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 .
This Office Action is in response to claims filed on June 26, 2022.
Claims 1-3 are pending.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 17/789,209, filed on June 26, 2022.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 1 contains the trademark/trade names AutoCAD, ArcGis, MapGis, and Mapinfo. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark/trade name is used to identify/describe the area of a target region based on geographic map information data and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
To determine if a claim is directed to a patentable ineligible subject matter, the Court has guided the Office to apply the Alice/Mayo test, which requires:
1. Determining if the claim falls within a statutory category;
2A. Determining if the claim is directed to a patent eligible judicial exception consisting of a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or abstract idea; and
Step 2A is a two-prong inquiry. MPEP 2106.04(II)(A). Under the first prong, examiners evaluate whether a law of nature, natural phenomenon, or abstract idea is set forth or described in the claim. Abstract ideas include mathematical concepts, certain methods of organizing human activity, and mental processes. MPEP 2106.04(a)(2). The second prong is an inquiry into whether the claim integrates a judicial exception into a practical application. MPEP 2106.04(d).
2B. If the claim is directed to a judicial exception, determining if the claim recites limitations or elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. (see MPEP 2106).
Claim(s) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite a mathematical calculation and a mental process; See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(I) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
Step 1:
Claims 1-3 are directed to the statutory category of process.
Claim 1 Step 2A prong 1:
For the sake of identifying the abstract ideas, a copy of the claims is provided below. Abstract ideas are bolded.
1. A theoretical reserve evaluation method for ocean current energy, comprising steps of:
1) selecting a target region for theoretical reserve evaluation of the ocean current energy, and extracting a coordinate range of the target region;
wherein the coordinate range of the target region is a sequence of longitudes and latitudes of boundary inflection points, or a description of spatial geometric scales by using a coordinate point as a reference;
2) obtaining a seabed water depth of the target region selected in the step 1);
3) obtaining hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities of a target region space obtained in step 2);
wherein the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities are measured at one or more discrete points, or calculated data at one or more discrete points according to a numerical simulation model;
after the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities at multiple discrete points are obtained, the target region is divided into grids; a maximum grid step size is less than or equal to 1/10 of a distance from a nearest data point; the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities of the discrete points, together with water depth data, are interpolated to grid center points;
4) calculating a theoretical reserve of the ocean current energy per unit area of the target region according to the hydrological data obtained in the step 3);
5) calculating an area of the target region;
wherein the area of the target region is calculated based on an equal-area projection, a geometric figure area calculation method, or a polygon area calculation method, or based on AutoCAD, ArcGis, MapGis and Mapinfor geographic information systems; and
6) calculating the theoretical reserves of the ocean current energy within a spatial range of the target region according to the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities obtained in the step 3), the seabed water depth of the target region obtained in step 2), and the area of the target region obtained in the step 5).
Claim 1 Step 2A prong 2:
Under step 2A prong two, this judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional claim limitations outside the abstract idea only present general field of use or insignificant extra-solution activity. In particular, the claim recites the additional limitations:
“A theoretical reserve evaluation method for ocean current energy, comprising steps of:” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“for theoretical reserve evaluation of the ocean current energy” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“of the target region” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“wherein the coordinate range of the target region is a sequence of longitudes and latitudes of boundary inflection points, or a description of spatial geometric scales by using a coordinate point as a reference;” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“selected in the step 1)” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“of a target region space obtained in step 2)” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“wherein the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities are measured at one or more discrete points, or calculated data at one or more discrete points according to a numerical simulation model;” (insignificant extra-solution activity – see MPEP 2106.05(g))
“after the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities at multiple discrete points are obtained, the target region is divided into grids; a maximum grid step size is less than or equal to 1/10 of a distance from a nearest data point; the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities of the discrete points, together with water depth data, are interpolated to grid center points;” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“of the target region according to the hydrological data obtained in the step 3)” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“of the target region” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
“wherein the area of the target region is calculated based on an equal-area projection, a geometric figure area calculation method, or a polygon area calculation method, or based on AutoCAD, ArcGis, MapGis and Mapinfor geographic information systems” (insignificant extra-solution activity – see MPEP 2106.05(g))
“of the target region according to the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities obtained in the step 3), the seabed water depth of the target region obtained in step 2), and the area of the target region obtained in the step 5)” (field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h))
Claim 1 Step 2B:
The Examiner must consider whether each claim limitation individually or as an ordered combination amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. This analysis includes determining whether an inventive concept is furnished by an element or a combination of elements that are beyond the judicial exception. For limitations that were categorized as “apply it” or generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment or field of use, the analysis is the same. The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional limitations considered directed towards field of use or insignificant extra solution activity. See MPEP 2106.04(d) referencing MPEP 2106.05(f), MPEP 2106.05(h), and MPEP 2106.05(g).
