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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1 of the USPTO’s eligibility analysis entails considering whether the claimed subject matter falls within the four statutory categories of patentable subject matter identified by 35 U.S.C. 101: Process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.
Claim 17 is directed to a method. As such, the claims are directed to statutory categories of invention.
If the claim recites a statutory a category of intention, the claim requires further analysis in step 2A. Step 2A of the Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance is a two-prong inquiry. In Prong one, examiners evaluate whether the claim recites a judicial exception.
Claim 17 recites the abstract idea of “Receiving a managed target reforestation position…”, and “Receiving a traveling position…”.
These limitations, as drafted, are a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, cover performance of the limitations in the mind, or by a human using pen and paper, and therefore recite mental processes. More specifically, nothing in the claim element precludes the aforementioned steps from practically being performed in the human mind, or by a human using pen and paper.
If the claim recites a judicial exception (i.e. an abstract idea enumerated in Section I of the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, a law of nature, or a natural phenomenon), the claim requires further analysis in Prong Two. In Prong Two, examiners evaluate whether the claim recites additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application of that exception.
Claim 17 recites the additional elements of: “Controlling a position…”
The additional element of controlling a position merely amounts to “apply it”. The reciting of claim limitations that attempt to cover any solution (i.e. controlling a position) to an identified problem (i.e. reforestation) with no restriction on how the result is accomplished and no description of the mechanism for accomplishing the result (i.e. what aspects are controlled or how the control mechanism is affected by the abstract idea) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more because this type of recitation is equivalent to the words “apply it”. See MPEP 2106.05(f)(1).
If the additional elements do not integrate the exception into a practical application, then the claim is directed to the recited judicial exception, and requires further analysis under Step 2B to determine whether they provide an inventive concept (i.e. whether the additional elements amount to significantly more than the exception itself).
With respect to claim 17, As noted above, the additional elements amount to “apply it”. The reciting of claim limitations that attempt to cover any solution (i.e. controlling a position) to an identified problem (i.e. reforestation) with no restriction on how the result is accomplished and no description of the mechanism for accomplishing the result (i.e. what aspects are controlled or how the control mechanism is affected by the abstract idea) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more because this type of recitation is equivalent to the words “apply it”. See MPEP 2106.05(f)(1).
Claims 18 and 19 merely recite additional element of an “inactivation treatment device”, generically recited which generally links the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use cannot provide an inventive concept. See MPEP 2106.05(h).
Therefore, the claims are ineligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
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 1-6, 9-15, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen (U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0296903).
Regarding Claim 1, Chen discloses a reforestation machine comprising:
A main body (Chen: 2);
A planting device (Chen: 8) which plants a plant body for reforestation at a predetermined position of soil;
A traveling device (Chen: 10) which allows the main body (Chen: 2) and the planting device (Chen: 8) to travel;
A power source (Chen: engine of 10) which drives the traveling device (Chen: 10); and
A barrier installation device (Chen: 5, 6) which installs a weed barrier (Chen: cover material 15), restricting the growth of weeds growing around a position in which the plant body is planted, around the predetermined position of the soil.
Regarding Claim 2, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 1 wherein the barrier installation device (Chen: 5, 6) installs the weed barrier (Chen: cover material) at the timing before reforestation (material is placed on ground and then pierced for planting afterwards).
Regarding Claim 3, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 1,wherein the weed barrier (Chen: cover material) consists of a sheet.
Regarding Claim 4, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 1,wherein the weed barrier (Chen: cover material) consists of a plurality of objects (Chen: cover includes spikes 17 driven by spike hammers 7).
Regarding Claim 5, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 3 wherein the sheet has a plurality of through holes opened at predetermined intervals to plant the plant body (Chen: holes made by piercing assembly 8).
Regarding Claim 6, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 3, wherein the barrier installation device (Chen: 5, 6) includes a winding roller (Chen: 5) which winds the sheet and a drive roller (Chen: 6) which rotates the winding roller (Chen: 5) to feed the sheet to the soil.
Regarding Claim 9, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 4, wherein the barrier installation device (Chen: 5, 6) includes a container (Chen: Figure 4: container for holding spikes 17) which stores the plurality of objects and a spraying mechanism which sprays the plurality of objects stored in the container (Chen: Figure 4: container for holding spikes 17) to the soil.
Regarding Claim 10, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 1, further comprising:
A watering device (Chen: 4) which sprays water to an area in which the plant body is planted.
