DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgements
Currently claims 1-13 are under examination.
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 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)(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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Johansen (U.S. Pub. No. 2002/0011580).
Regarding Claim 1, Johansen discloses a subsea hydrocarbon Christmas tree (Johansen: Paragraph [0005]) comprising a control and battery module (Johansen: Figure 1) for controlling a number of electrically actuated valves (Johansen: Paragraph [0002]), each valve (Johansen: 2) being actuated by an electric motor (Johansen: 7, 8), the control and battery module (Figure 1) comprising:
- a plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) configured for receiving electric power from a top-side power supply (Johansen: 15) to operate the valves; and
- a plurality of battery pack modules (Johansen: 13, 14) wherein the plurality of battery pack modules (Johansen: 13, 14) comprises at least one battery pack module (Johansen: 13 or 14) which is connectable to the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) to provide supplement electric power to the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) should electric power required for a desired valve operation exceed electric power provided to the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) from the top-side power supply (Johansen: 15).
Regarding Claim 2, Johansen discloses the Christmas tree (Johansen: Paragraph [0005]) according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) comprises a first subsea electronics module (Johansen: 11) and a second subsea electronics module (Johansen: 12) forming a redundant pair and wherein said plurality of battery pack modules (Johansen: 13, 14) comprises:
- a first battery pack module (Johansen: 13) which is connectable to the first subsea electronics module (Johansen: 11) to provide back-up electric power to the first subsea electronics module (Johansen: 11) should power from the top-side power supply (Johansen: 15) be interrupted; and
- a second battery pack module (Johansen: 14) which is connectable to the second subsea electronics module (Johansen: 12) to provide back-up electric power to the second subsea electronics module (Johansen: 12) should power from the top-side power supply (Johansen: 15) be interrupted.
Regarding Claim 3 Johansen discloses The Christmas tree according to claim 2 further comprising at least one additional battery pack module (Johansen: Figure 4: batteries 39 and 40 connected to batteries (B) connected to motors (M) and electronics modules (E)) which is connectable to at least one of the first and the second subsea electronics modules to act as a redundant power back-up pair for the first and/or second battery pack module should the first and/or second battery pack module fail in providing power to the first and/or second subsea electronics module (Johansen: Paragraph [0050]).
Regarding Claim 4, Johansen discloses the Christmas tree (Johansen: Paragraph [0005]) according to claim 1,wherein each of said plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) comprises electric motor drives (Johansen: purpose of 11 and 12 is to selectively power electric motors) configured for powering and controlling said electric motors (Johansen: 7, 8) to operate the valves (Johansen: 2).
Regarding Claim 5, Johansen discloses the Christmas tree (Johansen: Paragraph [0005]) according to claim 1,wherein the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) and the plurality of battery pack modules (Johansen: 13, 14) are arranged in a common container (Johansen: Claim 10: central housing) in the Christmas tree (Johansen: Paragraph [0005]).
Regarding Claim 6, Johansen discloses The Christmas tree according to claim 1,wherein each of the plurality of battery pack modules comprises a battery packageconfigured to control an electrical connection between the battery cells and the respective subsea electronics module (Johansen: Paragraphs [0035],[0050]).
Regarding Claim 7, Johansen discloses the Christmas tree (Johansen: Paragraph [0005]) according to claim 1,wherein each of said plurality of battery pack modules (Johansen: 13, 14) is contained in a respective battery pack module sub-container holding atmospheric pressure (Johansen: outer surface of battery contains a (not necessarily surface-level pressure).
Regarding Claim 8, Johansen discloses the Christmas tree (Johansen: Paragraph [0005]) according to claim 1,wherein each of said plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) is contained in a respective subsea electronics module sub-container (Johansen: outer surface of electronics module contains a (not necessarily surface-level pressure)
Regarding Claim 9, Johansen discloses a method of providing supplement electric power to a subsea hydrocarbon Christmas tree (Johansen: Paragraph [0005]) according to claim 1 when electric power required for a desired valve operation exceeds electric power provided from the top-side power supply (Johansen: 15) to the at least one subsea electronics module, the method comprising:
Connecting the at least one battery pack module (Johansen: 13, 14) to the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) to provide supplement electric power to the plurality of subsea electronics modules.
Regarding Claim 10, Johansen discloses the method according to claim 9, further comprising:
- when electric power required for the desired valve operation no longer exceeds electric power provided from the top-side power supply (Johansen: 15) to the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12), disconnecting the at least one battery pack module (Johansen: 13, 14) from the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) and connecting the at least one battery pack module (Johansen: 13, 14) to the top-side power supply (Johansen: 15) to charge the at least one battery pack module (Johansen: 13, 14) (Johansen: Paragraph [0045]).
Regarding Claim 11, Johansen discloses the method according to claim 9, wherein the step of connecting the at least one battery pack module to the plurality of subsea electronics modules to provide supplement electric power to the plurality of subsea electronics modules comprises:- connecting the plurality of battery pack modules (Johansen: 13, 14) to the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12) to provide said supplement electric power to the plurality of subsea electronics modules (Johansen: 11, 12).
Regarding Claim 12, Johansen discloses the method according to claim 9,wherein said valve operation comprises closing of valves (Johansen: 2) of the Christmas tree.
Regarding Claim 13, Johansen discloses the method according to claim 12, wherein said valve operation comprises closing of any one of: a surface- controlled subsurface safety valve, a production master valve, a production wing valve, an annulus master valve, an annulus wing valve, a cross-over valve, a chemical injection valve and a choke valve of the Christmas tree (Johansen: 2).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 26, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claims 1-13, the applicant argues that Johansen fails to teach that at least one battery is connectable to the plurality of control units to provide supplement electric power to the control units, should electric power be required for a desired valve operation exceed the electric power provided to the control units from the top-side power supply.
The examiner respectfully submits that while Johansen does not disclose the specific situation in which the top-side power supply continues to supply an uninterrupted power supply and additional power boost from batteries is required to operate the control units in a rare situation in which the usual power supply simply isn’t adequate, the use of the batteries of Johansen to act as a battery backup in the case of a power failure of the top-side power supply, which is disclosed by Johansen, also meets the claim limitations in their current form, i.e. the batteries supplement (as an alternative) the top-side power supply by being present alongside the main top-side power supply should the top-side power supply fail which would create a situation in which electric power required for a desired valve operation exceeds the electric power provided to the plurality of subsea electronics modules from the top-side power supply.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 DOUGLAS S WOOD whose telephone number is (571)270-5954. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole A Coy can be reached at (571) - 272 - 5405. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DOUGLAS S. WOOD
Examiner
Art Unit 3672
/DOUGLAS S WOOD/Examiner, Art Unit 3672
/Nicole Coy/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3672
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