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) 14-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mathiesen et al. (2018/0062388) and Eide (EP 3 203 601 A1).
Regarding independent claims 14, 17, and 20, Mathiesen teaches a power allocation system and method suitable for retrofitting into a power supply system for marine vessels comprising at least two segregated power supply system sections constituting two redundancy groups (left and right side of Fig. 1), each of the two redundancy groups defining a segregated power system section including a power management system (part of Fig. 2) comprising at least one of a power generator (103) and a power consumer (104) connected through an AC switch board (110, 111, 113), the AC switch board of each of the two redundancy groups being interconnected through a bustie or switch (112) configured to open or close a connection between the AC switch boards, the power allocation system comprising:
a single common energy storage system (101, 102, 113, 115; [0054]), including a battery, connected to each of the two redundancy groups through a DC/AC converter (102) based on the redundancy groups being AC systems, and an energy management system (the controllers inside 402, 403; [0053]; Fig. 4) connected to the single common energy storage system, the single common energy storage system comprising an energy storage system distribution board (the 113 below 115 and the line connecting to 110/111);
wherein the energy storage system distribution board is coupled to each of the AC switch boards through an AC connection (the vertical connection at 110/111) and is adapted to supply power to or from the energy storage system and the redundancy groups through the energy storage system distribution board ([0027], [0051]);
wherein each of the two redundancy groups comprises an input for receiving information from sensors connected to the power management system of each segregated power system for monitoring power consumption and generation of as well as power fluctuations in the components in the respective group ([0051], [0057]), and a communication system for communicating known and measured data from the sensors from each power management system the information to the energy management system ([0041], [0042], [0049], [0052]; Mathiesen mentions throughout the reference about how there are various control/management devices and how they each monitor and communicate with each other to optimize the function and performance of all the elements in the system); and
the energy management system calculating the required distribution and optimizing distribution of power between the redundancy groups and the battery and throughout the system based on the information from the sensors (Fig. 2; [0051], [0057], [0058]).
Mathiesen fails to explicitly teach the energy storage system distribution board being coupled independently of the busties or switches to each of the AC switch boards. Eide teaches a similar power allocation system (Fig. 2) to that of Mathiesen. Eide teaches two redundancy groups (left and right side of Fig. 2) each having AC switch boards (2 or 3, and 5’s) being interconnected through a bustie or switch (4). Eide also teaches a single common energy storage system comprising a battery (37) and an energy storage system distribution board (25-27, 38, 39), which is coupled independently of the busties or switches to each of the AC switch boards through an AC connection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to connect the single common energy storage system of Mathiesen’s invention to their AC switchboards independently of the busties, as described in Eide’s Fig. 2, so that the single common energy storage system can still provide power to each redundancy group even when a fault has occurred in a different redundancy group.
Regarding claim 15, Mathiesen teaches the energy storage system distribution board comprising protection units (113; [0031]) between the segregated power system sections.
Regarding claim 16, Mathiesen teaches being adapted to be connected over an existing bus tie (112) between the two redundancy groups.
Regarding claim 18, Mathiesen teaches load sharing by controlling a power flow between generators over a switchboard of the energy storage system ([0041], [0051]).
Regarding claim 19, Mathiesen teaches supplying power to the segregated power supply system sections based on predetermined information (i.e. predicted info and types of consumers and generators) about power consumers and generators in the section (Abstract; [0051])
Regarding claim 21, Mathiesen teaches the energy management system also being connected to and receiving data from a dynamic positioning system on the vessel; being configured to optimize distribution of power between the redundancy groups and the battery based on the information from the sensors and from the dynamic positioning system ([0005], [0006], [0038]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed January 7, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Mathiesen (and Eide too) teaches the idea of a converter (102 of Mathiesen and 31/32 of Eide) being connected between the battery and the redundancy groups. They both teach the converters being DC/AC based on the redundancy groups being AC systems.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DRU M PARRIES whose telephone number is (571)272-8542. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday -Thursday from 9:00am to 6:00pm. The examiner can also be reached on alternate Fridays.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Rexford Barnie, can be reached on 571-272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DMP
1/27/2026
/DANIEL KESSIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836