The insignificant extra-solution of using previously measured hydrological data or simulated data of the flow velocities and seawater densities is considered to be Well-Understood, Routine and Conventional (WURC) as further evidenced by the prior art relied upon with the 35 U.S.C. 102/103 rejection section below (see Alcerreca-Huerta et a. (“Energy Yield Assessment from Ocean Currents in the Insular Shelf of Cozumel Island” (2019), hereinafter referred to as “Alcerreca-Huerta”)), see MPEP 2106.05(d)(II) “The courts have recognized the following computer functions as well-understood, routine, and conventional functions when they are claimed in a merely generic manner (e.g., at a high level of generality) or as insignificant extra-solution activity. ii. Performing repetitive calculations,”, analogous to performing calculations based on a previously gathered list of variable data.
Considering the claim language as an ordered combination, claim 1 does not include significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 2 further recites: “wherein in the step 4), the theoretical reserve of the ocean current energy per unit area is calculated with the following formula:
E
D
=
∫
(
1
/
2
ρ
V
2
)
d
z
wherein: ED is the theoretical reserve of the ocean current energy per unit area, V is the flow velocity, ρ is the seawater density, and dz is the height of a vertical space.” These feature(s) have been considered in combination with the features required by the claim from which it depends. These additional features are considered to further clarify the mathematical equation used for calculating the ocean current energy per unit area, which is considered to be an activity a human could perform mentally or with the aid of pen and paper (MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)), or alternatively, to further define the mathematical formula (MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(I)). Therefore, the claim does not include significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 3 further recites: “wherein in the step 6), the theoretical reserves of the ocean current energy within the spatial range of the target region are calculated according to a regional ocean current energy theoretical reserve calculating formula;
the regional ocean current energy theoretical reserve calculating formula is:
E
R
=
∭
(
1
/
2
ρ
V
2
)
d
x
d
y
d
z
wherein: ER is a regional ocean current energy theoretical reserve, V is a height-related flow velocity; ρ is the seawater density; dz is a step size of a vertical space, which is determined according to a vertical distribution of the hydrological data;
∬
d
x
d
y
is the area of the target region selected for the theoretical reserve evaluation of the ocean current energy; dxdy is a space step size, which is determined by a plane location of the hydrological data and a meteorological complexity of the target region.” These feature(s) have been considered in combination with the features required by the claim from which it depends. These additional features are considered to further clarify the mathematical equation used for calculating the ocean current energy within a spatial range, which is considered to be an activity a human could perform mentally or with the aid of pen and paper (MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)), or alternatively, to further define the mathematical formula (MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(I)). Therefore, the claim does not include significantly more than the abstract idea.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of Alcerreca-Huerta et a. (“Energy Yield Assessment from Ocean Currents in the Insular Shelf of Cozumel Island” (2019), hereinafter referred to as “Alcerreca-Huerta”) and in further view of Marais et al. (“Theoretical Resource Assessment of Marine Current Energy in the Agulhas Current along South Africa’s East Coast” (2011, hereinafter referred to as “Marais”).
Regarding claim 1, Huerta teaches A theoretical reserve evaluation method for ocean current energy, comprising steps of: (“Initial estimates of the energy yield capabilities around Cozumel Island were obtained using the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory. This method is widely used in the wind and marine energy industries, as it is one of the simplest techniques to obtain accurate power outputs predictions of tidal/wind turbines.” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Last paragraph])
1) selecting a target region for theoretical reserve evaluation of the ocean current energy, and extracting a coordinate range of the target region; (“An overview of the ocean current circulation was made based on the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) outputs, as presented in [36], for the coordinates 15.5-22.8° N and 85.5-89.0° W and a resolution of 1/12°.” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 2])
wherein the coordinate range of the target region is a sequence of longitudes and latitudes of boundary inflection points, or a description of spatial geometric scales by using a coordinate point as a reference; (“An overview of the ocean current circulation was made based on the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) outputs, as presented in [36], for the coordinates 15.5-22.8° N and 85.5-89.0° W and a resolution of 1/12°.” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 2]; See also Figure 1.)
