DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 September 3, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This Action is in response to the above referenced RCE.
Applicant’s amendment to claims 1 and 22, and the associated arguments, overcome the previously presented 35 USC 102(a)(1) rejection thereof.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 22 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 35 USC 112(a) presented in the previous Office Action have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 112(a) rejection of claims 1-25 has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 2, 21, 22, and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by McLaughlin et al. (US 2021/0238937, McLaughlin).
Regarding claims 1 and 22: McLaughlin disclose a wellhead system 100 for monitoring landing of a wellhead component 109 at a pre-determined landed position in a main bore of a wellhead member of a wellhead 102 – Abstract, comprising:
a running tool 110 configured to couple to the wellhead component 109, to land the wellhead component within the main bore of the wellhead member fig 1, and to decouple from the wellhead component [0027];
a passive triggering device “reference points” – [0016] disposed in or on the running tool;
a pressure-containing instrument spool 106 separate from the wellhead, configured to connect within the wellhead at a location above the landed position of the wellhead component Fig 1, the instrument spool forming a bore to align with the main bore of the wellhead member and to provide clearance for the wellhead component and the running tool to be run therethrough Fig 1, the instrument spool having a generally vertical height dimension such that Fig 1, in the pre-determined landed position, the passive triggering device is located in the bore of the instrument spool Fig 1; and
a sensor assembly 104/210 disposed in or on the instrument spool Fig 1, [0016], the sensor assembly including one or more active sensors 104A-C/210A-C – [0016], [0017], [0021], [0022] to monitor landing of the wellhead component in the wellhead member located below the instrument spool based on landing information detected by the one or more active sensors within the bore of the instrument spool, to generate an output signal conveying the landing information, and to transmit the output signal to a remote location 208 – [0025].
Regarding claim 2: Wherein:
the running tool includes one or more of the passive triggering devices “reference points” – [0016]; and
the landing information is detected by one or more of:
(i) conductive contact between at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices and at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre- determined landed position;
(ii) a proximate position of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre-determined landed position optical, sonic, or magnetic sensors – [0016];
(iii) relative movement of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is rotated in the pre-determined landed position; and
(iv) a change in a magnetic flux signature detected by at least one of the one or more active sensors when the running tool is coupled to the wellhead component compared to when the running tool is decoupled from the wellhead component magnetic sensors – [0016].
Regarding claim 21: The wellhead system configured as a wellhead assembly and further comprising the wellhead component and the wellhead member Fig 1.
Regarding claim 22: McLaughlin discloses a method of monitoring the landing and retrieving of a wellhead component at a pre-determined landed position in a main bore of a wellhead member of a wellhead using the above described wellhead system [0021]-[0028].
Regarding claim 25: Wherein the wellhead member is a casing head or a tubing head Fig 1, holds tubing hanger 109.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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) 2-5, 9-14, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McLaughlin in view of Stephens et al. (US 2017/0362910, Stephens).
Claim 2 is being alternately rejected for the purpose of addressing claims that depend therefrom. Claim 2 should be considered to be anticipated by McLaughlin as set forth above.
Regarding claim 2: McLaughlin discloses the running tool includes one or more of the passive triggering devices “reference points” – [0016]; and
the landing information is detected by one or more of:
(i) conductive contact between at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices and at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre- determined landed position;
(ii) a proximate position of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre-determined landed position optical, sonic, or magnetic sensors – [0016];
(iii) relative movement of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is rotated in the pre-determined landed position; and
(iv) a change in a magnetic flux signature detected by at least one of the one or more active sensors when the running tool is coupled to the wellhead component compared to when the running tool is decoupled from the wellhead component magnetic sensors – [0016].
McLaughlin fails to disclose that the landing information is detected by one or more of:
(i) conductive contact between at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices and at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre- determined landed position; and
(iii) relative movement of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is rotated in the pre-determined landed position.
