DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 25 August 2025 has been entered.
Specification
The disclosure remains objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.77(c) for failing to include section headings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 29 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 29 recites “an end fitting body” . However, claim 24 already requires an end fitting body. It is unclear if claim 29 should recite “the end fitting body” or is attempting to require a second end fitting body.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 24, 25, 27-31, and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ong (US 2010/0230952).
In regards to claim 24, Ong discloses a method of securing flexible pipe body tensile armour wires in an end fitting, comprising the steps of:
locating a respective free end region of at least one tensile armour wire (30) of an armour layer (102) comprising a plurality of tensile armour wires, through and past an opening (44c) defined by a rigid flange region (44d) that extends radially outwardly from an end fitting body (44); and
securing the at least one tensile armour wire to the rigid flange region thereby securing said at least one tensile armour wire to the end fitting body (shown in fig. 2).
In regards to claim 25, Ong further discloses securing each tensile armour wire separately to the rigid flange at a predetermined tension (see paragraph [0068]).
In regards to claim 27, Ong further discloses securing all tensile armour wires of the armour layer to the rigid flange at a common tension (see paragraph [0068] and fig. 2)
In regards to claim 28, Ong further discloses prior to securing each tensile armour wire to the rigid flange, urging the tensile armour wire in a direction generally away from a remainder of the flexible pipe body thereby removing slack from each tensile armour wire between the flange region and a lift off point where the tensile armour wire begins to extend radially outwardly away from an underlying layer in the flexible pipe body (see figs. 1-2; this is inherent as there would be no other way to get the wire from the hose body to the flange).
In regards to claim 29, Ong further discloses providing an end fitting body (44) that comprises a connector flange end (right end in fig. 2) and an open mouth end (left end in fig. 2) proximate to a cut end of flexible pipe body whereby at least an end region of a fluid retaining layer of the flexible pipe body is disposed radially within the end fitting body at the open mouth end (shown in fig. 2).
In regards to claim 30, Ong further discloses the opening defined by the rigid flange region comprises a plurality of openings (44c, see fig 2 and paragraph [0066]) circumferentially arranged around the flange region and the method further comprises:
locating a respective free end region of each of all tensile armour wires of the plurality of tensile armour wires in a respective opening of the plurality of openings (shown in fig. 2 and paragraph [0068]).
In regards to claim 31, Ong further discloses securing a jacket (100) to a central flange region (54) that extends radially outwardly from the end fitting body and that is located at a first longitudinal position spaced apart from a second longitudinal position where the rigid flange region is located; and subsequently securing an activation flange (42) to the jacket.
In regards to claim 37, Ong further discloses the opening comprises a slit defined by the rigid flange region that extends a predetermined distance from a peripheral edge region of the rigid flange region and said step of locating a respective free end region comprises sliding a selected edge of the free end region radially inwardly into the slit and subsequently urging a free end of the free end region away from the rigid flange region (shown in fig. 2).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ong as applied to claim 25 above.
While Ong does not expressly disclose the tension being between 1 and 2000 N/mm2; the tension value may be determined through the use of routine experimentation during the engineering design process to optimize the functionality of the device, suited to the intended use and desired parameters.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify Ong to have the predetermined tension value be between 1 and 2000 N/mm2, as the tension value may be optimized to the desired operational parameters through the use of routine experimentation. A person of ordinary skill in the art undertaking such experimentation would have had a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable.
Claims 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ong as applied to claim 31 above, and further in view of Bertoni et al. (US 2016/0208969 hereinafter “Bertoni’).
In regards to claims 32-34, Ong discloses the method of claim 31 but does not expressly disclose providing epoxy material to a first end region of the enclosed chamber at a first side of the rigid flange region via a first epoxy fill port and providing the epoxy material to a further end region of the enclosed chamber at a further side of the rigid flange region via a further epoxy fill port.
However, Bertoni teaches a similar method, comprising providing epoxy material to a first end region of an enclosed chamber at a first side of a rigid flange region via a first epoxy fill port (41) and providing the epoxy material to a further end region of the enclosed chamber at a further side of the rigid flange region via a further epoxy fill port (41) (see paragraph [0048)).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the system of Ong with first and second epoxy fill ports, in order to ensure that the epoxy resin fills the entirety of the chamber, thus securing the wires.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 35, 36, 38, and 39 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 24 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY T DRAGICEVICH whose telephone number is (571)270-0505. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew D. Troutman can be reached at (571) 270-3654. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZACHARY T DRAGICEVICH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3679
10/30/2025