Regarding Claim 11, Chen discloses a reforestation system comprising:
A reforestation machine including a main body (Chen: 2), a planting device (Chen: 8) for planting a plant body for reforestation at a predetermined position of soil, a traveling device (Chen: 10) for allowing the main body (Chen: 2) and the planting device (Chen: 8) to travel, a power source (Chen: engine of 10) for driving the traveling device (Chen: 10), and a barrier installation device (Chen: 5, 6) for installing a weed barrier (Chen: cover material), restricting the growth of weeds growing around a position in which the plant body is planted, around the predetermined position of the soil;
A management device (tractor operator) which manages a target reforestation position; and
A control device (tractor controls) which controls the reforestation machine based on the target reforestation position acquired from the management device.
Regarding Claim 12, Chen discloses the reforestation system according to claim 11, further comprising:
A traveling position detection device (Chen: 19) which detects a traveling position of the reforestation machine, wherein the control device controls a position in which the weed barrier (Chen: cover material) is installed in the soil based on the target reforestation position acquired from the management device (tractor operator) and the traveling position obtained by the traveling position detection device (Chen: 19).
Regarding Claim 13, Chen discloses the reforestation system according to claim 11, wherein the control device (tractor controls) controls the barrier installation device (Chen: 5, 6) so that the weed barrier (Chen: cover material) is installed while the traveling device (Chen: 10) is traveling.
Regarding Claim 14, Chen discloses the reforestation system according to claim 11, wherein the management device (Chen: tractor operator) stores a target reforestation line (line of travel of tractor) which is a locus for planting a plurality of the plant bodies at predetermined intervals as the target reforestation position, and wherein the control device (Chen: tractor controls) controls the barrier installation device (Chen: 5, 6) so that the weed barrier (Chen: cover material) is installed along the target reforestation line acquired from the management device (Chen: tractor operator).
Regarding Claim 15, Chen discloses the reforestation system according to claim 11, further comprising:
A cultivating device (Chen: 3) which cultivates the soil, wherein the control device (Chen: tractor controls) controls the barrier installation device (Chen: 5, 6) so that the weed barrier (Chen: cover material) is installed in the soil cultivated by the cultivating device (Chen: 3).
Regarding Claim 17, Chen discloses a reforestation machine control method comprising:
Receiving a managed target reforestation position (Chen: tractor being on site);
Receiving a traveling position of a reforestation machine for planting a plant body for reforestation in soil (Chen: tractor moving); and
Controlling a position (Chen: via tractor controls) in which a weed barrier (Chen: cover material 15) for restricting the growth of weeds is installed in the soil based on the target reforestation position and the traveling position of the reforestation machine.
Regarding Claim 18, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 1, further comprising:
An inactivation treatment device (Chen: 3) which performs an inactivation treatment for inactivating an object (dense soil loosened and piled up) hindering the growth of the plant body on the soil.
Regarding Claim 19, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to (Original). The reforestation machine according to wherein the inactivation treatment device performs the inactivation treatment at the timing before reforestation (Chen: 3 passes over position before weed barrier and plant insertion).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
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 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen alone.
Regarding Claim 7, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 6, but does not disclose wherein a plurality of the winding rollers are provided at intervals in a width direction of the reforestation machine. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have multiple winding rollers, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skilled the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding Claim 16, Chen discloses the reforestation system according to claim 11, but does not disclose further comprising:
A second traveling device which is provided separately from the traveling device (Chen: 10) for allowing the main body and the planting device to travel, wherein the barrier installation device is provided in the second traveling device. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have multiple travelling devices, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skilled the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen in view of Krog (U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0112003).
Regarding Claim 8, Chen discloses the reforestation machine according to claim 7, but does not disclose wherein the traveling device (Chen: 10) includes a pair of crawler belts, and wherein the drive roller (Chen: 6) does not overlap the crawler belt when viewed from a traveling direction of the traveling device (Chen: 10).
Krog discloses a tractor device utilizing crawler belts in an automatic planting machine (Krog: 300).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention’s filing to have utilized the crawler belts of Krog in place of the wheels of the tractor (Chen 10) with the well-known and predictable effect of increasing traction of the tractor while reducing ground pressure.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20250331609 (AGRICULTURAL PRE-EMERGENCE WEED MITIGATION SYSTEM), US 20210015027 (METHOD OF OPERATING A HYDRATING SYSTEM FOR A SAPLING PLANTING APPARATUS).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS S WOOD whose telephone number is (571)270-5954. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole A Coy can be reached at (571) - 272 - 5405. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DOUGLAS S. WOOD
Examiner
Art Unit 3672
/DOUGLAS S WOOD/Examiner, Art Unit 3672
/Nicole Coy/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3672
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