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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 14-17 in the reply filed on 05/27/2026 is acknowledged. The Applicant has cancelled non-elected claims 1-13 and 18.
Claims 14-17 are pending and under consideration for this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 14: The limitation claiming “…comprising a spaced apart first and further open mouth at respective ends of the mount body…” is unclear because it appears that a word is missing after “first”. For the prior art rejection, the limitation will be read as claiming a “space part first end” based on page 12 of the instant specification (“The mount body 350 has a tapered first end 365 at a downstream end of the mount body 350 and a further tapered end 370 spaced apart from the first end at an upstream end of the mount body”).
Claim 16: The claim is unclear because claim 14 claims that there is a flexible pipe body with a mount body surrounding the flexible pipe body. This mount body has a cylindrical inner surface and spaced apart recessed regions in an outer surface. It is unclear then how the outer sheath material of the flexible pipe body can be urged into the recessed regions if the recessed regions are on the outside surface of the mount body because those two surfaces would not touch. The Figures show recessed regions (see e.g. #650 on Fig 6) on the other side of the mount body relative to the sheath material. For the prior art rejection, claim 16 will be interpreted as meaning that during the clamping step the outer sheath material is urged towards the mounting body.
Any claims dependent on the above claim(s) are rejected for their dependence.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 14-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Berton et al (US 6858117 B2).
Claim 14: Berton discloses a method of securing an anode to a flexible pipe (see e.g. abstract), comprising the steps of:
determining a location along a region of flexible pipe body (see e.g. Fig 2) where a cylindrical mount body (see e.g. #15 on Fig 2 and Fig 3), comprising a spaced apart first end and further open mouth at respective ends of the mount body (see e.g. opening of #14 on Fig 1 and #15 on Fig 3) and a substantially cylindrical inner surface (see e.g. interface of the inner surface of #15 with pipe surface #2 on Fig 2 and Fig 3) and a plurality of spaced apart recessed regions in an outer surface (see e.g. #20 on Fig 2 and Fig 3), is located (see e.g. col 4, lines 53-60); and
securing an anode or anode clamp element to the mount body (see e.g. col 4, lines 33-40: “at least one anode 17 which is fastened to the clamp”) by locating a securing element (see e.g. #23 on Fig 2), located between the recessed regions, through an outer sheath of the flexible pipe body (see e.g. #23 and #4 on Fig 2; col 4, lines 53-64).
Claim 15: Berton discloses clamping the anode or anode clamp element to the outer sheath on opposed sides of a location where the securing element is located through the outer sheath (see e.g. #15, #23 on Fig 3).
Claim 16: Berton discloses that via the clamping step, urging outer sheath material into the spaced apart recessed regions of the cylindrical mount body (see e.g. col 4, lines 33-40), thereby providing a fluid seal on a first and remaining side of the securing element (see e.g. col 5, lines 12-18).
Claim 17: Berton discloses that the method is a method of securing an anode to a portion of flexible pipe body via a mount body (see e.g. abstract).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER W KEELING whose telephone number is (571)272-9961. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Luan Van can be reached at 571-272-8521. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER W KEELING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1795
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