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/NO2023/050082 filed on April 12, 2023.
A preliminary amendment was filed by the applicant on September 6, 2024.
Claims 1-7 have been cancelled.
Claims 8-14 have been added.
Drawings
The drawings were received on September 6, 2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on September 6, 2024 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 § 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 8-9 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hostmark et al. (US 11,124,274).
Hostmark et al. discloses the same control system for a gangway structure on a floating structure as claimed, as shown in Figures 1-16, which is comprised of a Global Positioning System (GPS), defined as Part #490, that provides a measurement of the global positions of a vessel, defined as Part #101, with an articulated gangway or passageway, defined as Part #102 or 440, and a target position of a desired landing point, defined as Part #402, for a distal end, defined as Part #102d, of said gangway or passageway, a wheel unit, defined as Part #310, with a processing unit that is configured to calculate a first relative position between said vessel and said desired landing point from GPS data, and a position sensor in the form of a camera, defined as Part #416, and a forward kinetic unit, defined as Part #450, that is configured to measure a second relative position between said distal end of said gangway or passageway and said desired landing point, where said control system is configured to provide a combined data set based on said first and second relative positions that represents an error signal, as described in lines 1-8 of column 6, and to adjust said first relative position by adding said second relative position, which results in a corrected reference signal. Said control system is then configured to adjust the position of said gangway or passageway using said wheel unit based on said corrected reference signal in order to position said distal end of said gangway or passageway to a desired position relative to said landing point, as shown in Figures 4A-B.
Hostmark et al. also discloses the same method for controlling a gangway on a floating structure as claimed, as shown in Figures 1-16, said method being comprised of the steps of providing a first relative position from GPS data between a vessel, defined as Part #101, and a desired landing point, defined as Part #402, measuring a second relative position between said desired landing point and a distal end, defined as Part #102d, of a gangway or passageway, defined as Part #102 or 440, with a camera, defined as Part #416, calculating a combined data set with a processing unit that represents an error signal, as described in lines 1-8 of column 6, based on said first and second relative positions and adjusting said first relative position by adding said second relative position, and controlling said distal end of said gangway or passageway with a wheel unit, defined as Part #310, into a desired position relative to said landing point based on said adjusted first relative position, as shown in Figures 4A-B.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 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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July 2, 2026
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615B
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