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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/6/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regard to the allegation that the Mie reference’s “sheet or paper lining that encloses the growth medium and intentionally prevents plant emergence through the side faces.” The examiner would like to highlight Mie, column 9-10 lines 51-60 & column 15 lines 1-4, which clearly teaches that the carrying device’s envelope or wrapper can be made from a material that decomposes in a short amount of time. A person of ordinary skill in the art would consider this advantageous if the planting orientation was immaterial i.e. the rod could be lazily placed in/on the ground at whatever angle, thus reducing the time required in the planting step. Mie is being relied upon for all it contains. See MPEP 2123 I.-II. As such the examiner is maintaining the rejection utilizing the Mie reference.
With regard to the argument that “the claimed process and system are configured such that… [the] sheet covered side faces are used for seeding and lateral plant emergence… represents a functional departure from Mielke’s teaching.” The steps recited in this argument are not claimed to take place through the sheet, the claim set’s broadest reasonable interpretation is much greater than what is being represented within this argument. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
With regard to the allegation that “Wolfe does not teach or suggest seeding sheet-covered side faces for lateral emergence, nor does it contemplate elongated rods or bands intended to rest on a side face in a hydroponic reservoir.” The feature upon which applicant relies (i.e., the seedling sheet-covered side faces [being] for lateral emergence) is not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). In response to applicant's arguments against the Wolf reference individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references (See the Smith reference). See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). The examiner would like to note that although not explicitly taught the Wolf and Mie references both separately and in combination teach a sheet-covered plant growth medium rod suitable to be planted in a plurality of orientations, there is no teaching in either reference that would preclude one of ordinary skill from forming growth medium rods that function with a plurality receptacle types, for example Smith.
With regard to the arguments that “Placing a Mielke or Wolf plant pot horizontally would not result in a workable hydroponic growth medium,” the examiner has addressed these arguments in the above sections, the sheet does not obstruct plant emergence.
With regard to the argument’s pertaining to the teachings of the Smith reference and specifically the embodiments of fig. 12, 14, 16-21, 23-24, & 26-27. The embodiment utilized within the rejection pertains to that shown in fig. 7-9 & 31 which indeed shows a horizontally oriented plant plug within a hydroponic arrangement, it is not clear how the details of fig. 12, 14, 16-21, 23-24, & 26-27 pertain to the rejection set forth.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wolfe et al., U.S. Patent No. 4,403,446 A; herein Wolf in view of Mielke, U.S. Patent No. 4,780,988 A, herein Mie and Smith et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0213734 A1; herein Smith.
Re claim 1, Wolf discloses a process for line producing seed filled plant growth medium rods, comprising the steps of:
producing a continuous length (31; the endless rope, fig. 2A) of growth medium (10; the hydroponic growth medium, fig. 1 & 3A-C) with a first side face (fig. 1 & 3A-C, the top as seen in the fig. 1 and a side wall [51] in fig. 3A-C), a second side face located opposite to said first side face (fig. 1 & 3A-C, the bottom as seen in the fig. 1 and the wall opposite the side wall [51] in fig. 3A-C), and a first end face (37; the one end surface, fig. 3A-4C), wherein the first and second face of the continuous length of growth medium are covered by a sheet material (col 3-4; 51-22, wherein the outermost layer of fibers or the shell forms a sheet about the interior fibers or a literal sheet of woven fabric is used);
placing one seed (36; the seed, fig. 3A) along the length of said first and second side face (fig. 3A);
separating a part of the continuous length of growth medium (col 7; 3-13, the endless rod is separated into elements of a length, best seen in fig. 1, 3A, & 4A)
repeating the steps ii) and iii) one or more times (col 7; 3-47 & col 8; 9-37, the endless rope is cut into sections which are applied to a pan for holding the element for the growth of an equal number of seeds/plants);
providing an elongated hydroponic reservoir (46; the pan, fig. 3A-C) with one or more spaces each adapted for receiving a seed filled plant growth medium rod (fig. 3A-C); and
positioning said plant growth medium rod(s) within said space within said elongated hydroponic reservoir (fig. 3A-C, for the growth and emersion of nutrients).
