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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on February 3, 2023. These drawings are acceptable.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on February 3, 2023 and January 10, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiminori (JP 2010197368 A) in view of Brizard (US 9,417,351).
Kiminori discloses a method and system for detecting and locating a carbon dioxide leak in a carbon dioxide storage structure and pipeline, as shown in Figures 1-9, said method being comprised of the steps of operating an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), defined as Part #30, in a submarine environment, as shown in Figure 2, obtaining measurements of a hydrogen ion index in seawater with a pH sensor in a first region, defined as Part #61, obtaining measurements of a partial pressure of carbon dioxide in seawater with a pCO2 sensor in said first region or a second region, defined as Part #62, communicating measurements from said sensors to a storage medium or memory, mapping carbon dioxide concentrations in said first and second regions of said carbon dioxide storage structure and pipeline to identify high and low partial pressures of leaked carbon dioxide, as shown in Figure 3, and guiding said AUV toward a highest concentration of leaked carbon dioxide based on said mapping, as shown in Figure 3.
Kiminori, as set forth above, discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of a plurality or swarm of AUVs in a submarine environment, and communicating measurements from each AUV to other AUVs.
Brizard discloses a marine seismic survey using clusters of AUVs, as shown in Figures 1-9, which includes the method steps of operating a cluster or swarm AUVs, each defined as Part #100, as shown in Figure 1, to obtain measurements, as shown in Figures 2-4, and communicating said measurements from each AUV in said cluster or swarm to other AUVs, as shown in Figures 2-4.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art, to utilize a method for operating a cluster or swarm of AUVs to obtain measurements and communicate said measurements with other AUVs in said cluster or swarm, as taught by Brizard, in combination with the method for detecting and locating a carbon dioxide leak as disclosed by Kiminori for the purpose of providing a method for detecting and locating a carbon dioxide leak in a submarine environment that includes a cluster or swarm of AUVs to facilitate mapping a carbon dioxide concentration and guiding one or more AUVs toward a highest concentration of carbon dioxide.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiminori in view of Brizard, and further in view of Yao et al. (US 11,192,619).
Kiminori in combination with Brizard discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of an AUV in the form of a robotic fish with forward and tail sections.
Yao et al. discloses a robotic fish, as shown in Figures 6-8, which is comprised of a forward section, defined as Part #1, and a tail section, defined as Part #2, where at least two joints, defined as Parts #3 and 7, in said tail section are manipulated to produce oscillating foil propulsion, as shown in Figure 8.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art, to utilize an AUV in the form of a robotic fish with forward and tail sections for producing oscillating foil propulsion, as taught by Yao et al., in combination with the method for detecting and locating a carbon dioxide leak as disclosed by Kiminori and the teachings of Brizard for the purpose of providing a method for detecting and locating a carbon dioxide leak in a submarine environment that includes a robotic fish with better maneuverability to facilitate mapping a carbon dioxide concentration and guiding one or more AUVs toward a highest concentration of carbon dioxide.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-20 are allowed.
Claims 4, 8 and 10-11 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARS A OLSON whose telephone number is (571) 272-6685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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August 14, 2025
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615