(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 .
The amendment filed on April 24, 2026 has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-7 and 9-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 11, and 16, “adjust the fracking operations in response to detecting the presence of the solid slug”, where the “solid slug flows through the flow path of the fluid conduit” is not described in the original disclosure.
The original disclosure in US 16/490,616 discloses “[e]xample systems and methods disclosed herein provide for monitoring, controlling, and characterizing fluid from fracking operations using a MPFM in conjunction with a conductivity probe” (paragraph 0029). Paragraph 0029 does not disclose controlling/adjusting fracking operations. The original disclosure in US 16/490,616 further discloses “[f]racking jobs, however, should not be operated in conditions of continuous sand production” (paragraph 0066). Paragraph 0066 discloses no fracking jobs rather than adjusting fracking jobs in conditions of continuous sand production. Further, the sand production is not detected in the flow path of a fluid conduit.
Claim 21, “adjusting the fracking operations comprises controlling the CT unit to adjust at least one of injection, return rate, pressure, inflow-outflow balance conditions, or any combination thereof, of the fracking operations” is not described in the original disclosure. Rather, the original disclosure in US 16/490,616 discloses “[r]eal-time or substantially real-time transmission of the dynamic fluid and solids rate information to a coil tubing (CT) unit enables well operators to guide and manage injection, return rate, and pressure and to optimize inflow-outflow balance conditions” (paragraph 0032). Injection, return rate, and pressure and to optimize inflow-outflow balance conditions are not disclosed as fracking operations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments and amendments filed on April 24, 2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant’s arguments and amendment with respect to objection to the specification have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection to the specification has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and amendments with respect to objections to the drawings have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objections to the drawings have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and amendment with respect to claim objection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The claim objection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and amendment with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections under 35 USC 101 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments with respect to the nonstatutory double patenting rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The nonstatutory double patenting rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and amendment with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections under 35 USC 103 have been withdrawn.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Nghiem whose telephone number is (571) 272-2277. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Schechter can be reached at (571) 272-2302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/MICHAEL P NGHIEM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857 June 16, 2026
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