Wolf fails to disclose placing one or more seeds on or within said first and/or second side face(s) at multiple sites and at a predefined distance therebetween along the length of said first and/or second side face(s), separating a part of the continuous length of growth medium comprising one or more seeds to form a seed filled plant growth medium rod, positioning said plant growth medium rod(s) to lie horizontally on a side face within said elongated hydroponic reservoir, and wherein a length of the formed growth medium rod is within a range of 0.5-20 meters. However, Mie discloses the steps of:
i) producing a continuous length of growth medium (62; the stream of fibers, fig. 2-4) with a first side face (fig. 2-4, the side facing the up), a second side face located opposite to said first side face (fig. 2-4, the bottom side facing the conveyor), and a first end face (fig. 2-4 and col 16-17; 66-2, the leading end of the rod before cutoff);
ii) placing seeds (4; the seeds, fig. 1 & 3-4) on said first and within said second side face (fig. 1 & 3-4, the seed is placed on the upper face of the stream and ends between each side face thus being within the fibers) at multiple sites and at a predefined distance therebetween along the length of said first and second side faces (col 10; 49-57, the seeds are each deposited along the stream at uniformly spaced increments);
iii) separating a part of the continuous length of growth medium comprising one or more seeds (col 15; 36-50 & col 16-17; 66-16, the cutoff severs the leading end of the rod carrying devices) to form a seed filled plant growth medium rod (fig. 1 and col 15; 36-50, each rod carrying device has a seed in between each of the surface walls); and
iv) repeating the steps ii) and iii) one or more times (abstract and col 15; 36-50 & col 16-17; 66-16, the conveyor forms a plurality of carrying devices).
The only distinction between the prior art and the claimed invention is that the prior art fails to disclose placing one or more seeds on or within said first and/or second side face(s) at multiple sites and at a predefined distance therebetween along the length of said first and/or second side face(s), separating a part of the continuous length of growth medium comprising one or more seeds to form a seed filled plant growth medium rod, positioning said plant growth medium rod(s) to lie horizontally on a side face within said elongated hydroponic reservoir, and wherein a length of the formed growth medium rod is within a range of 0.5-20 meters however, Mie discloses such placement and separation steps. Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the steps forming the continuous length by utilizing a simple substitution of the known seed placement after separation taught by the prior art for the seed deposition prior to separation from Mie in order to obtain the predictable result of a more streamlined product for farming, thus reducing the amount of time needed to begin germination. See MPEP 2143 I. (B).
The combination of Wolf and Mie discloses the claimed invention except for positioning said plant growth medium rod(s) to lie horizontally on a side face within said elongated hydroponic reservoir and a length of the formed growth medium rod is within a range of 0.5-20 meters. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to utilize whatever length of grow medium is desirable including longer carrying devices for crops with deeper root systems such as vine plants and larger fruits/vegetables and crops, since it has been held that that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable supports a case of obviousness when the general conditions of the claim are met by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 II. A.
The modification of Wolf and Mie fails to disclose for positioning said plant growth medium rod(s) to lie horizontally on a side face within said elongated hydroponic reservoir. However, Smith discloses positioning a plant growth medium rod (fig. 7-9 & 31, as seen within each plant container; 703) within a space (703; the plant container, fig. 7-9 & 31) such that said plant growth medium rods lie horizontally on a side face (fig. 7-9 & 31, as seen within each plant container; 703) within an elongated hydroponic reservoir (3109; the collection reservoir, fig. 31).
The only distinction between the prior art and the claimed invention is that the prior art fails to disclose positioning said plant growth medium rod(s) to lie horizontally on a side face within said elongated hydroponic reservoir however, Smith discloses such positioning. Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the reservoir and positioning by utilizing a simple substitution of the known hydroponic system as taught by the prior art for the vertical display with horizontal medium rods from Smith in order to obtain the predictable result of growing plants hydroponically. See MPEP 2143 I. (B).
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mie in view of Smith.
