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 § 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gilliam (US PG-pub 2018/0077882) in view of Ruys (US PG-pub 20200150067).
Regarding claims 1-3, 7, 11, and 14, Gilliam teaches, including the method steps (claims 1, 7, and 14) a housing 200 (fig.6) having an opening; a plurality of sensors located in the housing (interface 220 include sensor(s); base portion 310; fig.6 may include sensor portions for measuring multiple soil parameters; para. 0053); a power source (battery source 220) located in the housing, the power source providing power to the plurality of sensors; a wireless communication system (para. 0021) in the housing (Bluetooth pairing provided near battery 220); and a sensor cover 240 at the opening, the sensor cover forming a waterproof seal into the opening; waterproof to the extent of applicant’s claimed cover; (claims 2-6), wherein the plurality of sensors includes a pH sensor (para. 0017); wherein the plurality of sensors includes a temperature sensor (para. 0017); wherein the plurality of sensors, the power source, and the wireless communication system are potted within the housing (fig. 4, gateway 40; wireless communication; Gilliam para. 0053: the base portion 310 may also house sensor portions for interfacing with the ground to detect temperature, pH, moisture, and/or the like); plural retention features (ribs and spike); wherein the housing includes a processor and memory, the memory including instructions that cause the processor to determine a soil property gradient based on the first soil property sensor and the second soil property sensor 212, 214.
Gilliam fails to disclose a first sensor depth and a second sensor depth.
Ruys teaches a soil property sensor 1 including a multiple sensors 7 having a first sensor depth and second sensor depth (figures 1 and 4) to allow for locally measuring parameters at a number of different position (in depth) and a number of different lateral position on (or rather in) a piece of land which allows for taking suitable management decisions as to how to use and/or change the parameters as measured (para. 0041).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing to employ in Gilliam to include a sensor having a first sensor depth and a second sensor depth, as taught by Ruys, for the purpose of determining management decisions based on the measurement and the second soil property measurement, generating a soil property gradient of said soil at the soil property sensor.
Regarding claims 8-13, Gilliam modified by Ruys teaches the method steps for soil monitoring in an irrigation system, the method comprising: receiving a first soil property measurement from a first sensor of a soil property sensor inserted in soil, the first sensor located at a first sensor depth; receiving a second soil property measurement from a second sensor of the soil property sensor, the second sensor located at a second sensor depth; and based on the first soil property; based on the soil property gradient, adjusting a watering program of the irrigation system (para 0055: “the watering computer may be adaptive as a programmable feature such that the operator is enabled to program a specific adaptive behavior as an adjustable parameter”); wherein adjusting the watering program includes adjusting at least one of a watering duration or watering schedule; based on the rate of change of the soil property gradient, adjusting a watering program of the irrigation system (para. 0050: “if no connection to the watering schedule can be achieved, or if connectivity is lost, each of the first and second watering computers 120 and 122 will continue to water on the previously provided schedule.”; (claim 10) multiple first and second property measurements (Gilliam teaches multiple sensors 200,300) (claims 12-13) wherein receiving the first soil property measurement includes receiving a first moisture measurement and receiving the second soil property measurement includes receiving a second moisture measurement; using the soil property gradient, generating a soil property at a depth that is different than the first sensor depth or the second sensor depth (Gilliam modified by Ruys teaches multiple electrodes and sensors located along the spike).
Regarding claims 15-20 Gilliam teaches the processor 221 and programmable system (fig. 1; para. 0035-0037 and 0055) that is capable of performing multiple functions, and would be capable of (claim 15), adjusting a watering program of the soil monitoring system; (claim 16) includes adjusting at least one of a watering duration or watering schedule; (claim 17) generate a rate of change of the soil property gradient based on the plurality of first soil property measurements and the plurality of second soil property measurements; (claim 18) adjust a watering program of the soil monitoring system; (claim 19) measuring a first moisture measurement and measuring the second soil property measurement includes measuring a second moisture measurement; (claim 20) generate a soil property at a depth that is different than the first sensor depth or the second sensor depth.
Conclusion
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/P. MACADE NICHOLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753