DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/20/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Examiner notes that the specification objection still stands (see additional detail added by Examiner herein to support the previously introduced objection).
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of species corresponding to figure 2 (claims 1-20) in the reply filed on 01/20/2026 is acknowledged.
However, Examiner telephonically reached out to Marco Santamaria on 02/20/2026 to discuss matters related to the arguments corresponding to the restriction on page 7. Applicant’s representative stated the following: “Applicant respectfully disagrees with the Examiner, however solely to advance prosecution, Applicant elects without traverse, the invention of Fig. 2 as identified by the Examiner, which encompasses claims 1 to 20 as amended.” Examiner respectfully disagrees with all of claims 1-20 corresponding to the figure 2 embodiment. After further search and consideration of whether all the claims correspond to the figure 2 specie, Examiner notes the following claims do not appear to correspond to the figure 2 specie:
Claim 4 which introduces “a second proximate well bore” in addition to the “vertical well bore” and “sidetrack well bore”, previously recited in claim 1.
Claim 5 (and, similarly claims 8 and 14) introduces “a flux co-inverter.”
Claim 11 (and, similarly claims 15-18) introduces extracting/separating hydrocarbon/oil from a hydrocarbon production well bore.
Claim 13 (and, similarly claim 16) introduces “a second heat exchanger.”
In essence, claims 4-5, 8, and 11-20 do not appear to be supported by the disclosure corresponding to the figure 2 specie, as rather the subject matter of claims 4-5, 8, and 11-20 appears to correspond to other embodiments, which are not obvious variants of that of figure 2. Applicant’s representative telephonically agreed upon withdrawing claims 4-5, 8, and 11-20 to advance prosecution.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 11/21/2025 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document (i.e., “JP 572943”); each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 01/20/2026. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 (and, similarly the rest of the dependent claims) are objected to because of the following informalities and should likely read as follows: “The system of claim 1, wherein said pump is a submersible pump.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities and should likely read as follows: “[...] passing the reservoir fluid through [[a]]the sidetrack bore hole.” Appropriate correction is required.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Applicant addressed a specification amendment on 11/07/2025. Though, the specification amendment was focused on overcoming the most recent specification objection given by Examiner, the Applicant’s representative inadvertently listed the incorrect paragraph number, as it should be for paragraph [0112], and not paragraph [0136], as shown in the amended specification dated 11/07/2025.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-3, 6-7, and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 (and, similarly claim 6) recite(s): “[...] a well bore heat exchanger comprising an annulus space; said well bore heat exchanger disposed above said sidetrack borehole; said annulus space configured to receive a reservoir fluid; said sidetrack borehole configured to receive circulated reservoir fluid...”. Though paragraph [0111] and figure 2 for support for an annulus space “118” (located radially between heat exchange “116” and the wellbore “112” configured to receive reservoir fluid “120”/”132”, there is a lack of support for the heat exchanger (itself) having an annulus space configured to receive reservoir fluid, as rather the heat exchanger (itself) is a closed loop circulating system isolated from reservoir fluid. Due to claims 1 and 6 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a), the corresponding dependent claims are also cancelled.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6-7, and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 (and, similarly claim 6) recite(s): “[...] a well bore heat exchanger comprising an annulus space; said well bore heat exchanger disposed above said sidetrack borehole; said annulus space configured to receive a reservoir fluid; said sidetrack borehole configured to receive circulated reservoir fluid...”. In light of the 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) herein and confusion as to what the metes and bounds of the limitations are, Examiner will give its broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the instant specification and will assume for the claimed “annulus space” to correspond to the space radially between “heat exchanger” and the “wellbore” in which the “heat exchanger” comprises of. Due to claims 1 and 6 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b), the corresponding dependent claims are also cancelled.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 6 and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Colwell (US Publication Number 2015/0122453 A1; herein “Colwell”).