2) obtaining a seabed water depth of the target region selected in the step 1); (“Water level variations were measures using HOBO® water level data loggers deployed at Xcaret, Chankanaab and Punta Sure (Figure 1)” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 3])
3) obtaining hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities of a target region space obtained in step 2); (“The special variation of instantaneous flow velocities was measured throughout the west and north insular shelf of Cozumel Island. Flow velocity magnitudes and directionality were retrieved from Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) transects using a vessel-mounted RiverPro ADCP [39] equipped with a fully integrated GPS (Figure 1).” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 4]; “Temperature and salinity profiles resulting from CTD measurements were shown to be nearly homogeneous throughout the water column for the entirety of the field survey…leading to a water density of 1023.6 kg m-3.” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 6, Paragraph 3])
wherein the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities are measured at one or more discrete points, or calculated data at one or more discrete points according to a numerical simulation model; (“The special variation of instantaneous flow velocities was measured throughout the west and north insular shelf of Cozumel Island. Flow velocity magnitudes and directionality were retrieved from Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) transects using a vessel-mounted RiverPro ADCP [39] equipped with a fully integrated GPS (Figure 1).” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 4]; “Temperature and salinity profiles resulting from CTD measurements were shown to be nearly homogeneous throughout the water column for the entirety of the field survey…leading to a water density of 1023.6 kg m-3.” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 6, Paragraph 3])
after the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities at multiple discrete points are obtained, the target region is divided into grids; a maximum grid step size is less than or equal to 1/10 of a distance from a nearest data point; the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities of the discrete points, together with water depth data, are interpolated to grid center points; (“The spacing between transects was ~2 km from Puna Sur to Chankanaab, and ~0.5-1.0 km close to Punta Norte. Further transects were developed in the north of Cozumel Island with a total length of ~8.0-13.0 km.” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 4])
according to the hydrological data of the flow velocities and the seawater densities obtained in the step 3) (“The special variation of instantaneous flow velocities was measured throughout the west and north insular shelf of Cozumel Island. Flow velocity magnitudes and directionality were retrieved from Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) transects using a vessel-mounted RiverPro ADCP [39] equipped with a fully integrated GPS (Figure 1).” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 4]; “Temperature and salinity profiles resulting from CTD measurements were shown to be nearly homogeneous throughout the water column for the entirety of the field survey…leading to a water density of 1023.6 kg m-3.” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 6, Paragraph 3]), the seabed water depth of the target region obtained in step 2) (“Water level variations were measures using HOBO® water level data loggers deployed at Xcaret, Chankanaab and Punta Sure (Figure 1)” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 3]).
Huerta does not appear to specifically teach 4) calculating a theoretical reserve of the ocean current energy per unit area of the target region according to the hydrological data obtained in the step 3);, 5) calculating an area of the target region; wherein the area of the target region is calculated based on an equal-area projection, a geometric figure area calculation method, or a polygon area calculation method, or based on AutoCAD, ArcGis, MapGis and Mapinfor geographic information systems; and, 6) calculating the theoretical reserves of the ocean current energy within a spatial range of the target region, and the area of the target region obtained in the step 5).
However, Marais, which also relates to a resource assessment study of marine current energy availability along South Africa’s East coast (“Theoretical Resource Assessment of Marine Current Energy in the Agulhas Current along South Africa’s East coast” (2011)), does teach 4) calculating a theoretical reserve of the ocean current energy per unit area of the target region according to the hydrological data obtained in the step 3); (“According to flux method [3], the power P in a flowing fluid per unit area is given by Eq.(1) as below.
