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 § 101
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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Regarding claim 8, the computer-readable storage medium covers non-statutory subjection matter propagating signals per se in view of ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media, particularly when the specification is silent. See in re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1356-57 (Fed Cir. 2007). A claim drawn to such a computer-readable storage medium that covers both transitory and non-transitory embodiments may be amended to narrow the claim to cover only statutory embodiments to avoid a rejection under 101 by adding the limitation "non-transitory" to the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 1, the prior art does not teach or render obvious the claimed combination, in particular; predicting a running position of a cuttings cleaning tool for each well section based on the distribution pattern of the cuttings bed throughout the drilling process; calculating an actual cuttings bed height in each well section based on logging data during the drilling process; correcting the predicted running position of the cuttings cleaning tool for each well section based on the actual cuttings bed height in each well section, to obtain correction data of the running position of the cuttings cleaning tool for each well section; determining a cuttings bed height risk level in each well section based on a percentage of drilled returned cuttings, a deflection degree of drilled cuttings particle size distribution, and a change rate of a drilling hook load in the drilling process; associating different cuttings bed height risk levels with different cuttings bed removal solutions; and for each well section, outputting the correction data of the running position of the cuttings cleaning tool for the well section and a cuttings bed removal solution associated with the cuttings bed height risk level for the well section.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Revheim et al. (2021/0293130) which teaches a method for predicting an event in oilfield operations.
Torrione (2016/0130928) which teaches a system and method of for measuring the characteristics and volume of drill cuttings.
Al-Rubaii et al. (10,781,682) which teaches systems and methods for predicting an efficient hole cleaning in vertical, deviated, and horizontal holes by developing a hole cleaning model that combines hole cleaning and drilling rate to optimize performance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW G MARINI whose telephone number is (571)272-2676. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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/MATTHEW G MARINI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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