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 Objections
Claims 7, 8 and 11-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
(claim 7, line 1) “The system of claim 1” should be changed to “The device of claim 1”.
(claim 8, line 1) “The system of claim 1” should be changed to “The device of claim 1”.
(claim 8, line 1) “parallel cells walls” should be changed to “parallel cell walls”.
(claim 11, line 3) “maintains it orientation” should be changed to “maintains the orientation”.
(claim 12, line 2) “as it translates” should be changed to “as the seed translates”.
(claim 13, line 2) “as it translates” should be changed to “as the seed translates”.
(claim 14, line 10) “which it is disposed” should be changed to “which the seed is disposed”.
(claim 15, line 1) “The device of claim 14” should be changed to “The apparatus of claim 14”.
(claim 15, line 4) “which it is disposed” should be changed to “which the seed is disposed”.
(claim 16, line 1) “The device of claim 15” should be changed to “The apparatus of claim 15”.
(claim 17, line 1) “The device of claim 14” should be changed to “The apparatus of claim 14”.
(claim 17, line 1) “beneath a floor plate” should be changed to “beneath the floor plate”.
(claim 18, line 1) “The system of claim 14” should be changed to “The apparatus of claim 14”.
(claim 19, line 1) “The device of claim 14” should be changed to “The apparatus of claim 14”.
(claim 19, line 3) “maintains it orientation” should be changed to “maintains the orientation”.
(claim 20, line 2) “dispensing them” should be changed to “dispensing the seeds”.
(claim 20, line 4) “delivers it” should be changed to “delivers the seed”.
(claim 20, line 19) “orientation” should be changed to “orientation;”.
(claim 20, lines 22-23) “which it is disposed” should be changed to “which the seed is disposed”.
(claim 20, lines 27-28) “maintains it orientation” should be changed to “maintains the orientation”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “an agitation feature…configured to agitate the seed” in claim 13.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. The disclosure describes the agitation feature in paragraph 0101 of the specification and shows the agitation feature in Fig. 8 of the drawings.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claim 10 is 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 10 recites the limitation "where a hole, a via, or a groove, is disposed in the floor plate" in lines 2-3. It is unclear, based on the claim language, what is meant by the term a via. Clarification is needed.
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 (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.
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 and 5-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koch et al. (US 2019/0223372).
As concerns claim 1, Koch shows a seed orientation device (1300) for orienting a seed in a seed planter (300), comprising: a metering element (1370) comprising a plurality of evenly spaced, peripherally disposed metering cells (1372), respective metering cells sized and shaped to operably receive a single seed (Fig. 4C & 4D); a tip down orientation stage (1380, 1382, 1383, 1384, 1386) configured to rotate the seed in the respective cells to a tip down orientation (paragraph 0041-0046); and a seed exit stage (lower portion of seed disk 1370 adjacent seed receptacle 1362) configured to release the seed from the metering element in the tip down orientation (Fig. 4C; paragraph 0046).
As concerns claim 5, Koch shows the tip down orientation stage comprising a ramp (1310, 1320, 1330) that increases in height from upstream to downstream, and configured to receive a base of the seed thereby turning the seed from tip up to tip down orientation as the seed traverses the ramp (Fig. 4D; paragraph 0045).
As concerns claim 6, Koch shows the tip down orientation stage comprising a vacuum provided beneath a floor plate of the metering element to operably draw the tip of the seed downward (paragraph 0035).
As concerns claim 7, Koch shows the metering element comprising a cone shape that is higher in the center of the metering element such that seeds tend to translate toward the edges of the metering element (Fig. 4C).
As concerns claim 8, Koch shows respective metering cells (1372) comprising parallel cell walls (opposite points on opposite sides of aperture 1372) rising toward an outer perimeter of the metering element, a distance between the parallel cell walls sized to accommodate merely a shorter width of a seed and exclude a longer width of the seed (Fig. 4D).
As concerns claim 9, Koch shows the metering element operably rotating in a clockwise direction with a floor plate of the metering element disposed beneath or behind respective cells, and remaining stationary with respect to the metering element (paragraph 0045).
As concerns claim 10, Koch shows a vacuum applied beneath the floor plate thereby drawing a seed toward the floor plate where a hole (1372), a via, or a groove, is disposed in the floor plate (paragraph 0035).
As concerns claim 11, Koch shows the seed exit stage comprising a seed exit (lower portion of seed disk 1370 adjacent seed receptacle 1362) comprising an opening that is substantially similar in size and shape to that of a bottom of the metering cells of the metering element, such that as the seed passes over the seed exit the seed maintains it orientation from the metering cell to the seed exit (Fig. 4C).
As concerns claim 12, Koch shows the seed exit stage comprising a vacuum groove in the floor plate shaped and sized to receive and hold the tip of the seed as it translates to the seed exit (paragraph 0035).
As concerns claim 13, Koch shows the seed exit stage comprising an agitation feature in the floor plate that is configured to agitate the seed while in the tip down orientation as it translates to the seed exit (paragraph 0035).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-20 are allowed over the prior art of record.
Claims 2-4 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record does not appear to anticipate and/or render obvious:
a) a seed orientation device for orienting a seed in a seed planter, comprising: a metering element comprising a plurality of evenly spaced, peripherally disposed metering cells, respective metering cells sized and shaped to operably receive a single seed; a tip down orientation stage configured to rotate the seed in the respective cells to a tip down orientation; a seed exit stage configured to release the seed from the metering element in the tip down orientation; and a tip up orientation stage disposed upstream from the tip down orientation stage, the tip up orientation stage configured to rotate the seed in the respective cells to a tip up orientation.
b) a seed orientation apparatus for orienting a seed in a seed planter comprising: a metering element comprising a plurality of peripherally disposed metering cells, the metering cells are sized and shaped to respectively receive an individual target seed in a first orientation, the metering element operably rotating about a central axis; a floor plate disposed beneath or under the metering element, the floor plate operably remaining stationary with regard to the metering element such that a target seed translates along the floor plate as the metering element rotates; a tip down orientation stage comprising a first ramp rising radially outward from upstream to downstream, and that is configured to move a seed from a tip up orientation to a tip down orientation in the metering cell in which the seed is disposed; and a seed exit stage configured to release the seed from the metering cell of the metering element in the tip down orientation.
The prior art of record shows a seed orientation device for orienting a seed in a seed planter, comprising: a metering element comprising a plurality of evenly spaced, peripherally disposed metering cells, respective metering cells sized and shaped to operably receive a single seed; a tip down orientation stage configured to rotate the seed in the respective cells to a tip down orientation; and a seed exit stage configured to release the seed from the metering element in the tip down orientation. However, the prior art of record does not show a tip up orientation stage disposed upstream from the tip down orientation stage, the tip up orientation stage configured to rotate the seed in the respective cells to a tip up orientation, or wherein the tip down orientation stage comprises a first ramp rising radially outward from upstream to downstream, and is configured to move a seed from a tip up orientation to a tip down orientation in the metering cell in which the seed is disposed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Schaefer et al. (US 2017/0245420) shows a seed orientation device for orienting a seed in a seed planter.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW R BUCK whose telephone number is (571)270-3653. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:30-5.
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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/MATTHEW R BUCK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3672
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