DETAILED ACTIONNotice 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
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on June 11, 2024, January 21, 2025 and September 2, 2025 have been considered by the Examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claim 6 is 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.
Claim 6 includes a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels or a pair of crawler travel devices and then later describes the second power transmission shaft that transmits power to the front wheels.
As written, the work vehicle wheels have a pair of front wheels whether regardless of the vehicle having left and right crawler travel devices. Further, what happens if the work vehicle includes the pair of crawler travel devices and not the front and rear wheels?
Please clarify.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsuchida et al. (EP 4019809).
Tsuchida discloses and shows a work vehicle, comprising:
a motive power source (1);
at least one travel device (6, 7); and
a first power transmission shaft (17) and a second power transmission shaft (74) to transmit motive power from the motive power source to the at least one travel device;
a transmission case (3) containing the first power transmission shaft and the second power transmission shaft and configured to store lubricating oil (Fig. 5, Fig. 7, item S), the second power transmission shaft being below the first power transmission shaft (Figs. 2 and 4);
a first power transmission gear (70) located in the transmission case and attached to the first power transmission shaft;
a second power transmission gear (72) located in the transmission case, attached to an end of the second power transmission shaft, and meshing with the first power transmission gear at a meshing portion;
a first cover (75a) covering a portion of the second power transmission gear on a first side opposite to a second side toward which the second power transmission shaft protrudes, and covering the end of the second power transmission shaft; and
a second cover (Fig. 5, 75) covering a radially outward portion of the second power transmission gear except for the meshing portion.
Cl. 2 – the work vehicle further comprises a first bearing (Fig. 4, item 77) located on the first cover and holding the second power transmission shaft such that the second power transmission shaft is rotatable.
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.
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuchida, as applied to claim 1, in view of Zhang et al. (CN 113154019).
Tsuchida discloses and shows the work vehicle of claim 1 as described elsewhere above. Tsuchida does not specify an intake section within the case. Zhang discloses and shows a vehicle transmission having an intake section (Fig. A, below) located in the transmission case and on a first side of the first cover and configured to take in the lubricating oil and supply the lubricating oil to a hydraulic pump (60), the transmission arrangement ensures good lubrication and improves transmission efficiency (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Tsuchida work vehicle to include an intake section in the transmission case and on a first side of the first cover and configured to take in the lubricating oil and supply the lubricating oil to a hydraulic pump to ensure good lubrication and improve transmission efficiency as offered by Zhang.
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Cl. 8 – the intake section is below respective lower ends of the first cover and the second cover (Zhang, see Fig. A).
Cl. 9 – Zhang further comprises a downwardly extending depression (Figs. 1-2) in a bottom portion of the transmission case; wherein the intake section is in the depression.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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 6 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the prior art lacks a third covering as claimed. The above reference to Tsuchida, the most closely related reference, includes two (2) covering portions to support the first and second power transmission shafts, the second power transmission shaft terminating at the both cover portions.
Regarding claim 6, the prior art, to include Tsuchida, does not include the structural features of the claimed differential drive shaft and front-wheel power transmission shaft.
It would not have been obvious to arrange the first and second power transmission shafts from Tsuchida to act as a differential drive shaft and front-wheel power transmission shaft, respectively, without destroying an advantageous property, see Eisai Co. Ltd. v. Dr. Reddy’s Labs., Ltd., 533 F.3d 1353, 87 USPQ2d 1452, MPEP 2143(I)(B)) and without improper hindsight and the use of the Applicant’s specification as a blueprint for rejection purposes.
Conclusion
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/BOBBY RUSHING, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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