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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed April 26, 2026 are hereby acknowledged. The arguments are directed to newly added limitations, distinguishing them over Adams as an anticipatory reference. In response to the newly added limitations, Examiner now relies on the combination of Adams in view of Hall; thus, the arguments are moot.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adams et al. US 20180110102 in view of Hall et al. US 20240065181 (“Hall”).
Re 1: Adams teaches a hollow body having at least one wall, a first opening at or adjacent to a first end of the hollow body (¶193-195; Figs. 21-22: in Fig 22 see 2214 and 2216 as first and second openings, and 2106 and 2018 in Fig 21), and a second opening at or adjacent to a second end of the hollow body (Figs. 21-22), the hollow body defining an interior channel through which air can flow (Figs. 21-22; ¶¶193-195), and a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) attached to an external surface of the hollow body (Fig. 9; ¶¶94, 199), wherein the LEDs are configured to emit light substantially below the hollow body (Fig. 9; ¶¶94, 199); a fan operatively coupled to the hollow body (¶193-195; Figs. 21-22)
Adams does not explicitly teach, while Hall teaches (Figs. 1A-6; claim 3; ¶44): wherein in a first direction air is drawn through the first opening from an area substantially above the hollow body and expelled through the second opening substantially below the hollow body, and in a second direction air is drawn through the second opening from an area substantially below the hollow body and expelled through the first opening substantially above the hollow body; and wherein the hollow body and the fan are arranged such that air moving through the interior channel provides ventilation to a surrounding agricultural environment.
As Hall teaches, different species of plants have different optimal growing conditions across a wide-variety of variables—e.g., humidity, temperature, light, etc. By allowing for the reversal of airflow, it permits the user to further calibrate the environmental conditions of the plant’s environment, thereby optimizing it for different growing conditions.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine Adams with Hall's teachings and modify Adams’ second opening/outlet to discharge toward the crop canopy (i.e., below the fixture), and to reverse the fan direction taught by Hall, so that the same device can selectively move air from an upper region toward the canopy or draw away from the canopy depending on the microclimate conditions, thereby optimizing the conditions for plant growth.
Adams in view of Hall discloses:
Re 2: a network interface operably connected to the fan (Fig. 16; ¶99: CPU can receive telemetry data to change fan speed) and LEDs (Fig. 16; ¶49), wherein the fan is controllable remotely via the network interface to adjust at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of fan speed (¶99), fan direction, and fan on/off state, wherein the LEDs are controllable remotely via the network interface to adjust at least one parameter selected from the group (¶49) consisting of brightness, power level, color temperature, and on/off state.
Re 3: the hollow body is one of a plurality of similarly constructed hollow bodies (Fig. 16) each having a respective fan and LEDs (¶163-164), the plurality of hollow bodies being arranged in an array to provide both lighting and ventilation across a crop-growing area (Fig. 16: see large crop growing area), and wherein each of the plurality of fans is independently or collectively controllable to produce a desired airflow and lighting pattern in the controlled environment (¶¶49,99).
Conclusion
Relevant prior art considered: US 20190259108 teaching an agricultural system, which comprises a plurality of processing lines for growing plants of a given plant type, wherein a first processing line in the plurality of processing lines is configured to move a first plurality of plants through the agricultural system along a route; and apply a first growth condition to the first plurality of plants to satisfy a first active agent parameter for the first plurality of plants.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GERALD J SUFLETA II whose telephone number is (571)272-4279. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-6PM EDT/EST.
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GERALD J. SUFLETA II
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2875
/GERALD J SUFLETA II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
