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 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/13/2026 has been entered.
Status of Application, Amendments, And/Or Claims
The Applicants amendments/remarks received 4/13/2026 are acknowledged. Claims 1 and 8 are amended; claims 10 and 13 are canceled; no claims are withdrawn; claims 1-9, 11-12 and 14-16 are pending and have been examined on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The rejection of claim 13 under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b), as set forth at pp. 2-3 of the previous Office Action is moot due to cancelation of the claim.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laur et al., US 9315403 (US Patent Document cite 1, IDS, 4/25/2024; herein “Laur”).
Laur teaches methods for sequestering carbon dioxide and growing algae (Abst.; col. 2, l. 22 - col. 16, l. 66; Figs. 1-6) comprising producing fluids from a subsurface formation ((col. 2, ll. 22-35; col. 7, ll. 63-67; col. 8, ll. 12-25; Fig. 1), separating the fluids into hydrocarbons and produced water with a hydrocarbon-water separator (Fig. 1; col. 2, ll. 41-44; col. 8, ll. 26-35); transferring the produced water to a treatment pond (col. 9, ll. 52-63); transferring hydrocarbons to a gas fractionation plant and separating hydrocarbons resulting in a carbon dioxide side stream (col. 15, l. 43 - col. 16, l. 22); and discharging the carbon dioxide side stream into the treatment pond via a carbon dioxide transfer system which includes a discharge positioned below a nominal water level of the produced water pond (col. 16, ll. 19-33; col. 16, ll. 42-43; col. 16, ll. 55-57; col. 16, ll. 62-66; col. 8, ll. 49-67; bubbling the CO2 through the produced water and sparging the algae pond with the CO2 would require that the CO2 is transferred into the algae pond by discharging through a discharge positioned below a nominal water level of the produced water pond). Laur teaches that seed water as well as production water is added to the algae treatment pond (Fig. 2); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious to discharge the carbon dioxide side stream into the treatment pond at a position below the nominal water level of the treatment pond; and to maintain the nominal water level of the treatment pond above the position where the carbon dioxide side stream is discharged by adding the produced water because Laur teaches bubbling the CO2 through the produced water and sparging the algae pond with CO2 (col. 8, ll. 45-67; col. 15, l. 43 – col. 16, l. 33) wherein bubbling or sparging the algae pond with CO2 necessarily requires that the CO2 is discharged below the nominal water level of the pond because if the CO2 is discharged above the nominal water level of the pond, it would not bubble or sparge the algae solution but would simply enter the atmosphere; and because adding produced water to the algae pond is part of the process disclosed by Laur and adding produced water is an obvious way to maintain the nominal water level of the pond.
Laur differs from independent claim 1 in that Laur does not specifically state that the hydrocarbon that is transferred to a gas fractionation plant, separated into hydrocarbons resulting in a carbon dioxide side stream and discharged into the treatment pond is the same hydrocarbon separated from the fluid from a subsurface formation by a hydrocarbon-water separator. However, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious for the hydrocarbon transferred to a gas fractionation plant, separated into hydrocarbons resulting in a carbon dioxide side stream and discharged into the treatment pond is the same hydrocarbon separated from the fluid from a subsurface formation by a hydrocarbon-water separator because Laur teaches that the hydrocarbon to be transferred to a gas fractionation plant, separated into hydrocarbons, such as methane, resulting in a carbon dioxide side stream and discharging the CO2 side stream into the treatment pond can be hydrocarbon from the oil field (col. 16, ll. 12-18) and should be situated in close proximity to the algae pond (col. 16, ll. 19-28); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious to practice the method made obvious by Laur wherein the hydrocarbon separated from the fluid from a subsurface formation by a hydrocarbon-water separator is the hydrocarbon transferred to a gas fractionation plant, separated into hydrocarbons resulting in a carbon dioxide side stream and discharged into the treatment pond because the hydrocarbon separated from the fluid from a subsurface formation is hydrocarbon from the oil field and is hydrocarbon which is in close proximity to the algae pond; therefore, claim 1 is prima facie obvious.
Regarding claim 3, Laur teaches that the CO2 is purified, isolated CO2 produced from a gas fractionation plant and/or gas cleaning facility wherein the CO2 can be specifically absorbed with an amine capture process, deabsorbed and stripped of contaminating H2S giving a purified, isolated CO2 stream (Fig. 5; col. 15, l. 55 - col. 16, l. 22); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious that the CO2 stream is pure CO2, i.e., 100% CO2, which is at least 99% CO2; therefore, claim 3 is prima facie obvious.