Re claim 7, Mie discloses system for use in a process of producing a seed filled plant growth medium rod, comprising:
- an apparatus (fig. 2- 4) adapted for producing a continuous length of growth medium (20; the continuous rod, fig. 4)/(62; the stream of fibers, fig. 2-4) with a first side face (fig. 1, the top side of the rod section), a second side face located opposite to said first side face (fig. 1, a bottom portion of the rod section adjacent the conveyor), and a first end face (fig. 2-4 and col 16-17; 66-2, the leading end of the rod before cutoff), wherein the first and second face of the continuous length of growth medium are covered by a sheet material (2/2a; the continuous web/envelopes of wrapping material, fig. 1 & 4);
- a seed delivery unit (16; the seed supplying means, fig. 3-4) adapted for placing, one or more seeds on said first and within second side faces at multiple sites and at a predefined distance therebetween along the length of said first and second side faces (fig. 1 and col 10; 49-57, the seeds are each deposited along the stream at uniformly spaced increments); and
- an apparatus adapted for separating (28; the cutoff, fig. 4a) a part of the continuous length of growth medium comprising one or more seeds (col 15; 36-50 & col 16-17; 66-16, the cutoff severs the leading end of the rod carrying devices), thereby forming a seed filled plant growth medium rod (fig. 1 and col 15; 36-50, each rod carrying device has a seed in between each of the surface walls).
Mie discloses the claimed invention except for said seed filled plant growth medium rod adapted to be positioned horizontally on a side face within an elongated hydroponic reservoir and a length of the formed growth medium rod being within a range of 0.5-20 meters. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to utilize whatever length of grow medium is desirable including longer carrying devices for crops with deeper root systems such as vine plants and larger fruits/vegetables, since it has been held that that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable supports a case of obviousness when the general conditions of the claim are met by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 II. A.
The modification of Mie fails to disclose said seed filled plant growth medium rod adapted to be positioned horizontally on a side face within an elongated hydroponic reservoir. However, Smith discloses a plant growth medium rod (fig. 7-9 & 31, as seen within each plant container; 703) adapted to be positioned horizontally on a side face (fig. 7-9 & 31, as seen within each plant container; 703) within an elongated hydroponic reservoir (3109; the collection reservoir, fig. 31).
The only distinction between the prior art and the claimed invention is that the prior art fails to disclose said seed filled plant growth medium rod adapted to be positioned horizontally on a side face within an elongated hydroponic reservoir however, Smith discloses such a technique. Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the prior art elements of the hydroponic system as taught by Smith to the system of the prior art to yield the predictable result of hydroponically growing crops. See MPEP 2143 I. (A).
Re claim 8, the modification of Mie and Smith discloses the invention of claim 7, Mie further discloses an indentation unit (16; the seed supplying means, fig. 3-4), wherein the indentation unit is adapted for indenting one or more cavities (col 10; 49-65, the seeds form indentations in the stream at a plurality of uniformly spaced locations) within said first and second side face (fig. 1 and col 10; 49-57 & col 15; 36-50, the seeds are each deposited along the stream at uniformly spaced increments).
Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mie in view of Smith as applied to claim 7 above, in view of Wolf.
Re claim 13, the modification of Mie and Smith discloses the invention of claim 7, Mie further discloses a distributor unit (29; the means for manipulating, fig. 4a) adapted for positioning said seed filled plant growth medium rod (col 17; 17-44, downstream of the cutoff the carrying devices are transferred into flutes) into a container (74; the registering flutes, fig. 4a)
Mie fails to disclose the reservoir being an elongated hydroponic reservoir. However, Wolf discloses a distributor unit (46; the pan, fig. 3A-C) adapted for positioning said seed filled plant growth medium rod into an elongated hydroponic reservoir (col 7-8; 52-8, the shell and clips support the growth medium within the pan for receiving nutrients).
The only distinction between the prior art and the claimed invention is that the prior art fails to disclose a distributor unit adapted for positioning said seed filled plant growth medium rod into an elongated hydroponic reservoir however, Wolf discloses such a growing method. Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the known technique of utilizing a rod of growing material to grow crops hydroponically as taught by Wolf to improve the similar device disclosed by the prior art in the same way by growing crops. See MPEP 2143 I. (C).
Re claim 14, the modification of Mie, Smith, and Wolf discloses the invention of claim 13, Wolf further discloses a conveyor system adapted for transporting an elongated hydroponic reservoir through said distributor unit (col 7; 29-33, the shell and clips support the growth medium’s conveyance within the pan).
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 NICOLE P MACCRATE whose telephone number is (571)272-5215. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 9am-5pm EST.
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/NICOLE PAIGE MACCRATE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3642
/JOSHUA J MICHENER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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