DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in France on 12 July 2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the FR2307477 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of species A (figs. 3-4) in the reply filed on 20 January 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there would be no serious search and/or examination burden if the species are examined together. This is not found persuasive because a search and/or examination burden is present due to their recognized divergent subject matter outlined in the Office action mailed on 20 November 2025. Further, the species would require a different field of search, for example, species D would require searching in F16L2201/30 whereas species F would require searching in F16L51. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because figs 9-11 and 14 are cross-sectional views but lack proper cross-hatching. See 37 CFR 1.84 (h)(3).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains multiple paragraphs. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-15 are objected to because each claim should begin with an article. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 3, 7, 8, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 3, the phrase "for example" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 7 recites the limitations "the fluid inlet" and “the fluid outlet”, There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. It appears the claim should depend from claim 6.
The terms “low level” and “high level” in claim 7 are relative terms which renders the claim indefinite. The terms “low level” and “high level” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the internal volume" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the outlet" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The remaining claims are rejected based on their dependency.
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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Soulie (US 2023/0102097).
In regards to claim 1, Soulie discloses fluid transfer system configured to equip a fluid exploitation installation, the fluid transfer system including:
- a liquid transfer pipe (28), configured to carry a liquefied gas, and
- a gas transfer pipe (26), configured to carry a gas in vapour form, characterised in that the liquid transfer pipe and the gas transfer pipe are concentric (shown in fig. 1), the gas transfer pipe surrounding the liquid transfer pipe (shown in fig. 1), and in that the fluid transfer system furthermore includes:
- a buffer member (52), disposed between the liquid transfer pipe and the gas transfer pipe and surrounding at least partially the liquid transfer pipe, the buffer member being configured to transfer an evaporated portion of the liquefied gas circulating in the liquid transfer pipe from the liquid transfer pipe to the gas transfer pipe (see at least paragraph [0059] and [0064]).
In regards to claim 2, Soulie further discloses at least one dynamic sealing member (54, 56).
In regards to claim 3, Soulie further discloses the dynamic sealing member is disposed in the buffer member (shown in fig. 1),
In regards to claim 4, Soulie further discloses the dynamic sealing member includes a seal (see seals 54, 56).
In regards to claim 5, Soulie further discloses the buffer member includes at least one inner wall (at “58”) forming a labyrinth for a fluidic flow in the buffer member.
In regards to claim 6, Soulie further discloses the inner wall divides an internal volume of the buffer member into at least two chambers (32, 32), a fluid inlet in the buffer member being disposed in a first of the two chambers (32), and a fluid outlet of the buffer member being disposed in a second (other “32’) of the two chambers (shown in fig. 3).
In regards to claim 7, Soulie further discloses at least one part of the fluid inlet in the buffer member is disposed at a lower height than a height of at least one part of the fluid outlet to ensure a low level for liquid and a high level for gas (fig. 3 shows that part of the one chamber “32” is higher than a lower part of the other channel “32”, further the direction of “height” has not been established).
In regards to claim 8, Soulie further discloses a pressurisation system (36) which includes a gas, the fluid transfer system being configured to inject gas from the pressurisation system in the internal volume of the buffer member (see paragraph [0041]).
In regards to claim 9, Soulie further discloses being configured to compensate a length variation of the liquid transfer pipe (spacer 50 meets this capability or bellows in fig. 5).
In regards to claim 10, Soulie further discloses the liquid transfer pipe includes an incident section equipped with an endpiece (28.1) and a receiving section (28.2) wherein the endpiece is inserted, the buffer member being fastened to at most one from among the incident section and the receiving section (shown in fig. 1).
In regards to claim 11, it is first noted that he recitation “swivel joint device” is a nominal recitation of the intended manner of operation of the system, and does not add any further structure than the “fluid transfer system". Further, there is no structure recited to define what constitutes a “swivel joint”. Therefore, little patentable weight is given to "swivel joint".
Soulie discloses Swivel joint device including a fluid transfer system according claim 1 (see above).
In regards to claim 12, Soulie discloses Stack of swivel joint devices (see at least paragraph [0033] which shows there can be additional joints and sections) including at least two swivel joint devices, at least a first of the swivel joint devices of the stack being according to claim 11 (see above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-15 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Each of the remaining cited prior art shows a similar fluid transfer system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY T DRAGICEVICH whose telephone number is (571)270-0505. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:30 EST.
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, Matthew D. Troutman can be reached at (571) 270-3654. 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.
/ZACHARY T DRAGICEVICH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3679
02/03/2026