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 .
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 6 and 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hyland (US PUB 2023/0076062), hereinafter Hyland and further in view of Han et al. (US PUB 2022/0333956), hereinafter Han.
With respect to claim 1, Hyland discloses a system for monitoring properties within a subsea electrical architecture (See the system in figure 15 of Hyland) of an offshore windfarm (See [520] in figure 15 of Hyland) comprising one or more wind turbines (See paragraph [0083] of Hyland) electrically coupled to at least one subsea unit (See the “Data Center” shown in figure 15 of Hyland) and the subsea unit being coupled, via a power cable (See [30] in figure 15 of Hyland), to an offshore topside, bottom-fixed unit (See the “Ballast module” in figure 15 of Hyland) or to an onshore grid connection point for transmitting electrical power generated by the or each wind turbine (See paragraphs [0113] and [0114] of Hyland), the system comprising: one or more first passive optical sensors within the subsea unit for monitoring an electrical or environmental property within the subsea unit (See paragraph [0178] of Hyland); a first optical fibre bundle extending integrally within, or in proximity to, the power cable (See paragraph [0178] of Hyland); a monitoring unit located at or in proximity to said offshore topside (See paragraph [0176] of Hyland), bottom-fixed unit or to said onshore grid connection point (See paragraph [0176] of Hyland); wherein said monitoring unit is configured to transmit monitoring light signals along one or more optical fibres of the first optical fibre bundle to localise a fault and/or operate a circuit breaker in dependence upon optical signals transmitted from the or each first passive optical sensor over the first optical fibre bundle (See paragraph [0178] in view of paragraph [0176] of Hyland) but fails to disclose a first optical interconnection unit within the subsea unit and optically coupling one or more optical fibres of the optical fibre bundle to the or each first passive optical sensor; a second optical interconnection unit optically coupling one or more optical fibres of the optical fibre bundle to said monitoring unit and to transmit monitoring light signals along one or more optical fibres of the first optical fibre bundle to said first optical interconnection unit. However, Han does disclose a first optical interconnection unit within the subsea unit and optically coupling one or more optical fibres of the optical fibre bundle to the or each first passive optical sensor; a second optical interconnection unit optically coupling one or more optical fibres of the optical fibre bundle to said monitoring unit and to transmit monitoring light signals along one or more optical fibres of the first optical fibre bundle to said first optical interconnection unit (See paragraph [0025] of Han). Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device disclosed by Hyland to include the feature disclosed by Han because doing so enables highly accurate and sensitive cable integrity detection.
With respect to claim 2, the combination of Hyland and Han discloses the system according to claim 1, wherein said subsea unit is one of a junction box and a substation (See the “Data Center” shown in figure 15 of Hyland).
With respect to claim 3, the combination of Hyland and Han discloses the system according to claim 1, wherein said subsea unit is a subsea substation (See the “Data Center” shown in figure 15 of Hyland) and said power cable is a main export power cable (See [30] in figure 15 of Hyland) connected to said grid connection point (See paragraph [0176] of Hyland), wherein said monitoring unit and said second optical interconnection unit are located at or proximity to said grid connection point topside (See paragraph [0176] of Hyland in view of paragraph [0025] of Han).
With respect to claim 5, the combination of Hyland and Han discloses the system according to claim 1, where said first subsea unit is a subsea junction box coupled by a collector power cable to an offshore topside, bottom-fixed unit, the offshore topside, bottom-fixed unit being a substation (See paragraph [0122] of Hyland) and having a source of low voltage power for said monitoring unit (See paragraph [0122] of Hyland).
With respect to claim 6, the combination of Hyland and Han discloses the system according to claim 1, wherein the or each first and/or second passive optical sensor is configured to sense one of current, voltage, power and temperature, and said monitoring unit is configured to perform a fault localisation and/or operate a circuit breaker in the event that an optical signal transmitted from the or each first or second passive optical sensor is indicative of a current, voltage, power or temperature outside of a predefined operating range, for example exceeding a predefined threshold (See paragraph [0178] of Hyland in view of paragraph [0152] of Hyland).
