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 .
An amendment was filed by the applicant on September 3, 2026.
Claim 15 has been cancelled.
Claims 21-22 have been added.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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)(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 1-2, 4-6, 12-13 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zou et al. (US 11,173,987).
Zou et al. discloses the same offshore floating structure that is configured for the transport and installation of a tension leg platform (TLP) as claimed, as shown in Figures 1-24, which is comprised of a floating structure, defined as Part #76, that is configured for transporting and installing a floating TLP, defined as Part #50, with a hull, defined as Part #52, that is comprised of three pontoons, each defined as Part #56, and three support columns or legs, each defined as Part #58, that are disposed in a triangular configuration, as shown in Figure 1. Said floating structure is further comprised of three ballast tanks, each defined as Part #76, that are each intended to be positioned horizontally adjacent to each of said support columns or legs of said TLP, as shown in Figures 7-8, where said ballast tanks are provided with engagement elements in the form of recesses or holes in the undersides of each of said ballast tanks, as shown in Figure 18, for engaging with installation guides or guide posts, each defined as Part #80, on the top surfaces of each of said support columns or legs of said TLP, where said engagement elements load said installation guides or guide posts with a downward force that is opposite to an upward buoyancy force of said TLP in order to maintain said TLP at a required draft during transport and installation, even when said legs of said TLP are at least partially above sea level, as shown by the waterline indicated in Figure 8. Said ballast tanks can include floodable compartments for controllable ballasting or deballasting, where the ballast and buoyancy of said ballast tanks can be adjusted depending on the degree of flooding, as described in lines 1-4 of column 9. Cribbing, defined as Part #78, is also provided between said ballast tanks and said support columns or legs of said TLP in order to improve adhesion between said engagement elements of said ballast tanks and said support columns or legs of said TLP, as shown in Figure 8, where said cribbing can be made of a generally softer material, as described in lines 7-11 of column 11. Releasable locking members or fasteners, defined as Part #84, in the form of latches, pins, couplings, rivets or bolts, as described in lines 31-36 of column 11, are configured to lock said ballast tanks to said support columns or legs of said TLP so that said engagement elements are locked to said installation guides or guide posts, as shown in Figures 16-17. Said engagement elements and said installation guides or guide posts are also provided with complimentary shapes, as shown in Figure 18, in order to facilitate their engagement.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 16-17, 19-20 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou et al. in view of Taub (US 9,523,355).
Zou et al., as set forth above, discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of three spaced-apart, column-shaped ballast tanks which are connected to each other with connecting beams in a triangular configuration.
Taub discloses a floating transportation and installation structure, as shown in Figures 1-26, which is comprised of a floating structure, defined as Part #2, with three column-shaped ballast tanks, each defined as Part #6, that are spaced-apart and connected to each other with connecting beams, defined as Parts #16 and 17, and a disconnectable gate structure, defined as Part #10, that form a triangular frame structure, defined as Part #12, as shown in Figures 22-23. Said floating transportation and installation structure is configured for engagement with a TLP having a wind turbine, defined as Part #1, as shown in Figures 20-21. Said column-shaped ballast tanks are configured for controllable ballasting and deballasting by pumping ballast water, defined as Part #20, into or out of said ballast tanks, as described in paragraph 0093. Said column-shaped ballast tanks also include valves or apertures for taking in or ejecting water. Said triangular frame structure demonstrates an established need to configure and maintain said ballast tanks in a complimentary shape to said TLP having a wind turbine in order to facilitate supporting said TLP on a body of water, as shown in Figure 3.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention by one of ordinary skill in the art, to utilize a floating structure comprised of three column-shaped ballast tanks that are connected to each other with connecting beams to form a triangular frame structure, as taught by Taub, in combination with the offshore floating structure as disclosed by Zou et al. for the purpose of providing a floating structure for the transport and installation of a TLP with ballast tanks and engagement elements that are connected together with connecting beams in a triangular configuration in order to facilitate the connection and disconnection of said floating structure with or from said TLP.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7-11, 14 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2, 4-6, 12-13, 16-17 and 19-22 have been considered but are moot because of the new grounds of rejection that were necessitated by the applicant’s amendment filed on September 3, 2026.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARS A OLSON whose telephone number is (571) 272-6685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MARC JIMENEZ can be reached at 571-272-4530. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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September 23, 2026
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615B
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