Regarding claim 4, Laur teaches that the treatment pond can be a natural surface pond (col. 9, ll. 52-58); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious that the treatment pond can be an unstirred treatment pond because a natural surface pond would not be expected to have stirring equipment; therefore, claim 4 is prima facie obvious.
Regarding claim 5, Laur teaches that the treatment pond can be a raceway pond (col. 9, ll. 52-63); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious that the treatment pond can be a raceway pond; therefore, claim 5 is prima facie obvious.
Regarding claim 6, Laur teaches harvesting algae from the treatment pond (col. 16, ll. 30-33); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious for the method to further comprise harvesting algae from the treatment pond; therefore, claim 6 is prima facie obvious.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Arguments of the Applicant’s Response on p. 6 regarding the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) is moot as the rejection has been withdrawn.
Regarding the rejection of claims 1 and 3-6 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) over Laur, Applicant (Remarks, pp. 5-6) admits that “Rather, Laur describes a “gaseous CO2 may be bubbled through the produced water altering the pH to a desired level”” (p. 5) but then argues “yet is completely silent as to CO2 discharge position, or maintaining the nominal water level above the discharge position”. Applicant is reminded that this is not an anticipation rejection but an obviousness rejection. Bubbling the CO2 through the produced water when the produced water is in a pond necessarily requires discharging the CO2 below the nominal surface of the pond because if the CO2 were discharged above the nominal surface of the pond it would simply be going into the atmosphere, which Laur clearly teaches against (col. 16, ll. 8-12). Laur clearly teaches maintaining the pond by adding seed water or production water which can comprise sea water (col. 7, ll. 46-50); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing, who is not an automaton but a person with normal common sense and capability, would have found it obvious to discharge the carbon dioxide side stream into the treatment pond at a position below the nominal water level of the treatment pond; and to maintain the nominal water level of the treatment pond above the position that the carbon dioxide side stream is discharged by adding the produced water, seawater, or both.
Thus, Applicant’s argument is unpersuasive and the rejection is maintained with modification to address claim amendments and for clarity.
Claims 1-6, 8-9, 11-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laur in view of Kertz, US 2008/0274494 (cite A, PTO-892, 7/11/2025; herein “Kertz”).
The discussion of Laur regarding claims 1 and 3-6 set forth in the rejection above is incorporated herein.
Laur does not specifically teach that the CO2 is compressed before discharge into the treatment pond, however, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious for the method to comprise compressing the CO2 before discharge into the treatment pond in view of the disclosure of Kertz.
Kertz teaches growing algae for sequestering CO2 (Abst.) wherein the system comprises gas jets at the bottom of the algae culture, wherein the CO2 is supplied to the gas jets via a gas compressor ([0036], Fig. 1, 194).
Hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious for the method made obvious by Laur in view of Kertz to comprise compressing the carbon dioxide side stream before discharge to the treatment pond because Kertz teaches that the CO2 can be delivered to the algae culture by compressing the CO2; therefore, claim 2 is prima facie obvious.
The method made obvious by Laur in view of Kertz would require a system comprising a gas fractionation plant including a carbon dioxide outlet discharging carbon dioxide at ≥99% purity; a hydrocarbon-water separator; a produced water pond receiving water generated during production of hydrocarbons from a subsurface reservoir; a produced water conduit extending between the gas fractionation plant and the produced water pond; a carbon dioxide transfer system including conduits extending from the carbon dioxide outlet of the gas fractionation plant to a compressor and from the compressor to the produced water pond and a CO2 discharge positioned below a nominal water level of the produced water pond, wherein the system is configured to maintain the nominal water level of the produced water pond to be above the discharge position by adding the water generated during production of hydrocarbons from a subsurface reservoir; therefore, claims 8-9 and 14 are prima facie obvious.
Regarding claim 11, Laur teaches that the treatment pond can be a natural surface pond (col. 9, ll. 52-58); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious that the treatment pond can be an unstirred treatment pond because a natural surface pond would not be expected to have stirring equipment; therefore, claim 11 is prima facie obvious.
Regarding claim 12, Laur teaches that the treatment pond can be a raceway pond (col. 9, ll. 52-63); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious that the treatment pond can be a raceway pond; therefore, claim 12 is prima facie obvious.
Claims 1-9, 11-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laur in view of Kertz and Lolling et al., US 2021/0017044 (cite B, PTO-892, 7/11/2025; herein “Lolling”).
The discussion of Laur and Kertz regarding claims 1-6, 8-9, 11-12 and 14 set forth in the rejection above is incorporated herein.
