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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/30/2025 has been entered.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koricanek (US 10,808,512).
Regarding claims 1 and 2, Koricanek teaches a low-pressure conduit assembly comprising a substantially linear low-pressure conduit 130a,b (fig. 2b and 2c), a plurality of low- pressure inlets 122, and a plurality of low-pressure outlets 132, each low-pressure inlet 122 is configured to independently direct low-pressure fluid from a fluid source to the low-pressure conduit 130a,b, the plurality of low-pressure outlets 132 configured to direct the low-pressure fluid from the low- pressure conduit to a plurality of fluid pumps (col. 7, lines 1-2); a high-pressure conduit assembly 140 comprising a plurality of high-pressure inlets (multiple connection blocks 50 have at least one inlet), and at least one high-pressure outlet 144 configured to direct the high-pressure fluid toward a well.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6-13, 15-18, and 20 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: Koricanek fails to disclose (claim 3) a plurality of stands; (claim 6)a second low pressure outlet positioned on a second side of the low pressure conduit; (claim 10) a first high pressure inlet on one side of the conduit and a second high pressure inlet ona second side of the conduit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to P. MACADE NICHOLS whose telephone number is (571)270-5428. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00 P.M..
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/P. MACADE NICHOLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753