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 § 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.
Claims 5-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a), because the specification, while being enabling for a predictive model comprises calibration parameters that are [0095: salinity and density]. The disclosure does not provide disclosure for all parameters in a water property predictive model that uses a multiphase flowmeter for measurement variables.
Claims 5-10 and its dependent claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a), as failing to comply with the scope of enablement requirement. In Applicant' s case the breadth of the claims extends beyond the disclosure of calibration parameters that are [0095: salinity and density]. The disclosure does not provide disclosure for all parameters in a water property predictive model that uses a multiphase flowmeter for measurement variables.
There are many factors to be considered when determining whether there is sufficient evidence to support a determination that a disclosure does not satisfy the enablement requirement and whether any necessary experimentation is “undue.” In this case, the relevant Wand factors Examiner has considered are :
2164.01(a) Undue Experimentation Factors [R-01.2024]
(A) The breadth of the claims;
(B) The nature of the invention;
(C) The state of the prior art;
(D) The level of one of ordinary skill;
(E) The level of predictability in the art;
(F) The amount of direction provided by the inventor;
(G) The existence of working examples; and
(H) The quantity of experimentation needed to make or use the invention based on the content of the disclosure.
The disclosure does not provide additional working examples or indication of any other type of calibration parameter other than density and salinity. Absence of disclosure all parameters that can be used in predictive models. The scope of the claimed parameters beyond the disclosure places on the public the entire quantity of experimentation needed to make or use the full scope of Claims 5-10 and over reaches the disclosed concept.
Consistent with office policy, Examiner has weighed all the evidence for and against enablement of this invention and has concluded based on guidance provided by the MPEP and case law (including the Wands factors) that there is not enough evidence in favor of the scope of the enablement of this invention.
Applicant may submit factual affidavits under 37 CFR 1.132 or cite references to show what one skilled in the art knew at the time of filing the application. A declaration or affidavit is, itself, evidence that must be considered. The weight to give a declaration or affidavit will depend upon the amount of factual evidence the declaration or affidavit contains to support the conclusion of enablement. In re Buchner, 929 F.2d 660, 661, 18 USPQ2d 1331, 1332 (Fed. Cir. 1991) (“expert' s opinion on the ultimate legal conclusion must be supported by something more than a conclusory statement”); cf. In re Alton, 76 F.3d 1168, 1174, 37 USPQ2d 1578, 1583 (Fed. Cir. 1996) (declarations relating to the written description requirement should have been considered)”.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1 & 19-20 recite a similar limitation ”one or more water properties during at least a portion of the flowback production period using the multiphase flow data and a predictive model; and based on the determining, outputting values indicative of one or more of oil flow rate, gas flow rate, and water flow rate during the flowback production period” which is unclear as to whether the water properties are the one or more of oil flow rate, gas flow rate, and water flow rate. Examiner looks to the specification [0030: properties of the phase derivable from the volumetric and/or mass flow rate. Such properties can be determined for each phase detected in the substance or fluid] therefore the properties are the outputting values requiring clarity as the liquid properties.
Claim 2 recites a limitation “water salinity increases with respect to time toward a formation water salinity of the formation fluid during the flowback production period” which does not seem to further limit the method of Claim 1 and seems informative rather than constraining the steps of Claim 1.
Claim 5 recites the limitation “the predictive model comprises parameters” which is unclear as all predictive models comprise parameters therefore the claim does not further limit the claimed predictive models.
All dependent claims are rejected for their dependence on a rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1&2) as being anticipated by Theuveny (US 20200003599: “Theuveny”).
Claim 1. Theuveny discloses a method comprising: receiving multiphase flow data [0027] via a multiphase flow meter [0003: MPFM a multiphase flow meter (MPFM), such as a gamma-ray fraction meter] (Fig. 2: 202) during a flowback production period [0072] of a hydraulically fractured well (215) that extends into a formation [0045] that comprises formation fluid [0034] [0049] ; determining one or more water properties [0035: MPFM 202 with the conductivity probe 204 enables improved measurement of the individual-phase holdup (e.g., fractional portions of each phase within a fluid traversed by gamma-ray or x-ray radiation beam) and flow rate of well fluids (e.g. gas, oil, and water) and/or solids during FPDO and flowback operations] during at least a portion of the flowback production period using the multiphase flow data and a predictive model [0004] & [0032] and based on the determining [0004-0005], outputting values indicative of one or more of oil flow rate, gas flow rate, and water flow rate during the flowback production period [0004-0005] & [0035-0036].