With respect to claim 8, the combination of Hyland and Han discloses the system according to claim 1, wherein the or each power cable is one of a 3 phase AC submarine power cable and a High Voltage DC, HVDC, submarine power cable (See paragraph [0109] of Hyland).
With respect to claim 9, the combination of Hyland and Han discloses the system according to claim 1, the or each passive optical sensor being a discrete optical sensor or a distributed optical sensor (See paragraph [0178] of Hyland).
With respect to claim 10, the combination of Hyland and Han discloses the system according to claim 1, the or each passive optical sensor monitoring an electrical or environmental property within the subsea unit associated with a corresponding electrical component, the component having a dynamic electrical rating (See paragraph [0178] of Hyland).
With respect to claim 11, Hyland discloses a method of monitoring properties within a subsea electrical architecture (See the system in figure 15 of Hyland) of an offshore windfarm (See [520] in figure 15 of Hyland) comprising one or more wind turbines (See paragraph [0083] of Hyland) electrically coupled to at least one subsea unit (See the “Data Center” shown in figure 15 of Hyland) and the subsea unit being coupled, via a power cable (See [30] in figure 15 of Hyland), to an offshore topside, bottom-fixed unit (See the “Ballast module” in figure 15 of Hyland) or to an onshore grid connection point for transmitting electrical power generated by the or each wind turbine (See paragraphs [0113] and [0114] of Hyland), the method comprising: transmitting monitoring light signals from a monitoring unit, along one or more optical fibres of a first optical fibre bundle extending integrally within, or in proximity to, the power cable (See paragraph [0178] in view of paragraph [0176] of Hyland); the sensors configured to monitor an electrical or environmental property within the subsea unit (See paragraph [0178] of Hyland); using said monitoring unit; and analysing the returned light signals to localise a fault and/or operate a circuit breaker but fails to disclose receiving the monitoring light signals at a first optical interconnection unit within the subsea unit and optically coupling the signals to one or more first passive optical sensors within the subsea unit returning light signals from the or each sensor, via the first optical interconnection unit and one or more optical fibres of the first optical fibre bundle. However, Han does disclose receiving the monitoring light signals at a first optical interconnection unit within the subsea unit and optically coupling the signals to one or more first passive optical sensors within the subsea unit returning light signals from the or each sensor, via the first optical interconnection unit and one or more optical fibres of the first optical fibre bundle (See paragraph [0025] of Han). Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method disclosed by Hyland to include the method steps disclosed by Han because doing so enables highly accurate and sensitive cable integrity detection.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Hyland and Han, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Boe et al. (US PUB 2019/0385807), hereinafter Boe.
With respect to claim 7, the combination of Hyland and Han discloses the system according to
claim 1, but fails to disclose where the or each subsea unit is filled with oil under pressure. However, Boe does disclose where the or each subsea unit is filled with oil under pressure (See paragraph [0003] of Boe). Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device disclosed by the combination of Hyland and Han to include the feature disclosed by Boe because doing so prevents compressive implosion of the subsea unit while also preventing electrical shorting of critical electronics by the use of non-conductive oil fluid.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 4, the prior art of record neither shows nor suggests the combination of structural elements comprising at least one second subsea unit, the second subsea unit being a junction box connected by a local cable to a wind turbine and to said subsea substation by a collector cable, the system further comprising: one or more second passive optical sensors within the junction box for monitoring an electrical or environmental property within the junction box; a second optical fibre bundle extending integrally within, or in proximity to, the collector cable; a second optical interconnection unit within the junction box and optically coupling one or more optical fibres of the second optical fibre bundle to the or each second passive optical sensor, wherein said first optical interconnection unit within the subsea substation optically couples fibres of the first and second optical fibre bundles, and said monitoring unit is further configured to cause monitoring light signals to be transmitted along one or more optical fibres of the second optical fibre bundle to said second passive optical sensors and to localise a fault and/or operate a circuit breaker in dependence upon optical signals transmitted from the or each second passive optical sensor over the second optical fibre bundle.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEMILADE S RHODES-VIVOUR whose telephone number is (571)270-5814. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (flex schedule).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at 571-272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TEMILADE S RHODES-VIVOUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/HUY Q PHAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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