P
=
1
2
p
∫
A
U
3
d
A
(1)
or, rewritten by differentiating
d
d
A
P
=
1
2
p
U
3
(2)
where P is the theoretical power presented in the flowing liquid (W), p is the density of the liquid (kg/m3) and U is the flow velocity normal to the cross-sectional area dA (m/s).” Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2])
5) calculating an area of the target region;
wherein the area of the target region is calculated based on an equal-area projection, a geometric figure area calculation method, or a polygon area calculation method, or based on AutoCAD, ArcGis, MapGis and Mapinfor geographic information systems; and (“Actual cross-sectional area was estimated using measurements for the x, y and z values shown in Fig. 5. By measuring only three values a fairly accurate cross-sectional area was calculated. The values were measured in Google Earth®, which uses SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) elevation data (30m resolution)…the Theoretical Resources for each of the four sites studied were calculated on a zone by zone basis using Eq.(2).” Marais – [Page 4, Right Column, Paragraphs 2-3]; See also Figure 5; “Fig. 11 shows diagrams depicting their shape and size. The diagrams are produced to the same scale, to allow comparison of the size and shape of the cross-sectional areas at the various sites.” Marais – [Page 5, Left Column, Paragraph 2]; See also Figure 11)
6) calculating the theoretical reserves of the ocean current energy within a spatial range of the target region (“According to flux method [3], the power P in a flowing fluid per unit area is given by Eq.(1) as below.
P
=
1
2
p
∫
A
U
3
d
A
(1)
or, rewritten by differentiating
d
d
A
P
=
1
2
p
U
3
(2)
where P is the theoretical power presented in the flowing liquid (W), p is the density of the liquid (kg/m3) and U is the flow velocity normal to the cross-sectional area dA (m/s).” Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2])
and the area of the target region obtained in the step 5) (“Actual cross-sectional area was estimated using measurements for the x, y and z values shown in Fig. 5. By measuring only three values a fairly accurate cross-sectional area was calculated. The values were measured in Google Earth®, which uses SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) elevation data (30m resolution)…the Theoretical Resources for each of the four sites studied were calculated on a zone by zone basis using Eq.(2).” Marais – [Page 4, Right Column, Paragraphs 2-3]; “Fig. 11 shows diagrams depicting their shape and size. The diagrams are produced to the same scale, to allow comparison of the size and shape of the cross-sectional areas at the various sites.” Marais – [Page 5, Left Column, Paragraph 2]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Alcerreca-Huerta with Marais because a teaching suggestion or motivation in the prior art would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to combine prior art teaching to arrive at the claimed invention. Alcerreca-Huerta discloses a method that teaches all of the claimed features except for the calculation of per unit area ocean current energy and the ocean current energy within a special range. Alcerreca-Huerta specifically references an overview of the ocean current calculation for the latitude and longitudinal coordinates (Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 2]), obtaining water level variations using HOBO® (Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 3]), and obtaining measured flow velocities (Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 4]) and calculating water density based on measured temperature and salinity data (Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 6, Paragraph 3]), and Marais explains a method for calculating the power in a flowing fluid per unit area (Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2]) and estimating a cross-sectional area using values measured in Google Earth® (Marais – [Page 5, Left Column, Paragraph 2]; See also Figure 11), which can be useful for assessing the viability of extracting energy from the Agulhas currents flowing along South Africa’s East coast and help in venturing for a long-term investment in marine energy generation conversion power plants (Marais – [Page 1, Right Column, Paragraph 4]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Alcerreca-Huerta with Marais to assess the viability of extracting energy from ocean currents flowing along South Africa’s East coast and help in venturing long-term investment in marine energy generation.
Regarding claim 2, Alcerreca-Huerta in view of Marais teaches the theoretical reserve evaluation method for the ocean current energy, as recited in claim 1. When viewed in combination Alcerreca-Huerta and Marais further teach wherein in the step 4), the theoretical reserve of the ocean current energy per unit area is calculated with the following formula: (“According to flux method [3], the power P in a flowing fluid per unit area is given by Eq.(1) as below.
P
=
1
2
p
∫
A
U
3
d
A
(1)
or, rewritten by differentiating
d
d
A
P
=
1
2
p
U
3
(2)
where P is the theoretical power presented in the flowing liquid (W), p is the density of the liquid (kg/m3) and U is the flow velocity normal to the cross-sectional area dA (m/s).” Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2])
E
D
=
∫
(
1
/
2
ρ
V
2
)
d
z
wherein: ED is the theoretical reserve of the ocean current energy per unit area, V is the flow velocity, ρ is the seawater density (“According to flux method [3], the power P in a flowing fluid per unit area is given by Eq.(1) as below.
