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 Claim 8 in the reply filed on 3/3/2026 is acknowledged.
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 –
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 8-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Quin et al. (20250163898 – Quin).
Quin discloses a system, comprising:
Re claim 1:
a subsea turbine power system (i.e., figs. 1-11) comprising a turbine power plant 54 (i.e., figs. 2-3) configured to receive potential energy from a well fluid (i.e., fluid within 28) received from a hydrocarbon well and convert the potential energy into at least one of electrical energy (i.e., fig. 2) and mechanical energy;
a subsea equipment at least partially powered (i.e., pghs. 2, 36, electrical power to power wellsite operations) by at least one of the electrical energy and the mechanical energy produced by the subsea turbine power system;
at least one valve 56 (i.e., fig. 3) configured to control flow of the well fluid through the turbine power plant;
a sensor 62 configured to (i.e., pghs. 37 and 39):
obtain sensor feedback of a pressure of the well fluid;
obtain sensor feedback of a flow rate of the well fluid; or a combination thereof; and
a controller 38 having a processor 40, a memory 42, and instructions stored on the memory and executable by the processor (i.e., pgh. 34) to adjust the at least one valve to control the flow of the well fluid through the turbine power plant (i.e., pgh. 37).
Re claim 2, a valve (i.e., pgh. 43), a pump, a compressor, a controller, a sensor, a tree 16, a manifold 26, or any combination thereof.
Re claim 3, the subsea turbine power system is directly coupled to the subsea equipment (i.e., fig. 1).
Re claim 4, a retrievable module 48 configured to be retrieved by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) 30, wherein the retrievable module comprises at least the turbine power plant of the subsea turbine power system (i.e., the module connected to a remote platform 30 and the turbine power system/plant generally retrieved for the reuse after completing well operation, by a well operator on the platform as desired).
Re claim 6, a standalone module configured to fluidly couple to a tree associated with the hydrocarbon well (i.e., pgh. 33, “the formation fluid is directed from the subsea tree(s) 14 to a pipeline manifold 26 via one or more flowlines 28”), wherein the standalone module comprises the subsea turbine power system 54 .
Re claim 8, the subsea equipment is at least partially powered by the electrical energy produced by the subsea turbine power system (see claim 1), wherein the subsea turbine power system comprises one or more electrical generators 64driven by one or more turbines 54 to generate the electrical energy (i.e., fig. 2).
Re claim 9, the turbine power plant comprises a plurality of turbine driven electrical generators, each having an electrical generator driven by a turbine, wherein the plurality of turbine driven electrical generators is fluidly coupled in a parallel arrangement (i.e., pgh. 38, “multiple turbines 54 may be disposed in parallel”)
Re claim 10, the at least one valve 56 comprises a plurality of valves configured to independently control the flow of the well fluid through the plurality of turbine driven electrical generators (i.e., fig. 3 depicts the one valve 56 connected to the turbine 54, thus each one of a plurality of valves must be connected to the each one of the plurality of turbine and control the flow independently).
Re claim 11, the controller is further configured to selectively control the plurality of valves to independently control the flow of the well fluid through the plurality of turbine driven electrical generators based on the sensor feedback to: maintain the pressure between a lower pressure threshold and an upper pressure threshold; maintain the flow rate between a lower flow rate threshold and an upper flow rate threshold; or a combination thereof (i.e., pghs. 37 and 39).
Re claim 12, the subsea turbine power system comprises an energy storage system comprising one or more energy storage units, wherein the energy storage system is configured to receive power from the turbine power plant (i.e., pgh. 38, “magnet”- Magnetic energy is energy stored in magnetic fields and in the bonds of magnetized materials).
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.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Quinn.
Quinn discloses the retrievable module is coupled to a portion of a tree 14 (i.e., fig.1), but is silent on the retrievable module is removably coupled to a portion of a tree 14. However, structural elements removably coupled is well known by using thread. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to try the module and tree of Quinn with well-known thread for removable coupling.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited prior art all show similar features to those of the claimed invention.
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/YONG-SUK (PHILIP) RO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676
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