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
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). 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.
The drawings are objected to because of the following reasons.
Each line, number and letter shown in Figure 6 is not clean, durable, and sufficiently dense and dark to permit adequate reproduction. See 37 C.F.R. 1.84(l).
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
CLAIMS 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kowalchuk (US 2020/0045879 A1) in view of Boriack et al. (US 2019/0021212 A1).
CLAIM 1 Kowalchuk ‘879 (“Kowalchuk”) discloses an agricultural implement (14) for transporting behind a tractor (12), comprising:
a frame (22) configured to be attached to the tractor;
a toolbar (inherently) carried by the frame;
a set of planter row units (24) mounted on the toolbar, each configured to plant seeds at the location of the row unit; and
a control panel (102) mounted to the frame (22) adjacent to the toolbar, the control panel comprising a user input configured to receive user commands ([0026], [0030], [0040], [0042]).
Kowalchuk fails to teach expressly the control panel (102) having the functionality to raise and lower the toolbar. Boriacke et al. ‘212 (“Boriack”) discloses a controller (84) having the functionality to raise and lower sections of a toolbar (58A, 58B)([0032]). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the control panel (Kowalchuk, 102) of the prior art implement with the added functionality of raising and lowering the toolbar, as suggested by Boriack. The motivation for making the modification would have been to facilitate repositioning, via the control panel, of the toolbar to a transport position, and to have done so with a reasonable expectation of success.
The prior art combination further teaches:
CLAIM 2 Given the broadest reasonable interpretation, the term “adjacent” is interpreted to mean anyplace on the frame (Kowalchuk, 22).
CLAIMS 3, 4 It is a well-known expedient to rearrange parts. The motivation for making the modification would have been to meet desired user experience.
CLAIM 5 Kowalchuk, 124
CLAIM 6 Kowalchuk, [0033]-[0035]
CLAIM 7 Kowalchuk, [0033]-[0035]
CLAIM 8 It is a well-known expedient to provide adjustability. The motivation for making the modification would have been allow for use of the control from various positions along the implement frame.
CLAIM 9 Kowalchuk, [0025]
CLAIM 10 Kowalchuk, 48
CLAIM 11 Kowalchuk, 38, [0023]
CLAIM 12 Kowalchuk, 40
CLAIMS 13, 14 Kowalchuk, 44; and the examiner takes Official Notice of the use of singulating seed disks in combination with a vacuum source.
CLAIM 15 Kowalchuk, 28
CLAIM 16 Kowalchuk, [0031]
CLAIM 17 Kowalchuk, [0020]
CLAIM 18 Kowalchuk, Figs. 1 and 2
CLAIM 19 Kowalchuk, [0018]
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TARA MAYO whose telephone number is (571)272-6992. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:30AM-5:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christine M. Mills can be reached at (571)272-8322. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TARA MAYO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
30 September 2026
