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 .
The present application is a 371 of PCT/ES2022/070046 filed on January 28, 2022.
A preliminary amendment was filed by the applicant on February 26, 2025.
Claims 11-15 have been cancelled.
Drawings
The drawings were received on July 26, 2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 26, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
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 10 recites the limitation "the assembly" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the ocean" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 1-7 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vazquez Romero et al. (US 11,920,559) in view of Richter et al. (US 6,575,665).
Vazquez Romero et al. discloses a semi-submersible floating platform for wind turbines, as shown in Figures 1-6, which is comprised of a rectangular base body with a lower slab, defined as Part #11, that is made of concrete, as shown in Figures 1-2, and four buoyancy columns, each defined as Part #2, that are made of concrete, protrude from an upper face of said base body, are equipped with internal compartments that are adapted to house ballast water, and are arranged at the four vertexes of said base body, as shown in Figures 1-2, where at least one of said buoyancy columns is a main column that is operatively joined to a metal tower, defined as Part #9, for supporting a wind turbine, as shown in Figure 4. At least one of said buoyancy columns includes more radial walls, each defined as Part #53, than said other columns for supporting said metal tower, as shown in Figures 5-6. Said metal tower is coupled to an inner ring of said main column with an anchor ring, defined as Part #5, as shown in Figures 3-5. Said concrete lower slab of said base body protrudes along a perimeter of said base body, as shown in Figures 1-2. Said base body is further comprised of at least one hole or central opening, each defined as Part #16. Mooring lines, each defined as Part #10, are operatively joined to each of said buoyancy columns for anchoring to a seabed, as shown in Figures 3-4. Said wind turbine is further comprised of at least two blades, a nacelle, a hub, and an electric generator, as shown in Figure 4.
Vazquez Romero et al. also discloses a method for transporting and installing a floating platform, as shown in Figures 1-6, said method being comprised of the steps of coupling a metal tower, defined as Part #9, to a ring of a main column, defined as Part #2, at one of the vertexes of a rectangular base body, defined as Part #11, transporting said floating platform with a marine vessel, as shown in Figures 3-4, over water in a self-supporting manner to an installation point, filling internal compartments with seawater to submerge said rectangular base body below a waterline, as shown in Figure 3, and coupling mooring lines, each defined as Part #10, to each of a plurality of buoyancy columns, each defined as Part #2, as shown in Figures 3-4.
Vazquez Romero et al., as set forth above, discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of buoyancy columns that are internally equipped with concentric rings in the form of an inner ring and an outer ring, and a plurality of radial walls that define internal compartments.
Richter et al. discloses a modular marine structure, as shown in Figures 1-23, which is comprised of at least one cylindrical column that is made from reinforced concrete and has concentric rings, an inner ring, defined as Part #112, an outer ring, defined as Part #110, and a plurality of radial walls, each defined as Part #104, that define a plurality of compartments, each defined as Part #141, as shown in Figures 11-12.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art, to utilize a plurality of buoyancy columns that are made from concrete and have an inner ring, an outer ring, and a plurality of radial walls that define a plurality of compartments, as taught by Richter et al., in combination with the semi-submersible floating platform for supporting a wind turbine as disclosed by Vazquez Romero et al. for the purpose of providing a semi-submersible floating platform with a plurality of columns that are precast from concrete with a plurality of compartments that are defined between an inner ring and an outer ring in order to facilitate maintaining a desired buoyancy in said plurality of columns.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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.
Conclusion
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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September 8, 2026
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615B
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