In regard to claim 6, Colwell discloses: A method for geothermal heating (abstract, paragraphs [0008-0009, 0067-0068, 0098-0112], and figures 3-4), the method comprising:
passing a fluid into a thermal circulation system (i.e., fluid associated with 1/2/16/17 — paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3);
passing the fluid into a well bore heat exchanger (i.e., comprising 1 and 2) comprising an annulus space (note 35 U.S.C. § 112 rejections herein | Examiner is interpreting “annulus space” as the radial space between the “heat exchanger” and wellbore, as shown in figure 3);
heating the fluid (paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3);
passing the heated fluid out of the well bore heat exchanger (i.e., to 16 — paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3);
passing reservoir fluid into the annulus space (paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3);
passing the reservoir fluid through a sub-surface formation (paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3); and
passing the reservoir fluid into a sidetrack borehole (22 — paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3).
In regard to claim 9, Colwell further discloses: passing the reservoir fluid through [[a]]the sidetrack bore hole (paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3).
In regard to claim 10, Colwell further discloses: passing the reservoir fluid through a proximate well bore (i.e., wellbore comprising 1 and 2 — paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3).
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.
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 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Colwell (US Publication Number 2015/0122453 A1; herein “Colwell”) in view of Higgins et al. (US Publication Number 2021/0062682 A1; herein “Higgins”).
In regard to claim 1, Colwell discloses: A system for geothermal heating (abstract, paragraphs [0067-0068, 0098-0112], and figures 3-4), the system comprising:
a forced geothermal circuit (i.e., circuit as shown in figures 3-4) in communication with a vertical well bore (i.e., unlabeled vertical wellbore comprising 1 and 2 | see paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3);
a sidetrack borehole (22) in communication with said vertical well bore (paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3);
a well bore heat exchanger (i.e., comprising 1 and 2) comprising an annulus space (note 35 U.S.C. § 112 rejections herein | Examiner is interpreting “annulus space” as the radial space between the “heat exchanger” and wellbore, as shown in figure 3);
said well bore heat exchanger disposed above said sidetrack borehole (Examiner notes that the since the “heat exchanger” is being interpreted as the entirety at least 1 and 2, figure 3 teaches the limitation);
said annulus space configured to receive a reservoir fluid (paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3);
said sidetrack borehole configured to receive circulated reservoir fluid (paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3).
However, Colwell is silent in regard to: a pump.
Nonetheless, Higgins teaches a similar type of geothermal system comprising a downhole heat exchanger “40” (as shown in figure 4), similar to that of Colwell. Higgins teaches a submersible pump (90) “[...] may be disposed within the wellbore at a depth below the lower end 54 of DHX 40, pumping produced fluids toward the surface, and thereby enhancing the flow of produced fluids from the geothermal reservoir to the surface, and increasing the heat transferred to the working fluid within DHX 40” (paragraph [0063] and figure 4).
Therefore, it would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), to modify the geothermal system comprising a heat exchanger, as taught by Colwell, to include a pump below the heat exchanger, as taught by Higgins, “[...] thereby enhancing the flow of produced fluids from the geothermal reservoir to the surface, and increasing the heat transferred to the working fluid within DHX” (paragraph [0063] of Higgins).
In regard to claim 2, in view of the modification of the preceding claim, Higgins further discloses: wherein said pump is a submersible pump (paragraph [0063]).
In regard to claim 3, Colwell further discloses: a circulation fluid (paragraphs [0098-0105] and figure 3).
In regard to claim 7, Colwell discloses claim 6 above.
However, Colwell is silent in regard to: a pump.
Nonetheless, Higgins teaches a similar type of geothermal system comprising a downhole heat exchanger “40” (as shown in figure 4), similar to that of Colwell. Higgins teaches a submersible pump (90) “[...] may be disposed within the wellbore at a depth below the lower end 54 of DHX 40, pumping produced fluids toward the surface, and thereby enhancing the flow of produced fluids from the geothermal reservoir to the surface, and increasing the heat transferred to the working fluid within DHX 40” (paragraph [0063] and figure 4).
Therefore, it would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), to modify the geothermal system comprising a heat exchanger, as taught by Colwell, to include a pump below the heat exchanger, as taught by Higgins, “[...] thereby enhancing the flow of produced fluids from the geothermal reservoir to the surface, and increasing the heat transferred to the working fluid within DHX” (paragraph [0063] of Higgins).
Conclusion
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/NEEL GIRISH PATEL/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3676