Claim 2. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses water salinity increases with respect to time toward a formation water salinity of the formation fluid [0003-0004] during the flowback production period [0006].
Claim 3. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses receiving data from a water sample taken during the flowback production period [0003] and adjusting the predictive model (Fig. 7) using the data [0064: then the model may need to be recalibrated and re-adjusted to secure the operating envelope] & [0071-0073].
Claim 4. Dependent on the method of claim 3. Theuveny further discloses the data from the water sample comprises water density data (718) and temperature data (714)[0073: the computation of MPFM mixture density and individual flow rates (e.g., by the data processor(s) 216), and of the bottom hole pressure in the workflow for modeling of the fractured well] [0089] and wherein the one or more water properties comprise one or more of water salinity (Fig. 7) and water mass attenuations [0073: linear attenuation coefficients of all the individual phases λ.sub.i(E.sub.j) (i=‘o’, ‘g’, ‘w’, ‘s’; j=1, 2, 3). If there are changes in the fluids properties from the values of the in-situ references, such as a change in the water salinity sal (in weight percentage), this will cause a change in the brine mass attenuation coefficient μ.sub.w(E.sub.j) as follows (where .sub.μH2O and μ.sub.salt-species are mass attenuation coefficients of pure water and the salt species in water, such as sodium chloride NaCl)].
Claim 5. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses the predictive model comprises parameters [0035-0038 flow rates and attenuation].
Claim 6. Dependent on the method of claim 5. Theuveny further discloses adjusting the predictive model (Figs. 7 & 9) by fitting the parameters [0068-0073 salinity] to data acquired from at least one water sample collected from the hydraulically fractured well [0062-0063].
Claim 7. Dependent on the method of claim 6. Theuveny further discloses the fitting determines parameter values (Fig. 7 salinity) for the parameters [0068-0073] .
Claim 8. Dependent on the method of claim 5. Theuveny further discloses acquiring water property data for one or more of the one or more water properties during the flowback production period [0049] [0062] and adjusting at least one of the parameters using at least a portion of the water property data [0047].
Claim 9. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses the predictive model (Fig. 9) comprises a plurality of parameters [0101] and wherein values for the parameters are determined by fitting the predictive model to data from a number of water samples taken during the flowback production period [0004: series of post job in-situ calibrations for the water are performed to modify the MPFM data, such as gamma-ray water attenuations, as represented by block 110 of FIG. 1. The calibrations are provided to a data processor 112 that is in communication with the MPFM 102 and that generates one or more outputs based on fluid flow data generated by the MPFM 102. In particular, the calibrations from the manual sampling analysis are provided to the data processor 112 to enable the data processor 112 to generate individual-phase flow-rate computations (e.g., gas flow rate, oil flow rate, water flow rate) determined based on the data collected by the MPFM 102 that account for changes in salinity] & [0096].
Claim 10. Dependent on the method of claim 9. Theuveny further discloses the number of water samples [0033: Monitoring (e.g., at a high data-sampling frequency) pressure and flow rates in real-time or substantially real-time (e.g., during flow of the fluid through the MPFM) by using the MPFM may further identify changes in well performance. Another example use of the systems and methods disclosed herein is to monitor changes of salinity (i.e., water chemistry)] is more than the number of parameters [0033: salinity (i.e., water chemistry)].
Claim 11. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses the multiphase flow comprises water, oil and gas [0003: Conductivity probes or systems are sometimes used to measure the conductivity of water contained in oil/water/gas multiphase flows. The water conductivity measurement may then be used to infer changes in water salinity or to track changes in calibration of the water mass-attenuation coefficient provided to a multiphase flow meter (MPFM), such as a gamma-ray fraction meter] & [0038-0040].
Claim 12. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses the multiphase flow meter (202) emits at least two incident gamma ray energy levels [0071-0072: gives as many equations as the number of distinct energy levels in the electromagnetic radiation from the emitter of the example MPFM(s) 202, 302, 402, 502…The 4×4 attenuation matrix A above (i.e. the matrix including the phase-specific attenuation coefficients for three appropriately chosen energy levels E1, E2 & E].
