insertion device of Maisch further comprises a seed tube (88) connected to the feed channel (72).
Maisch fails to teach a pressurized air source. Fish, Jr. ‘678 (“Fish”) discloses an insertion device useful for placing solid fertilizer particles in a substrate, wherein the device comprises a tube connected to a pressurized air source such that the tube is arranged to supply pressurized air together with solid particles (p.2, col. 1, ll. 35-47). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the seed tube (Maisch, 88) such that it would have been connected to a pressurized air source, as suggested by Fish. The motivation for making the modification would have been to have induced consistent seed flow, and to have done so with a reasonable expectation of success.
CLAIM(S) 16-19 and 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maisch (US 5,493,977 A) in view of Chiu et al. (EP 3036989 A1).
CLAIMS 16, 22 All of the method steps recited therein are inherent to use of the seed insertion device of Maisch, as applied above to CLAIM 26, with the exception of the step of closing the growth pocket by elastic force. Chiu et al. ‘989 (“Chiu”) discloses an elastic growth substrate (100) useful for cultivating plants. It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have use the seed insertion device of Maisch with the elastic growth substrate of Chiu. The motivation for making the modification would have been to have provided for germination of the seeds indoors, and to have done so with a reasonable expectation of success.
CLAIM 17 All of the method steps recited therein are taught by the combination of Maisch and Chiu.
CLAIM 18 All of the method steps recited therein are taught by the combination of Maisch and Chiu.
CLAIM 19 All of the method steps recited therein are taught by the combination of Maisch and Chiu. Additionally, Maisch teaches a pushing core (52) provided inside the insertion tube (66).
CLAIM 21 All of the method steps recited therein are taught by the combination of Maisch and Chiu.
CLAIM 23 All of the method steps recited therein are taught by the combination of Maisch and Chiu, with the exception of applying a pressing force. However, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the prior art method with the additional step of applying a pressing force to the growth substrate, since the examiner takes Official Notice of the practice, both manually and mechanically, for covering seeds positioned in a pocket. The motivation for making the modification would have been to have assisted the elastic force.
CLAIM(S) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maisch (US 5,493,977 A) in view of Chiu et al. (EP 3,036,989 A1), as applied to CLAIM 17 above, and further in view of Nagy-Szakaly (US 4,843,982 A).
CLAIM 20 The combination of Maisch and Chiu fails to teach a spreading insert. Nagy-Szakaly ‘982 (“Nagy-Szakaly”) shows a seed insertion device comprising a spreading insert (46) that forms part of a feed channel (Figs. 15 and 16). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the feed head (Maisch, 18) of the prior art seed insertion device such that it would have comprised a spreading insert (Nagy-Szakaly, 46). The motivation for making the modification would have been to include means for enlarging the diameter of the growth pocket, and to have done so with a reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
CLAIMS 24 and 27 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
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
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09 May 2026
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