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 .
Drawings
Figure 3-4 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 and 4 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 1 and 4 contain the acronym “MOG”. The first time an acronym is used in a claim the acronym needs to be defined. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-4 are 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 1 recites the limitation "the input " in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim as this limitation has not been previously recited.
Claims 2-4 depend from claim 1 and likewise are indefinite.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art in view of Holmen 20050124399.
Referring to claim 1, the Applicant’s Admitted Prior art (see figures 3 and paragraph 0019 conventional straw spreader) discloses a straw spreader for a combine harvester, comprising: an inlet area (100) for receiving MOG; and first and second rotary spinners (102,104) for receiving MOG from the input and distributing the MOG from an outlet area (11), wherein each rotary spinner (see fig. 4, paragraph 0020 conventional spinner) is rotatable about a respective rotation axis (206) and comprises: a base (204) which lies in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis, a central hub (202) which projects from the base; and a set of paddles (210) extending outwardly from the central hub to a periphery of the spinner, each paddle having a front face (212) for directing material flow, a ramp surface (220) provided between the base. The Applicant’s Admitted Prior art does not disclose vanes are provided which project outwardly from the front face of the paddles, which extend in said outward direction and lie in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis. Holmen teaches paddles with vanes (14 and 12) which are provided which project outwardly from the front face of the paddles, which extend in said outward direction and lie in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis. Holmen teaches the vanes help to direct material to discharge (see paragraph 0036). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the spreader disclosed by the Applicant’s Admitted prior art to have vanes extend from the front face in view of the teachings of Holmen with a reasonable expectation of success in order to help direct material to the discharge.
Referring to claim 2, the Applicant’s Admitted prior art discloses the paddle front face (212) is in a plane parallel to the rotation axis (206).
Referring to claim 3, the Applicant’s Admitted prior art discloses each rotary spinner comprises a set of four paddles (see figure 5 at 210).
Referring to claim 4,the Applicant’s Admitted prior art, as modified, discloses combine harvester (see figure 1, paragraph 0027, known combine harvester) comprising: a crop cutting head (see paragraph 0029); a threshing and separating system (see paragraph 0003); a straw chopper (see paragraph 0005) for cutting MOG received from the threshing and separating system; and the straw spreader of claim 1 for receiving a straw flow from the straw chopper and distributing the cut straw (see rejection of claim 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIOVANNA WRIGHT whose telephone number is (571)272-7027. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am- 5 pm.
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, Nicole 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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/Giovanna Wright/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3672
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