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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/21/2025 have been fully considered. Applicant has argued that the prior art does not teach the new limitation(s) added by amendment. The new limitation(s) will be addressed in the rejection(s) below.
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(s) 16-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez (US 20060124310) in view of Vinegar (US 20020029883).
Regarding claim 16, Lopez teaches: A downhole valve system deployable within a wellbore (Lopez 10) of a hydrocarbon well, wherein the wellbore contains a tubing string (Lopez 20) that extends within, the tubing string defining an interior portion (Lopez inside 20), and the wellbore and tubing string together defining an annulus (Lopez between 20/10) therebetween, wherein the downhole valve system comprises:
- a plurality of downhole valve assemblies (Lopez 25) couplable to the tubing string such as to be spaced apart along a length (Lopez Fig. 1, 4) of the tubing string, each of the valve assemblies is configured (Lopez [0024, 0026, 0033]) for bi-directional fluid flow between the interior portion of the tubing string and the annulus, wherein each of the plurality of valve assemblies comprises:
- a valve passage (Lopez near 36) that extends between the interior portion of the tubing string and the annulus, when the valve assembly is coupled to the tubing string; and
- a flow control member (Lopez 36) disposed within the valve passage, and is configured (Lopez [0033]) to be selectively and electrically actuated between an open state (Lopez [0033]), in which the flow control member permits fluid flow through the valve passage, and a closed state (Lopez [0033]), in which the flow control member restricts fluid flow through the valve passage;
- a power supply (Lopez connected via 64) configured to supply an electric current to electrically power the plurality of valve assemblies; and
- at least one controller (Lopez [0033]) programmed to selectively provide a respective control signal to each valve assemblies to control the plurality of valve assemblies,
wherein the at least one controller is configured (Lopez [0033]) to independently transition the flow control member of each valve assembly between the open state and the closed state but does not expressly state the valve is controlled based, at least in part, on a corresponding pressure measured inside the tubing string and/or the annulus.
Vinegar teaches a downhole valve system deployable within a wellbore (Vinegar 24) of a hydrocarbon well, wherein the wellbore contains a tubing string (Vinegar 26) that extends within, the tubing string defining an interior portion (Vinegar inside 26), and the wellbore and tubing string together defining an annulus (Vinegar 31) therebetween, wherein the downhole valve system comprises:
- a plurality of downhole valve assemblies (Vinegar comprising 220) couplable to the tubing string such as to be spaced apart along a length (Vinegar Fig. 1) of the tubing string, wherein each of the plurality of valve assemblies comprises:
- a valve passage (Vinegar near 230, 228) that extends between the interior portion of the tubing string and the annulus, when the valve assembly is coupled (Vinegar Fig. 3) to the tubing string; and
- a flow control member (Vinegar comprising 240) disposed within the valve passage, and is configured to be selectively and electrically actuated between an open state, in which the flow control member permits fluid flow through the valve passage, and a closed state, in which the flow control member restricts fluid flow through the valve passage;
- a power supply (Vinegar 166) configured to supply an electric current to electrically power the plurality of valve assemblies; and
- at least one controller (Vinegar at least one of 170/122) programmed (Vinegar [0106, 0108-0115]) to selectively provide a respective control signal to each valve assemblies to control the plurality of valve assemblies,
wherein the at least one controller is configured (Vinegar [0020]) to independently transition the flow control member of each valve assembly between the open state and the closed state based (Vinegar [0114]), at least in part, on a corresponding pressure measured inside the tubing string and/or the annulus.
It would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date (AIA ) or at the time the invention was made (Pre-AIA ), to have modified Lopez to include the electronics, actuation, and sensor systems of Vinegar to allow controlling the valve based, at least in part, on a corresponding pressure measured inside the tubing string and/or the annulus in order to allow the operator to optimize production by selectively isolating zones based on pressure differences between the zones.
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: The system of claim 16, wherein the flow control member operates as a binary valve configured (Lopez [0033]) to define only the open state and the closed state.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: The system of claim 16, but does not expressly state: wherein the flow control member, of one or more valve assemblies, is adjustable among a plurality of continuously variable positions between a fully closed position and a fully open position, and further wherein a control signal transmitted to the valve assembly specifies a position for the flow control member, the at least one controller being programmed to move the flow control member to the selected position in response to the control signal.
Vinegar teaches wherein the flow control member, of one or more valve assemblies, is adjustable (Vinegar [0097, 0101]) among a plurality of continuously variable positions between a fully closed position and a fully open position, and further wherein a control signal (Vinegar [0106, 0108-0115]) transmitted to the valve assembly specifies a position for the flow control member, the at least one controller being programmed to move the flow control member to the selected position in response to the control signal.
It would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date (AIA ) or at the time the invention was made (Pre-AIA ), to have modified the combination to include configuring the valve to use a plurality of continuously variable positions between a fully closed position and a fully open position in order to allow precise control of fluid communication through the valve, allowing the operator to optimize for pressure and/or flow rate.
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: The system of claim 16, wherein one or more valve assemblies further includes a respective at least one pressure sensor (Vinegar [0102-0106, 0109, 0114]) configured to detect a pressure in the interior portion of the tubing string and the annulus, wherein the at least one pressure sensor is configured to generate at least one pressure sensor signal, which is indicative of the pressure, and provides the at least one pressure sensor signal to the at least one controller, and further wherein the at least one controller is programmed (Vinegar [0106, 0108-0115]) to selectively transition the flow control member of a given valve assembly between the open state and the closed state based, at least in part, on the respective at least one pressure sensor signal.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one controller is programmed (Vinegar [0106, 0108-0115]) to independently transition the flow control member, of each valve assembly, between the open state and the closed state based, at least in part, on at least one pressure measurement that is associated with each valve assembly.
Regarding claim 21, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one pressure sensor comprises a first pressure sensor (Vinegar [0114]) positioned to measure an annular space pressure and a second pressure sensor (Vinegar [0114]) positioned to measure an inner tubing pressure.
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: The system of claim 16, wherein one or more valve assemblies further includes a flow sensor (Vinegar [0114]) configured to detect a flow rate through the valve passage.
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: A method of controlling fluid flow in the downhole valve system of claim 16, the method comprising:- measuring (Vinegar [0106-0115]), at each valve assembly, at least one pressure associated with the interior portion of the tubing string and the annulus;- selectively (Vinegar [0106-0120]) opening a selected valve assembly in the plurality of valve assemblies based, at least in part, on the respective at least one pressure measured at the selected valve assembly; and- permitting (Vinegar [0106-0120]) fluid flow through the valve passage of the selected valve assembly in response to the selective opening.
Regarding claim 24, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: The method of claim 23, further comprising:
(i) repeating (Vinegar [0124]) the measuring of the at least one pressure;
(ii) closing (Vinegar [0106-0124]) the selected valve assembly based, at least in part, on a change in the at least one pressure measured at that valve assembly;
(iii) selectively (Vinegar [0106-0124]) opening another valve assembly in the plurality of valve assemblies based, at least in part, on the change in the at least one pressure; and
(iv) permitting (Vinegar [0106-0124]) fluid flow through the valve passage of the other valve assembly.
Regarding claim 25, the combination of Lopez in view of Vinegar teaches: The method of claim 23, wherein the method further comprising adjusting (Vinegar [0106-0120]) a position of the flow control member of the selected valve assembly among a plurality of continuously variable positions (Vinegar [0097, 0101]) based, at least in part, on the at least one pressure measured at the selected valve assembly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David Carroll whose telephone number is (571)272-4808. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 2:00-10:00 PM EDT.
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, Doug Hutton can be reached at (571) 272-4137. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/David Carroll/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674