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 .
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 12, 15, 16, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Behrens et al. (SE 1600316) in view of Johanson (EP 3913268).
Behrens et al. discloses a method of operating a submarine power cable having a plurality of power cores (15a-15c), each including a conductor and an insulation system arranged around the conductor (page 6, lines 19-21); an outer layer (19) arranged around the power cores; a filler profile (1) having an outer circumferential boundary that includes two inner arcs (5, 7), each receiving a portion of a respective one of the two power cores, and an outer arc (3) which is curved towards the outer layer; and a fluid channel (middle chamber 9) arranged inside the filler profile from one end of the cable to an opposite end of the cable, and wherein the fluid channel extends along the entire length of the filler profile, and wherein the fluid channel (middle chamber 9) is arranged centered relative to the two inner arcs (5, 7) and the outer arc (3), the method comprising transporting electricity by means of the power cores (re-claim 12). Behrens et al. also discloses the filler profile being made of a polymeric material (page 5) (re-claim 21).
Behrens et al. does not disclose the insulation system including an inner semiconducting layer arranged around the conductor, an insulation layer arranged around the inner semiconducting layer, and an outer semiconducting layer arranged around the insulation layer; and the method comprising transporting fluid through the fluid channel (re-claim 12).
Although not disclosed in the Behrens et al., it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to provide the insulation system of Behrens et al. with an inner semiconducting layer arranged around the conductor, an insulation layer arranged around the inner semiconducting layer, and an outer semiconducting layer arranged around the insulation layer to meet the specific use of the resulting method since such insulation system is well-known in the art.
Johanson discloses a method of operating a submarine power cable comprising transporting fluid through a fluid channel in a filler profile (210) (re- claim 12). Johanson also discloses the fluid being hydrogen gas (re-claim 16). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to not only use the cable of Behrens et al. to transport electricity but also transport hydrogen gas through the fluid channel as well, as taught by Johanson, since hydrogen gas plays a vital role in future energy infrastructure.
Re-claim 15, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to choose a suitable pressure for transporting the fluid in the modified method of Behrens et al. since transporting a fluid with a pressure up to 500 mbar is known in the art, and it has been held that when the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable range involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Behrens et al. in view of Johanson et al. as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Gidley (4619323).
Claim 14 additionally recites performing step a) and b) simultaneously. Gidley discloses a method of operating a power cable, the method comprising: a) transporting electricity by means of a plurality of power cores (15) and b) transporting fluid through a fluid channel (11), wherein step a) and b) are performed simultaneously (col. 4, lines 18-20). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to apply the teaching of Gidley when operating the modified power cable of Behrens et al. to transport electricity and fluid at the same time.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 12 have been considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAU N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1980. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 7am to 5:30pm.
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/CHAU N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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