Stephens discloses a wellhead system Fig 1, 10-13 for monitoring landing or retrieving of a wellhead component 26/212 at a pre-determined landed position in a main bore of a wellhead member 22 – casing spool of a wellhead 22, 32, 36, Fig 1, 10-13, comprising:
a running tool 38/100 configured to couple to the wellhead component [0035], [0042], to land or retrieve the wellhead component within the main bore of the wellhead member, and to decouple from the wellhead component [0063];
a passive triggering device 44 on 38/100 disposed in or on the running tool Fig 1, 10-13;
a pressure-containing spool 24 within the wellhead Fig 1 – each of 22, 24, 32, and 36 are separate components, configured to connect within the wellhead at a location above the landed position of the wellhead component Fig 1, 10-13, the spool forming a bore to align with the main bore of the wellhead member and to provide clearance for the wellhead component and the running tool to be run therethrough Fig 1, 10-13, the instrument spool having a generally vertical height dimension such that, in the pre-determined landed position, the passive triggering device is located in the bore of the spool Fig 1, 10-13; and
a sensor assembly 44 on 24, the sensor assembly including one or more active sensors 44, Fig 1, 10-13, disposed in or on the spool to monitor landing or retrieving of the wellhead component in the wellhead member located below the spool based on landing information detected within the bore of the instrument spool Fig 1, 10-13, to generate an output signal conveying the landing information, and to transmit the output signal to a remote location [0036], [0037], [0084]-[0095],
wherein the running tool includes one or more of the passive triggering devices 44, Fig 1, 10-13; and
the landing information is detected by one or more of:
(i) conductive contact between at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices and at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre- determined landed position [0036], [0068]-[0070];
(ii) a proximate position of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre-determined landed position [0036], [0068], [0075]-[0078];
(iii) relative movement of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is rotated in the pre-determined landed position [0036], [0067]; and
(iv) a change in a magnetic flux signature detected by at least one of the one or more active sensors when the running tool is coupled to the wellhead component compared to when the running tool is decoupled from the wellhead component [0036], [0077], [0078].
It is recognized that the spool of Stephens is not an instrument spool separate from the wellhead however the operation of the sensors therein with the passive devices on the running tool would function the same as those in McLaughlin.
It would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified McLaughlin so that the landing information included conductive contact between at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices and at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre- determined landed position or relative movement of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is rotated in the pre-determined landed position, as taught by Stephens, since these, and those taught in McLaughlin, are all position sensors and the examiner notes of the equivalence of various types of position sensors for their use in the wellbore component landing art and the selection of any of these known equivalents to use in McLaughlin would be within the level of ordinary skill in the art, as taught by Stephens.
Regarding claim 3: Wherein the landing information is detected by:
one or more of (i), (ii), and (iii), with or without (iv) one or more – [0036] of Stephens;
(ii) and (iii), with or without (iv) one or more – [0036] of Stephens; or
(i), (ii) and (iii), with or without (iv) one or more – [0036] of Stephens.
Regarding claim 4: Wherein at least one of the one or more active sensors is a proximity sensor disposed in the instrument spool, and at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices is a positional indicator disposed in or on the running tool such that the proximity sensor and the positional indicator are generally horizontally aligned, one with another, when the wellhead component is in the pre-determined landed position [0036], [0068]-[0070], [0075]-[0078] of Stephens.
Regarding claim 5: Wherein the proximity sensor is sealed in a radial bore Fig 1 of McLaughlin extending from the bore of the instrument spool such that the proximity sensor is positioned at the bore [0016] of McLaughlin.
Regarding claim 9: Wherein the passive positional indicator is selected from a permanent magnet disposed on an exterior surface of the running tool, a ferrous or non-ferrous metal material provided on or formed on an exterior surface of the running tool, and a ferrous or non-ferrous geometric metal feature provided on or formed on an exterior surface of the running tool [0070], [0077], [0078] of Stephens.
Regarding claim 10: Wherein the proximity sensor is a magnetic field sensor such as a Hall-Effect sensor, and the passive positional indicator is a permanent magnet [0070], [0077], [0078] of Stephens.
Regarding claim 11: Wherein at least one of the one or more active sensors is a resistance sensor disposed in or at the bore of the instrument spool, and the one or more passive triggering devices is a conductive element disposed on an exterior surface of the running tool such that the conductive element makes conductive contact with the resistance sensor when the wellhead component is in the pre- determined landed position [0036], [0068] of Stephens.
Regarding claim 12: Wherein the running tool, the instrument spool, the wellhead component and the wellhead member are electrically conductive such that the conductive contact between the conductive element and the resistance sensor closes an electrical circuit between the running tool, the instrument spool, the wellhead component and the wellhead member when the wellhead component is in the pre-determined landed position aligned within a landing profile of the wellhead member [0036], [0068] of Stephens – Eddy current sensors.
Regarding claim 13: Wherein the pre-determined landed position includes the wellhead component landed against a landing shoulder 122 of McLaughlin in the wellhead member.
Regarding claim 14: Wherein the conductive element is made of a conductive material metal as shown by the cross-hatching in Figures 10-13 of Stephens disposed on the running tool.
