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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on April 21, 2026 has been entered.
Accordingly claim 1 has been cancelled. Claims 2 have been amended. No new claim were added. Therefore, claims 2-21 remains pending in this application. It also includes remarks and arguments.
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 2-5, 10 and 14-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niizuma (US 2015/0288226) and in view of Hoeven (US 2022/0111752).
Regarding claims 2 and 4, Niizuma teaches in (see Fig. 4) a marine charging station, comprising; a marine platform (2c) positioned on a surface of a body of water and independently positioned thereat (such that the charging station 2c of the charging equipment “marine platform” 2 is not limited to only being raised and lowered by a lifting device 2b as described, see 0026, but also able to navigate under water and may include a movable structure which would allow the charging station 2c to navigate or float in the water as a floating marine platform and position itself on a surface of a body of water and independently positioned thereat, see 0078. Further, in which the electric power is supplied from the power-supplying device to the power receiving device is not limited to only being under water as described, but also configured in which the electric power supplied from the power-supplying device to the power receiving device on surface of water may also be employed, see 0079); at least one energy generation source (see 2a, para 0027) remotely located from the marine platform (labeled 2c) and electrically coupled to an energy storage element (see 2c4) positioned on the marine platform (see 2c); and at least one electrical power adapter (inductive coupling means, (8 and/or 11) available to be used to supply electrical power to a marine vessel (R and element 3) floating on the surface of the body of water at the marine platform (see 2c) to power an electricity storage element disposed thereon (see battery, 3c and 0079) . The Robot (R) can navigate or float through the ocean water for exploration purposes or capable of floating.
Niizuma does not disclose communication equipment configured to generate communications signals to notify marine vessels of availability of the marine charging station.
However, Hoeven in [Figs. 2 and 6] disclose communication equipment configured to generate communications signals via interface to notify marine vessels [see 20 and 21] of availability of the marine charging station [see onshore charging station 26 and 0007, 0009 and 0038].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filling date of the invention to combined the teachings of Hoeven in the marine charging station as taught by Niizuma in order to ensure energy storage requirement of the marine vessels.
Regarding claim 3, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 2. Niizuma teaches wherein the marine platform is mounted to the seabed of the body of water (see 2 of fig. 4 and 0026).
Regarding claim 5, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 2. Niizuma teaches in (see fig. 1, 3, 4) a crane (2b) mounted or coupled to the marine platform (see 2c); and a cable that (i) electrically connects to the housing of the electricity storage element (2c4) of the platform (see 2c) and (ii) is supported and controlled in position by the crane.
Regarding claim 10, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 2. Niizuma teaches wherein the at least one electrical power adapter (8 or 11, inductive coupling means) includes in inductive element that enables a marine vessel to inductively charge a battery (3c) disposed thereon via inductive coupling with element (2) which has power transmitting means.
Regarding claim 14, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 2. Hoeven teaches wherein the communications signals include at least one status indicator indicative that the marine charging station [see 26 in Fig. 2] is available [see 0007, 0009 and 0038].
Regarding claim 15, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 14. Hoeven teaches wherein the at least one status indicator includes one or more flags, alphanumeric text, or other data representative of status information [see 0007, 0009 and 0038].
Regarding claim 16, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 2. Hoeven teaches wherein the communications equipment is further configured to establish a charging schedule [see 0007, 0009 and 0037- 0038] or reservations for the marine vessels to be charged thereby [see 0007, 0009 and 0037- 0038.
Regarding claim 17, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 2. Hoeven teaches wherein the communications equipment is further configured to communicate the communications signals via the Internet or directly to the marine vessels [see 0038].
Regarding claim 18, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 17. Hoeven teaches wherein the communications signals are communicated via a terrestrial communications channel [see 0038 which teaches the communication system operates on a wireless communication].
Regarding claim 19, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 2. Hoeven teaches wherein the communications equipment is configured to communicate a responsive communications signal in response to receiving a query from the marine vessels to determine availability of the marine charging station [see 0006-0007].
Regarding claim 20, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 19. Hoeven teaches wherein the communications equipment is configured to communicate a message inclusive of an amount of charge currently available to the marine vessels in response to the query [see 0006-0007 and 0009].
Regarding claim 21, Niizuma in view of Hoeven teaches the marine station according to claim 2. Hoeven teaches wherein the communications equipment is further configured to generate communications signals to notify marine vessels of power status of the marine charging station [see 0006-0007 and 0009].
Claim 6 is rejected under Niizuma (US 2015/0288226) and in view of Hoeven (US 2022/0111752) and in view of Sovik (US 2019/0276127).
