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 .
Status of the Application
2. Claim 1-20 have been examined in this application. This communication is the first action on the merits.
Drawings
3. The drawings filed on 5/10/24 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the maximum vertical range, the maximum horizontal range, the minimum horizontal range, the minimum vertical range";
Claim 11, and 20 recites the limitation "the maximum vertical range, the maximum horizontal range, the minimum horizontal range, the minimum vertical range", “the standing valve opening point”, “the standing valve closing point”, “the traveling valve closing point”, “traveling valve opening point”;
Claim 8, and 18 recites the limitation "the oil and gas rig”.
There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 2-10 and 12-19 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C 112(b) due to their direct/indirect dependency over the claim 1, and 11 respectively.
5. 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.
6. Claim 2-10, and 12-19 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.
The filed specification does not describe the claimed limitation or subject matter of claim 2-10, and 12-19.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
7. 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
8. Claims 1, 4, 9-10, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract idea without significantly more as fully discussed below.
9. Regarding Independent claim 1, 20:
Step 1: Yes
Claim 1, and 20 are drawn to a method, and therefore falls under one of four categories of statutory subject matter (process/method, machines/products/apparatus, manufactures, and compositions of matter).
Step 2A, Prong 1: Yes
Independent claim 1, 20 are directed to a judicially recognized exception of an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim 1 recites claim limitation of “calculating a downhole card using surface data for load and rod position; normalizing the load and position values for the downhole card; calculating a slope function data set using load and position; using a slope function to find start and end indexes along the downhole card; for each start and end index determining its percentage of vertical range and percentage of horizontal range; assigning the end index having the minimum horizontal range with the maximum vertical range as a standing valve opening point; assigning the start index having the maximum horizontal range with the maximum vertical range as a standing valve closing point; assigning the start index having the minimum horizontal range with the minimum vertical range as a traveling valve closing point; assigning the end index having the minimum vertical range between a top of stroke and the traveling valve closing point as a traveling valve opening point”;
Claim 20 recites claim limitation of “calculating a downhole card using surface data for load and rod position; normalizing the load and position values for the downhole card; calculating a slope function data set using load and position; using a slope function to find start and end indexes along the downhole card; for each start and end index determining its percentage of vertical range and percentage of horizontal range; assigning the end index having the minimum horizontal range with the maximum vertical range as a standing valve opening point; assigning the start index having the maximum horizontal range with the maximum vertical range as a standing valve closing point; assigning the start index having the minimum horizontal range with the minimum vertical range as a traveling valve closing point; assigning the end index having the minimum vertical range between a top of stroke and the traveling valve closing point as a traveling valve opening point” that under their broadest reasonable interpretation, enumerates a mental concept. A human can mentally perform the calculate and assigning functions of the claimed limitation using the data.
Thus, these claimed functions are the judicial exceptions that are no more than a mental abstract idea (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)).
Step 2A, Prong 2: No
Claim 1, and 20 recites additional limitation of “A method for determining valve opening and closing positions in a downhole card for an oil and gas well” does not provide a patentable distinction since is not positively recited since a method claim covers what it is rather than what it does. Even if this is to be interpreted as having patentable weight, this portion of the preamble is akin to generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use (valve position control in oil and gas well) (MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Step 2B: No
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to
significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of "A method for determining valve opening and closing positions in a downhole card for an oil and gas well" is field of use.
As such, claim 1, and 20 are not patent eligible.
10. Dependent claims 4, and 9-10:
Step 1: Yes
Claim 4, 6-7, and 9-10 are drawn to a method, therefore claim 4, 6-7, and 9-10 falls under one of four categories of statutory subject matter (process/method, machines/products/apparatus, manufactures, and compositions of matter).
Step 2A, Prong 1: Yes
Dependent claim 4, 6-7, and 9-10 are directed to a judicially recognized exception of an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim 6 recites limitation of “using the traveling valve in the open position to assign the traveling valve opening point and using the traveling valve in the closed position to assign the traveling valve closed point”;
Claim 7 recites limitation of “assign the standing valve opening point and the standing valve closing point” that under their broadest reasonable interpretation, enumerates a mental concept. A human can mentally perform the assigning function recited into the claim.
Thus, these claimed functions are the judicial exceptions that are no more than a mental abstract idea (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)).
Step 2A, Prong 2: No
Claim 4 recites additional limitation of “recording the load and rod position during the at least one full rotation of the crank to thereby generate the surface data” are considered as do not integrate into practical application and are recited at a high level of generality such that thy amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception of recording using a generic computer component (MPEP 2106.95(f)).
