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. 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 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. Claim(s) 1 , 2, 4, 5 , 17, 18 , 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by White et al. US 2019/0238083 . White et al. disclose a compacting machine (100) comprising: An upper mass (105/109/110) including an electric motor (104) and a multi-battery receiver (109) configured to receive 1 st and 2 nd batteries (106A, 106B) and a control box (120). A lower mass including a compacting plate. Fig. 1C. Wherein the control box (120) houses control electronics (160) configured to control power supply from the batteries to the electric motor. [00 37-0042]. With respect to claims 2, 4 , 18 see Figs. 1B, 1C. With respect to claim s 5, 17 , 28 White et al. disclose the electric motor (104) is configured for continuous operation during removal or insertion of one battery (106A/B) while the other battery (106B/A) is received in the battery housing (109) and has sufficient charge. [0041-0042] 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 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim (s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over White et al. US 2019/0238083 in view of MacLellan US 6,409,426 . White et al. disclose a compacting machine (100) comprising: An upper mass (105/109/110) including an electric motor (104) and a multi-battery receiver (109) configured to receive 1 st and 2 nd batteries (106A, 106B); a control box (120). A lower mass including a compacting plate. Fig. 1C. Wherein the control box (120) houses control electronics (160) configured to control power supply from the batteries to the electric motor. [0037-0042]. What White et al. do not disclose is arranging the motor axle (114) parallel to a 1 st plane that includes a mass center of the electric motor and the geometric centers of the 2 & 2 nd battery compartments are separated by said plane. However, it would have been a matter of design choice as to how to orient the electric motor based on the manner in which power is transferred to the vibration generator . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to orient the electric motor of White et al. as set forth in claim 3, in order to accommodate different power takeoff assemblies. Claim (s) 3 , 6 -8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over White et al. US 2019/0238083 in view of MacLellan US 6,409,426 . White et al. disclose a compacting machine (100) comprising: An upper mass (105/109/110) including an electric motor (104) and a n integrally formed multi-battery receiver (109) configured to receive 1st and 2nd batteries (106A, 106B); a control box (120). A lower mass including a compacting plate. Fig. 1C. Wherein the electric motor is at least partly enclosed by the battery housing (109) , Fig. 1B [0037-0042]. What White et al. do not disclose is a belt drive . However, MacLellan teaches it is known to power vibratory tamping tools (10) with gas engines or electric motors driving a vibration generator (16) using a belt (96). Vibration isolating elements (86) connect an upper mass (14, 68) to a vibrated lower mass (24) , Figs. 2, 4; Col. 2, ln. 60-Col. 4, ln. 15. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the vibrating compaction plate of White et al. with the belt driven vibration generator/bushing assembly taught by MacLellan in order to facilitate vibration generation and control. Claim(s) 9-11 , 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over White et al. US 2019/0238083 in view of MacLellan US 6,409,426 as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Greer US 4,591,748 . White et al. in view of MacLellan disclose essentially all that is claimed except for battery housing covers. However, Greer teaches a battery powered vibration generator comprising a vibration generation unit (8) including an electric motor (14), and a battery housing unit ( 46 ) comprising a plurality of batteries (50) , removable cover (61) and control panel (62) remotely coupled to the vibration generation unit (8). See Figs. 1-3; Col. 2, ln. 60-68, Col. 3, lns . 38-60. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the vibrating compactor of White et al. in view of MacLellan with the battery cover and remotely coupled control panel as taught by Greer in order to protect the batteries from dust. Claim (s) 12 -14, 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over White et al. US 2019/0238083 in view of Persson US 6,695,685. White et al. disclose a compacting machine (100) comprising: An upper mass (105/109/110) including an electric motor (104) and an integrally formed multi-battery receiver (109) configured to receive 1st and 2nd batteries (106A, 106B); a control box (120). A lower mass including a compacting plate. Fig. 1C. Wherein the electric motor is at least partly enclosed by the battery housing (109), Fig. 1B [0037-0042]. What White et al. do not disclose is a fan. However, Persson teaches it is known to provide vibrating plate compactors (1) with a motor (8)-mounted fan (7) and housing (13), the housing including air ducts (10) and baffle plates (12) configured to suck cool air into the housing as at (10) and exhaust hotter air, as at (15), out of the upper housing portion thereby cooling the interior of the housing. Fig. 1, Cols. 1-2. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the vibrating compaction plate of White et al. with the fan and duct arrangement taught by Persson in order to prevent overheating the electric motor and/or batteries. Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over White et al. US 2019/0238083 in view of Greer US 4,591,748 . White et al. in view of MacLellan disclose essentially all that is claimed except for battery housing covers. However, Greer teaches a battery powered vibration generator comprising a vibration generation unit (8) including an electric motor (14), and a battery housing unit (46) comprising a plurality of batteries (50), removable cover (61) and control panel (62) remotely coupled to the vibration generation unit (8). See Figs. 1-3; Col. 2, ln. 60-68, Col. 3, lns . 38-60. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the vibrating compactor of White et al. with the battery cover and remotely coupled control panel as taught by Greer in order to protect the batteries from dust. Conclusion 10 . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT RAYMOND W ADDIE whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-6986 . The examiner can normally be reached on FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT m-f 7:30-12:30, then 6-9pm . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice . If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chris Sebesta can be reached on FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272- 0547 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you need help from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /RAYMOND W ADDIE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671 3/23/2026