Laur teaches scrubbing, i.e. removing contaminants, from the produced water before the produced water is added to the treatment pond, wherein the removed contaminants can be sulfides (Figs. 1 and 6; col. 5, ll. 48-49; col. 9, ll. 24-27), but Laur does not specifically teach sulfate removal. However, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious for the method made obvious by Laur in view of Kertz to further comprise sulfate removal in view of the disclosure of Lolling.
Lolling teaches methods and apparatus for treating waste water (Abst.) wherein the waste water can be produced water from a subsurface formation ([0001-2], [0433]). Lolling teaches that the process comprises removing oil present in the produced water and removal of dissolved salts and sulfates [0007].
Hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious to practice the method made obvious by Laur in view of Kertz and Lolling wherein the method further comprises removing sulfate from the produced water because Lolling teaches that treating produced water comprises removing sulfate; therefore, claim 7 is prima facie obvious.
Claims 1-6, 8-9, 11-12 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laur in view of Kertz and Noureldin et al., US 2019/0048754 (cite A, PTO-892, 2/27/2026; herein “Noureldin”).
The discussion of Laur and Kertz regarding claims 1-6, 8-9, 11-12 and 14 set forth in the rejection above is incorporated herein.
Laur discloses that the hydrocarbon stream from the hydrocarbon-water separator can undergo further hydrocarbon processing (col. 15, l. 43 - col. 16, l. 22; Fig. 1) including CO2 removal from methane (col. 16, ll. 12-15), i.e., which constitutes a broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI, see MPEP 2111) of gas fractionation of hydrocarbon mainly containing one carbon atom per molecule, but does not disclose that the gas fractionation of the hydrocarbon stream comprises fractional distillation of hydrocarbons mainly containing one to eight carbon atoms per molecule in column distillers; however, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious for the hydrocarbon stream to undergo CO2 removal and fractional distillation of hydrocarbons mainly containing one to eight carbon atoms per molecule in column distillers in view of the disclosure of Noureldin.
Noureldin teaches a gas liquid fractionation plant (Title, Abst.) wherein CO2 is removed from the hydrocarbon stream and the hydrocarbon stream is fractionated into ethane, propane, butane and pentane (containing 2-5 carbon atoms per molecule, respectively) by fractional distillation in column distillers [0044-0047].
Laur teaches that the CO2 is purified, isolated CO2 produced from a gas fractionation plant and/or gas cleaning facility wherein the CO2 can be specifically absorbed with an amine capture process, deabsorbed and stripped of contaminating H2S giving a purified, isolated CO2 stream (Fig. 5; col. 15, l. 55 - col. 16, l. 22); hence, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious that the CO2 stream is pure CO2, i.e., 100% CO2, which is at least 99% CO2.
Laur does not specifically teach that the CO2 is compressed before discharge into the treatment pond, however, a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious for the method to comprise compressing the CO2 before discharge into the treatment pond in view of the disclosure of Kertz.
Kertz teaches growing algae for sequestering CO2 (Abst.) wherein the system comprises gas jets at the bottom of the algae culture, wherein the gas jets are supplied the CO2 via a gas compressor ([0036], Fig. 1).
The method made obvious by Laur in view of Kertz and Noureldin would require a system comprising a gas fractionation plant adjacent to the water pond; wherein the gas fractionation plant includes a carbon dioxide outlet discharging carbon dioxide at ≥99% purity; a hydrocarbon-water separator; a produced water pond receiving water generated during production of hydrocarbons from a subsurface reservoir; a produced water conduit extending between the gas fractionation plant and the produced water pond; a carbon dioxide transfer system including conduits extending from the carbon dioxide outlet of the gas fractionation plant to a compressor and from the compressor to the produced water pond and for produced water between the gas fractionation plant and the water pond; and a CO2 discharge positioned below a nominal water level of the produced water pond; wherein the system is configured to maintain the nominal water level of the produced water pond to be above the discharge position by adding the water generated during production of hydrocarbons from a subsurface reservoir, wherein the gas fractionation plant separates the hydrocarbon stream into CO2 and hydrocarbons of 2-5 carbon atoms per molecule by fractional distillation in column distillers; therefore, claims 8-9 and 14-16 are prima facie obvious.
Response to Arguments
Regarding the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Laur and Kertz, Lolling and/or Noureldin, Applicant asserts that neither Kertz, Lolling nor Noureldin, make up for the deficiencies of Laur. Applicant’s arguments regarding the disclosure of Laur are discussed on pp. 7-8 above. The rejections are maintained with modification to address claim amendments and for clarity.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Trent R Clarke whose telephone number is (571)272-2904. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-7 MST.
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/TRENT R CLARKE/ Examiner, Art Unit 1651
/DAVID W BERKE-SCHLESSEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1651