Regarding claim 18: Wherein the wellhead component is selected from the group consisting of a casing hanger, a tubing hanger 109 of McLaughlin, a plug, a packer, a sealing assembly, a packoff bushing, and a wear bushing.
Regarding claim 19: Wherein the wellhead component is a tubing hanger, and wherein the instrument spool is configured to connect above a tubing head into which the tubing hanger is landed, and to be removable from the wellhead after landing the tubing hanger and removing the running tool from the wellhead Fig 1, [0027] of McLaughlin.
Regarding claim 20: Wherein the sensor assembly includes a data acquisition and data processing unit 400 – Fig 15, [0096] of Stephens to process sensor output and a transmitter 402 – Fig 15, [0096] of Stephens to transmit the processed output signal to a telemetry unit for transmission to the remote location.
Claim(s) 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McLaughlin in view of Markel et al. (US 2007/0051512, Markel).
Regarding claims 15 and 17: McLaughlin discloses that the active sensors can be magnetic sensors but fails to disclose that at least one of the one or more active sensors is a geo-magnetic sensor disposed in or on the instrument spool to detect a change in the magnetic flux signature of the running tool coupled to the wellhead component compared to the magnetic flux signature of the running tool decoupled from the wellhead component in order to confirm successful landing and decoupling of the wellhead component when the running tool is removed from the wellhead.
Markel disclose a wellhead system similar to that of McLaughlin. Markel discloses that the sensors 20, 22 can be a variety of magnetic sensors including Hall effect sensors and anisotropic magneto-resistive (AMR) sensor [0049].
It would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified McLaughlin to use a geo-magnetic sensors since the examiner notes the equivalence of magnetic sensors and geo-magnetic sensors for their use in detecting the landing of wellhead components and the selection of any of these known equivalents to use in McLaughlin would be within the level of ordinary skill in the art as taught by Markel.
Regarding claim 16: Wherein the geo-magnetic sensor is mounted on an exterior surface of the instrument spool [0034], Fig 1 of Markel.
Claim(s) 23 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McLaughlin in view of Broussard et al. (US 2013/0062056, Broussard).
Regarding claim 23: McLaughlin discloses that the wellhead is a surface wellhead [0008]-[0010]. McLaughlin discloses all of the limitations of the above claim(s) except the method further comprising, after landing or retrieving, removing one or more components of the sensor assembly from the instrument spool and/or removing the instrument spool from the wellhead.
Broussard discloses that it is well known that, after a tubing hanger is installed in a wellhead, that the bore through the hanger is sealed and the BOP stack (spool) is removed [0008].
It would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified McLaughlin so that the method further included removing the instrument spool after the tubing hanger was landed and the running tool removed, as taught by Broussard, so that the wellbore could be prepped for a production tree and the well put into production [0008].
Regarding claim 24: Wherein:
the running tool includes one or more of the passive triggering devices “reference points” – [0016] of McLaughlin; and
the landing information is detected by one or more of:
(i) conductive contact between at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices and at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre- determined landed position;
(ii) a proximate position of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is in the pre-determined landed position optical, sonic, or magnetic sensors – [0016] of McLaughlin;
(iii) relative movement of at least one of the one or more passive triggering devices relative to at least one of the one or more active sensors when the wellhead component is rotated in the pre-determined landed position; and
(iv) a change in a magnetic flux signature detected by at least one of the one or more active sensors when the running tool is coupled to the wellhead component compared to when the running tool is decoupled from the wellhead component magnetic sensors – [0016] of McLaughlin.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 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:
Regarding claim 6: The prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a wellhead system that includes a plurality of proximity sensors circumferentially spaced around an instrument spool to detect the rotational movement of a positional indicator on or in a running tool as recited in the claimed combination.
Regarding claim 7: The prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a wellhead system that includes a plurality of passive positional indicators circumferentially spaced in or on a running tool and a proximity sensor on an instrument spool for detecting the rotational movement of the positional indicators as recited in the claimed combination.
Regarding claim 8: The prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a wellhead system that includes a plurality of proximity sensors circumferentially spaced in an instrument spool and a plurality of passive positional indicators circumferentially spaced in or on a running tool such that the sensors detect the rotational movement of the positional indicators as recited in the claimed combination.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER H GAY whose telephone number is (571)272-7029. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 6-3:30 and every other Friday 6-11.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anita Y Coupe can be reached at (571)270-3614. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENNIFER H GAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
JHG
9/29/2025