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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 are allowed.
Claims 10-11, 13-16 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.
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:
1. 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) 9, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Wolf et al. US 2020/0248413 in view of Johanpeter US 6,273,636. Wolf et al. discloses an aggregate spreader (10) comprising:
A hopper (18) having four walls, an open top and bottom.
A conveyor assembly (20) disposed in a cavity below the open bottom (38) of the hopper (18). Wherein the conveyor can be a belt, an auger, chains, etc. [0030-35].
A pair of screed assemblies (22) having a vertical attachment plate and a foldable plate (40) extending below the attachment plate. See Figs. 1-6.
What Wolf et al. does not disclose are cross slope jacks for forming inclined or crowned surfaces. However, Johanpeter teaches it is known to provide laterally extending screed plates (15) with manual adjustment slope/cross slope actuators (70) configured to raise and lower the front/back/left/right sides of the screed plate (15) relative to an attachment plate (66). See Figs. 2-4; Col. 3. ln. 23-Col. 5, ln. 8, ln. 50. 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 aggregate spreader of Wolf et al. with slope/cross slope actuators as taught by Johanpeter in order to form berms or ditches.
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND W ADDIE whose telephone number is (571)272-6986. The examiner can normally be reached on 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 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 8/4/2026
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