DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgements
In the reply filed June 26, 2026, the applicant amended claim 1.
Currently claims 1-13 are under examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johansen (U.S. Pub. No. 2002/0011580) in view of Vyas (U.S. Pub. No. 2011/0143175).
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 supplementary 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).
Johansen does not disclose the electric power provided to the subsea electronics modules being uninterrupted while being supplemented by additional battery power (Vyas: Paragraph [0009]).
Vyas discloses delivering electrical power to equipment of a subsea well tree via an umbilical in an uninterrupted manner while supplementing that power with a battery.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary sill in the art at the time of the invention’s filing to have utilized the batteries and top-side power supply in the invention of Johansen in the manner disclosed by Vyas in order to provide a predicable solution to the old and well known problem of providing additional power to subsea equipment without the need to undergo costly and/or time-consuming replacements of umbilical equipment to meet the need for greater power requirements.
Regarding Claim 2, Johansen and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious The Christmas tree according to claim 1,wherein each of the plurality of battery pack modules comprises a battery package
Regarding Claim 7, Johansen and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious 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 and Vyas render obvious the method according to claim 9,wherein said valve operation comprises closing of valves (Johansen: 2) of the Christmas tree.
Regarding Claim 13, Johansen and Vyas render obvious 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 and amendments filed June 26, 2026 have been fully considered and they are persuasive.
The examiner respectfully submits, however, that the additional limitations in the applicant’s amendments are addressed by an obvious combination of the invention of Johansen with the invention of Vyas as seen above.
Conclusion
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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