P
=
1
2
p
∫
A
U
3
d
A
(1)
or, rewritten by differentiating
d
d
A
P
=
1
2
p
U
3
(2)
where P is the theoretical power presented in the flowing liquid (W), p is the density of the liquid (kg/m3) and U is the flow velocity normal to the cross-sectional area dA (m/s).” Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2]), and dz is the height of a vertical space (“Water level variations were measures using HOBO® water level data loggers deployed at Xcaret, Chankanaab and Punta Sure (Figure 1)” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 3]).
Regarding claim 3, Alcerreca-Huerta in view of Marais teaches The theoretical reserve evaluation method for the ocean current energy, as recited in claim 2. When viewed in combination Alcerreca-Huerta and Marais further teach wherein in the step 6), the theoretical reserves of the ocean current energy within the spatial range of the target region are calculated according to a regional ocean current energy theoretical reserve calculating formula;
the regional ocean current energy theoretical reserve calculating formula is: (“According to flux method [3], the power P in a flowing fluid per unit area is given by Eq.(1) as below.
P
=
1
2
p
∫
A
U
3
d
A
(1)
or, rewritten by differentiating
d
d
A
P
=
1
2
p
U
3
(2)
where P is the theoretical power presented in the flowing liquid (W), p is the density of the liquid (kg/m3) and U is the flow velocity normal to the cross-sectional area dA (m/s).” Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2])
E
R
=
∭
(
1
/
2
ρ
V
2
)
d
x
d
y
d
z
wherein: ER is a regional ocean current energy theoretical reserve (“According to flux method [3], the power P in a flowing fluid per unit area is given by Eq.(1) as below.
P
=
1
2
p
∫
A
U
3
d
A
(1)
or, rewritten by differentiating
d
d
A
P
=
1
2
p
U
3
(2)
where P is the theoretical power presented in the flowing liquid (W), p is the density of the liquid (kg/m3) and U is the flow velocity normal to the cross-sectional area dA (m/s).” Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2]), V is a height-related flow velocity (“The obtained averaged profiles were then fitted to a power law function (Equation (1)), where the average value of the variables
U
-
o, flow velocity, and b ,the power law exponent, were used as inputs for the BEM simulations. …
U
o
z
=
U
-
o
z
1
/
b
(1)” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 5, Paragraph 3]; See also Figure 2); ρ is the seawater density (“According to flux method [3], the power P in a flowing fluid per unit area is given by Eq.(1) as below.
P
=
1
2
p
∫
A
U
3
d
A
(1)
or, rewritten by differentiating
d
d
A
P
=
1
2
p
U
3
(2)
where P is the theoretical power presented in the flowing liquid (W), p is the density of the liquid (kg/m3) and U is the flow velocity normal to the cross-sectional area dA (m/s).” Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2]); dz is a step size of a vertical space, which is determined according to a vertical distribution of the hydrological data (“Water level variations were measures using HOBO® water level data loggers deployed at Xcaret, Chankanaab and Punta Sure (Figure 1)” Alcerreca-Huerta – [Page 4, Paragraph 3]);
∬
d
x
d
y
is the area of the target region selected for the theoretical reserve evaluation of the ocean current energy; dxdy is a space step size, which is determined by a plane location of the hydrological data and a meteorological complexity of the target region (the cross-sectional area dA is considered the space step size, “According to flux method [3], the power P in a flowing fluid per unit area is given by Eq.(1) as below.
P
=
1
2
p
∫
A
U
3
d
A
(1)
or, rewritten by differentiating
d
d
A
P
=
1
2
p
U
3
(2)
where P is the theoretical power presented in the flowing liquid (W), p is the density of the liquid (kg/m3) and U is the flow velocity normal to the cross-sectional area dA (m/s).” Marais – [Page 2, Left Column, Paragraph 2]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eric Post whose telephone number is (571)272-2672. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET.
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, Rehana Perveen can be reached at (571) 272-3676. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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