Claim 13. Dependent on the method of claim 12. Theuveny further discloses the predictive model accounts for water mass attenuations at the at least two incident gamma ray energy levels wherein the water mass attenuations depend on one or more of water density and water salinity [0073: matrix A contains linear attenuation coefficients of all the individual phases λ.sub.i(E.sub.j) (i=‘o’, ‘g’, ‘w’, ‘s’; j=1, 2, 3). If there are changes in the fluids properties from the values of the in-situ references, such as a change in the water salinity sal (in weight percentage), this will cause a change in the brine mass attenuation coefficient μ.sub.w(E.sub.j) as follows (where .sub.μH2O and μ.sub.salt-species are mass attenuation coefficients of pure water and the salt species in water, such as sodium chloride NaCl)].
.
Claim 14. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses the multiphase flow meter (202) comprises a processor (216) and wherein the determining is performed by the processor (216)[0068: the data processor(s) 216 determine one or more characteristics of the multiphase fluid based on data measured by a MPFM (e.g., the MPFM(s) 202, 302,
402, 502 of FIGS. 2-5), such as individual phase holdups and flow rates of oil, gas, water and solids/sand].
Claim 15. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses the multiphase flow meter (202) comprises an interface that transmits the multiphase flow data [0037: the conductivity probe system 200 includes a data processor to receive and/or process data from the conductivity probe 204 before transmitting the conductivity probe data to the processor 216] and wherein the determining is performed by a processor (216) that is separate from the multiphase flow meter (202) that receives the transmitted multiphase flow data [0043: example data analyses disclosed herein may be performed by data processor(s) (e.g., the data processor 216 of FIGS. 2 and 3) disposed downhole, at the surface, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the flow rates measured based on the data collected using single phase or multiphase flow meter(s) and/or the conductivity probe(s) 204, 304, 404, 504 of FIGS. 2-5 may be used to control manual and/or automatic triggering of sampling operations].
Claim 16. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses the outputting comprises outputting one or more of water-liquid ratio [0086], water salinity (Fig. 6), and water density with respect to time [0056-0058].
Claim 17. Dependent on the method of claim 1. Theuveny further discloses initializing the multiphase flow meter (202), wherein initializing [0068] comprises determining multiple gamma ray energy absorptions [0068] for an oil phase, a water phase, and a gas phase [0071-0073].
Claim 18. Dependent on the method of claim 17. Theuveny further discloses the determining [0035-0038] operates without using further initialization measurements [0069] for the multiphase flow meter (202) as to gamma ray energy absorptions [0071-0073].
Claim 19. Theuveny further discloses a system comprising: a processor (216); memory [0068] accessible to the processor (216) [0044]; processor-executable instructions stored in the memory (220) and executable by the processor (216) to instruct the system [0044] to: receive multiphase flow data [0027] via a multiphase flow meter [0003: MPFM a multiphase flow meter (MPFM), such as a gamma-ray fraction meter] (Fig. 2: 202) during a flowback production period [0072] of a hydraulically fractured well (215) that extends into a formation [0045] that comprises formation fluid [0034] [0049]; perform a determination for one or more water properties [0035: MPFM 202 with the conductivity probe 204 enables improved measurement of the individual-phase holdup (e.g., fractional portions of each phase within a fluid traversed by gamma-ray or x-ray radiation beam) and flow rate of well fluids (e.g. gas, oil, and water) and/or solids during FPDO and flowback operations] during at least a portion of the flowback production period using the multiphase flow data and a predictive model [0032]; and based on the determination [0032-0035], output values indicative of one or more of oil flow rate, gas flow rate, and water flow rate [0004] [0068] during the flowback production period [0035-0038].
Claim 20. Theuveny further discloses one or more computer-readable media (216) comprising computer-executable instructions [0044] executable by a system to instruct the system to: receive multiphase flow data via a multiphase flow meter (202) [0003: MPFM a multiphase flow meter (MPFM), such as a gamma-ray fraction meter] during a flowback production period of a hydraulically fractured well that extends into a formation [0072] that comprises formation fluid [0072]; perform a determination for one or more water properties [0004] [0068] during at least a portion of the flowback production period using the multiphase flow data [0035-0038] and a predictive model [0032]; and based on the determination, output values indicative of one or more of oil flow rate, gas flow rate, and water flow rate [0035-0038] during the flowback production period [0004] [0068].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Monica S Young whose telephone number is (303)297-4785. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 08:30-05:30 MST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Macchiarolo can be reached at 571-273-2375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MONICA S YOUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/PETER J MACCHIAROLO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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