Regarding claim 6, Niizuma mentioned combination teaches the marine charging station according to claim 2, wherein the energy storage element includes at least one electricity storage element and at least one energy generation source (see 0027).
Niizuma mentioned combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one electricity storage element is re-charged by the at least one energy generation source, and further comprising a docking station for the at least one electricity storage element to enable the at least one electricity storage element to be disconnected and removed from the marine platform and placed onto the marine vessel from a docketing station on the marine platform.
However, Sovik teaches in (Figs. 1-4) wherein the at least one electricity storage element (see 19) is re-charged by the at least one energy generation source (see quay 12 that includes charging station 23, which may be a floating or fixed device that incorporates a wind power plant or the like that corresponds to the at least one energy generation source that recharges the battery packs 19 in Fig. 2, see 0070 and 0097), and further comprising a docking station (see 23 and 0058 and 0070) for the at least one electricity storage element (see 19 and 0059) to enable the at least one electricity storage element (see 19 and 0059) to be disconnected and removed from the marine platform (see 12 and 0060 and 0070) and placed onto the marine vessel (see vessel 14) from a docketing station (see 23) on the marine platform (see 12 and 0060 and 0070).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention combine the teachings of Sovik in the marine charging station as taught by Niizuma mentioned combination in order provide a transport system comprising an electrically powered vessel equipped with at least one swappable and rechargeable battery pack resulting shorter stops by stopping to exchange the batteries instead of waiting longer periods of time for the batteries to reach full charge during recharging.
Claim 7 is rejected under Niizuma (US 2015/0288226) and in view of Hoeven (US 2022/0111752) and in view of Sovik (US 2019/0276127) and in view of Kfir (US 10/763,685).
Regarding claim 7, Niizuma mentioned combination discloses the marine charging station according to claim 6, except for wherein the at least one electricity storage element is configured to report an amount of charge currently available.
Kfir teaches an underground marine element (UCS) “equivalent to the marine platform” in communication or in conjunction with an automated underwater vehicle, equivalent to the marine vessel, wherein the status of a battery is monitored via a battery monitor sensor (see 192 in Fig. 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Kfir into the combination in order to provide a means to monitor the status of the battery in order to know when the battery needs recharging or replaced and to prevent the battery from totally depleting and taking the corrective measures.
Claims 8 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 USC 103 over Niizuma (US 2015/0288226) and in view of Hoeven (US 2022/0111752) and in view of Reimann (US 2023/0268733).
Regarding claims 8 and 11-13, Niizuma mentioned combination fails to teach a remote electrical generation power source wherein a fluid including natural gas can be applied.
Reimann teaches a marine system in (see para 0072, fig. 8) wherein natural gas can be converted and applied to charge batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Reimann into that of Niizuma mentioned combination to operate power sources on a marine system and to recharge batteries via any power means to provide efficient operation of marine system.
Claim 9 is rejected under Niizuma (US 2015/0288226) and in view of Hoeven (US 2022/0111752) and in view of Chunhui et al. (CN 108482595).
Regarding claim 9, Niizuma mentioned combination teaches a charging station (2) labeled as the marine platform but fails to teach that the charging station can be combined or included as wind turbine or mounted at the base of a wind turbine.
Chinhui teaches in (see abstract, fig. 1) a floating power generation system or platform which includes possibly a power source generator (1) which can be or include a wind turbine with a charger or a charging station (10) embedded therein.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teaching of Chinhui into the combination thus making it possible to provide alternative sources such as solar or wind by taking advantage of environmental sources to keep a charging station charged at all times to provided operation services to other devices which need power.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on April 21, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicants argues that Hoeven does not provide any teachings or suggestion that the charging station notifies the marine vessels of availability of the marine charging station, however the examiner does not agree with the applicants assessment. Further, Hoeven teaches or suggest that the charging station may monitor type and number of stocked charged energy storage units (e.g. charging equipment on the charging station) onshore and provides an availability list to the vessel in response to the notification of the user energy storage equipment .The provided availability list of the charged energy storage units on the charging station sent to the vessel is an indication of the communication interface between the vessel and charging station including that the charging station is currently available and has available power to be delivered to the marine vessel(s). The provided availability list of the charged energy storage units on the charging station includes a status indicator, such as data representative of status information indicative of the charging station having available power to be delivered to the marine vessel(s) [see 0007, 0009 and 0038].Furthermore, the availability list of the charge energy storage units on the charging station corresponds to charging schedule or reservations for the marine vessel(s) to be charged thereby [see 0007, 0009 and 0037-0038].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERRENCE RONIQUE WILLOUGHBY whose telephone number is (571)272-2725. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-5:30pm.
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/TERRENCE R WILLOUGHBY/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
5/30/26
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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