Claim 9 recites additional limitation of “the standing valve closing point and the traveling valve opening point being more representative of the high position of the plunger than the standing valve opening point and the traveling valve closing point”;
Claim 10 recites additional limitation of “the standing valve opening point and the traveling valve closing point being more representative of the low position of the plunger than the standing valve closing point and the traveling valve opening point” does not provide a patentable distinction since is not positively recited since a method claim covers what it is rather than what it does. Even if this is to be interpreted as having patentable weight, this portion of the preamble is akin to generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use (valve position control in oil and gas well) (MPEP 2106.05(h)).
The combination of these additional elements does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Step 2B: No
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to
significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of " A method for determining valve opening and closing positions in a downhole card for an oil and gas well" is field of use.
As such, dependent claim 4, 6-7, and 9-10 are not patent eligible.
Pertinent Art Cited
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The closest prior art Pons (Pub: 2017/0016313) disclose a method for pump fillage determination for a reciprocating rod lift system. The method generally includes measuring downhole data during a pump cycle, wherein the downhole data comprises a first plurality of data points associated with an upstroke of the pump cycle and a second plurality of data points associated with a downstroke of the pump cycle, each data point comprising a rod position value and an associated rod load value; converting the data points to non-dimensional data points; calculating non-dimensional slope values between non-dimensional data points; and determining pump fillage based, at least part, on the calculated non-dimensional slope values (Para. [0017]).
Thus, by segmenting the downhole card (data) into finite increments—and using the method of slopes to determine the standing valve opening, standing valve closing, and traveling valve opening values—a detailed analysis is possible. For example, it may be possible to identify not only the downhole condition indicated by the card shape, but also where (e.g., in which rod part) the condition exists. This detailed analysis may be useful for pump control (Para. [0103]).
Best (Pub: 2014/0294603) disclose a pump card illustrating pump down control, showing a plot 200 of rod load in pounds verses rod position in inches. The up stroke of the pump is represented as the upper portion of the plot 200, running from point 202 at which the traveling valve closes, through point 204 at which the standing valve opens, and then to point 206 at which the standing valve closes. The downstroke is represented by the lower portion of the plot 200, running from the point 206, through point 208 at which the traveling valve opens, and then returning to the point 202 at which the traveling valve closes. The right side portion 210 of the plot 200 represents changes in the rod load which are encountered when pump off occurs. The rod load will remain at a larger weight until the traveling valve encounters the fluid level in the pump chamber, and then the rod load will decrease after entering fluid beneath the level of fluid in the pump chamber. The pump-off point 212 represents a point on the plot 200 which is selected as the point to reduce the speed of the pump to allow the fluid level to increase in the downhole pump chamber. The pump-off point 212 is detected when for a particular rod position the rod load is above a rod load at which the traveling valve is submerged (Para. [0051], Fig. 12).
Beck (Pub: 2007/0286750) disclose The down-hole pumping apparatus 68 includes a stationary valve 78, and a traveling valve 80. The traveling valve 80 is attached to a rod string 82 extending upward through the tubing 70 and exiting the well head 54 at the polished rod 52. Those having skill in the art will recognize that the down-hole pumping apparatus 68, in the exemplary embodiment of the invention, forms a traditional sucker-rod pump arrangement for lifting fluid from the bottom of the well 56 as the polished rod 52 imparts reciprocal motion to rod string 82 and the rod string 82 in turn causes reciprocal motion of the traveling valve 80 through a pump stroke 84. In a typical hydrocarbon well, the rod string 82 may be several thousand feet long and the pump stroke 84 may be several feet long (Para. [0079]).
Pons (Pub: 2020/0232312) disclose For example, in exemplary embodiments, the output from the method 200 can be used to automatically determine a number of important control parameters including, but not limited to, net stroke, fluid load, pump fillage, standing valve opening and closing, traveling valve opening and closing, pump horsepower, and friction assessment (Para. [0030]).
Lea Jr. (Pat: 10774627) disclose the method of the invention relates to a method and apparatus for adjusting inner cycle speed control of a pump motor to smooth rod loading and to possibly reduce rod loading, to reduce energy consumption and reduce gearbox loading (Col. 3, Ln. 28-32).
Mannai (Pub: 2021/0164337) disclose method of diagnosing or monitoring operation of a rod pump includes sensing pressure waves generated from movement of a pump plunger of the rod pump and detecting one or more operating states of the rod pump based at least partly on the sensed pressure waves (Para. [0005]).
Redmond (Pub: 2022/0195847) disclose methods and system for providing power to devices and instruments used on oil and gas wells and, more particularly, to methods and systems for generating power using the motion of a pump at an oil and gas well (Para. [0001]).
Allowable Subject Matter
There is no prior art rejection is provided for claim 1-20. The independent claim 1, 11, and 20 are allowable once the outstanding 35 U.S.C 101 abstract idea rejection, and 35 U.S.C 112(b), 35 U.S.C 112(a) rejection is overcome as discussed above.
Conclusion
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/JIGNESHKUMAR C PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116
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