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 .
Notice to Applicant
Claims 1-10 have been examined in this application. This communication is the first action on the merits of these claims.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10 are rejected under 35 USC 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Number 2022/0081781 by Zhu
Regarding claim 1, James discloses an energy transportation system comprising:
A transportation ship (transport ship 8) provided with a storage storing an energy source (paragraph 28 discloses “the transport ship 8 being used for extracting hydrogen in the large hydrogen storage tank 3 periodically and transporting the hydrogen to the land”);
A power generation facility located outside the transportation ship and configured to supply an energy source to the storage (paragraph 17 discloses “electrolyzing seawater by a seawater electrolytic cell device to produce hydrogen”); and
A reception facility located outside the transportation ship and configured to receive a supply of an energy source from the storage (paragraph 63 discloses “hydrogen can be conveyed to the land to be used as a fuel and the like by human” and Figure 3 shows ship 8 delivering to a facility).
Regarding claim 3 (dependent on claim 1), Zhu disclose the storage is a hydrogen tank. Paragraph 28 discloses “the transport ship 8 being used for extracting hydrogen in the large hydrogen storage tank 3 periodically and transporting the hydrogen to the land”.
Regarding claim 4 (dependent on claim 1), Zhu discloses the power generation facility is located offshore. Zhu discusses offshore wind power plants throughout, as well as the bottom of large hydrogen storage tank 3 being erected on a seabed.
Regarding claim 6 (dependent on claim 1), Zhu discloses the reception facility is located on shore. Paragraph 28 discloses “the transport ship 8 being used for extracting hydrogen in the large hydrogen storage tank 3 periodically and transporting the hydrogen to the land”. Land is on shore.
Regarding claim 9 (dependent on claim 1), Zhu discloses the storage is configured to be removable from the transportation ship. Figure 3 and embodiment 3 discloses an embodiment in which the hydrogen is stored and delivered in small hydrogen storage tanks 6.
Regarding claim 10, James discloses an energy transportation system comprising transporting an energy source by a transportation ship provided with a storage storing the energy source (paragraph 28 discloses “the transport ship 8 being used for extracting hydrogen in the large hydrogen storage tank 3 periodically and transporting the hydrogen to the land”) from a power generation facility outside the transportation ship (paragraph 17 discloses “electrolyzing seawater by a seawater electrolytic cell device to produce hydrogen”) to a reception facility outside the transportation ship (paragraph 63 discloses “hydrogen can be conveyed to the land to be used as a fuel and the like by human” and Figure 3 shows ship 8 delivering to a facility).
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 USC 103 as being obvious over US Patent Application Number 2022/0081781 by Zhu in view of US Patent Application Number 2006/0180364 by Wobben.
Regarding claim 2 (dependent on claim 1), Zhu does not disclose the storage is a storage battery. However, this limitation is taught by Wobben. Wobben discloses a method for transporting electric energy using a ship 10 between a power generator 20 and a land network 30, and paragraph 19 discloses that the ship can transport a battery storage device. Zhu suggests that electrical energy as well as hydrogen can be generated by wind generator 1 and embodiment 2 suggests that electrical energy can be transported to land for use. It would thus be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhu using the teachings from Wobben to use alternative ways to store and transport electricity to land.
Claims 5, 7 are rejected under 35 USC 103 as being obvious over US Patent Application Number 2022/0081781 by Zhu in view of US Patent Application Number 2009/0115190 by Devine.
Regarding claim 5 (dependent on claim 4), Zhu does not disclose the transportation ship at sea receives an energy source form the power generation facility via a cable. However, this limitation is taught by Devine. Devine discloses a system for producing hydrogen offshore and transporting the hydrogen using container ships 31 to a port 30, and paragraph 98 discloses “the spherical type container 101 is in liquid communication with hydrogen through pipe 105 and conduit 106…hydrogen may be transferred away from the container 101 to a shipping container either located on a ship or a container that may be loaded onto a ship”. It would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhu using the teachings from Devine to use known ways to transport hydrogen from a storage tank to a transport ship.
Regarding claim 7 (dependent on claim 6), Zhu and Devine do not explicitly disclose the transportation ship at sea supplies an energy source to the reception facility via a cable. However, Devine suggests the use of conduit 106 to transfer hydrogen between storage container 101 and a ship, and paragraph 50 discloses a port 30 on land that can receive and store hydrogen from ships 31 and 32. It would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhu and Devine to use conduits to also transfer the hydrogen between the ship and port 30.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 USC 103 as being obvious over US Patent Application Number 2022/0081781 by Zhu in view of US Patent Application Number 2015/0144500 by James.
Regarding claim 8 (dependent on claim 1), Zhu does not disclose the reception facility is a ship capable of navigating using an energy source supplied from the transportation ship as a power source. However, this limitation is taught by James. James discloses an offshore hydrogen production facility, and paragraph 24 discloses “the hydrogen 145 separated from the water may be used to power the one or more previously decommissioned US Navy ships 107 as transport ships 117”. It would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhu using the teachings from James in order to use the hydrogen produced in known ways.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL H WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-6554. The examiner can normally be reached 10-6:30.
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MICHAEL H. WANG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3642
/MICHAEL H WANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642