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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is based on the 18/947595 application originally filed November 14, 2024.
Claims 1, 3-6, 10-23 and 25-26, filed June 05, 2026, are pending and have been fully considered. Claims 2, 7-9 and 24 have been canceled. Claim 26 is new.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 June 05, 2026 has been entered.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 10-23, 25 and 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krull et al. (WO 2022/223153A1) hereinafter cited under (EP 4326840 B1) “Krull” in view of Xu et al. (EP 4269530 A1) hereinafter “Xu”.
Regarding Claims 1, 3-6, 10-23, 25 and 26
Krull discloses in paragraph 0001, polymer compositions for improving the flowability of waxy crude oils. The compositions contain a modified alpha-olefin maleic anhydride copolymer.
Krull discloses in paragraph 0054, the wax inhibitor and its formulations have superior low temperature flow and stability properties including a high resistance against gelling and precipitation paired with excellent wax inhibiting performance in hydrocarbon oils. Their wax inhibiting performance in hydrocarbon oils leads to the reduction of one or more of pour point, viscosity, yield stress and/or wax deposition of the oil. They are especially suited for improving the pour point, viscosity, yield stress and/or wax deposition of crude oils and products produced therefrom, for example heating oils, lube oils, bunker oils, residue oils and mineral oils that contain a residue oil. The term crude oil includes all hydrocarbon oils produced by an oil well, including gas condensate and bitumen. Accordingly, the wax inhibitor may be used as an additive in hydrocarbon oil production and transportation for improving the low temperature properties of the oil. The wax inhibitor is particularly effective as a wax inhibitor for waxy crude oils having a saturates content of above 50 % and often of above 70 % according to SARA analysis. With its balanced performance and low temperature flow properties, this wax inhibitor is splendidly suited for application under temperature and pressure conditions encountered in deepwater operations.
Krull discloses in paragraph 0037, the polymerization is made in the presence of a solvent. Preferred solvents are aprotic organic solvents such as aliphatic and/or aromatic hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons may, for example, be saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons or mixtures thereof. These may be either paraffinic or naphthenic, i.e. saturated linear or cyclic hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons may also be aromatic hydrocarbons or mixtures thereof as for example toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, naphthalene and technical mixtures of aromatic hydrocarbons. Technical grade mixtures of aromatic solvents are commercially available, for example from the Shellsol® A or the Solvesso® series. Preferably, the amount of solvent, if present, is between 5 and 60 wt.-%, in respect to the sum of monomers, solvent and any further auxiliaries added to the batch.
Krull discloses in paragraph 0052, formulations of the esterified MAO-copolymer according to the invention may comprise one or more further components including but not limited to an antioxidant, a corrosion inhibitor, an asphaltene inhibitor, an additional wax inhibitor that differs in its chemical nature from the polymer composition, a wax dispersant, a scale inhibitor, an emulsifier, a dispersant, an emulsion breaker, a gas hydrate inhibitor, a biocide, a pH modifier, and a surfactant. Especially preferred surfactants are anionic surfactants as for example organic sulfonic acids including but not limited to paratoluene sulfonic acid and dodecyl benzenesulfonic acid. These further components may be present from 0 to 10 percent by weight each but not more than 80 percent by weight in total, based on total weight of the composition.
It is to be noted, Krull discloses the addition of further components but fails to further disclose the claimed biosurfactants.
However, it is known in the art to add biosurfactants and additional additives to a crude oil, as taught by Xu.
Xu discloses in the abstract, a composition for use as a multifunctional wax dispersant to treat subterranean formations for the recovery of oil and gas from oil and gas wells, as well as to the process of preparation thereof.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0014, a wax dispersant composition for use in subterranean applications comprising a carrier medium, a compound A) and a compound B), wherein the compound A) is a glycolipid biosurfactant selected from rhamnolipids, sophorolipids, glucolipids, cellulose lipids, mannosylerythritol lipids, trehalose lipids or a mixture thereof.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0017, the term "wax dispersant composition" in the context of the present invention refers to a mixture of surfactant based chemical agents that disperse and suspend visually or light microscopically identifiable wax aggregates that are not precipitating, but instead remain dispersed or suspended in bulk fluids. Indeed, to keep oil flowing and not depositing in downhole or flowlines, it is essential to avoid solid or gel sediments which are unsuitable for further processing on a large industrial scale, because crude oils with wax aggregates are difficult to pump without large pumping pressure drops.
Xu further discloses in paragraph 0019, the total amount of compounds A) and B) is from 20 to 100% by weight, based on the total weight of all compounds of the wax dispersant composition not including the carrier medium.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0023, "biosurfactants" are understood as meaning all glycolipids produced by fermentation. The term "biosurfactant" also covers glycolipids that are chemically or enzymatically modified after fermentation, as long as structurally a glycolipid remains. Raw materials for producing the biosurfactants that can be used are carbohydrates, in particular sugars such as e.g. glucose and/or lipophilic carbon sources such as fats, oils, partial glycerides, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, long-chain saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbons.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0025, the composition comprises, as compound A), at least one biosurfactant selected from rhamnolipids, sophorolipids, glucolipids, cellulose lipids, mannosylerythritol lipids and trehalose lipids, preferably rhamnolipids, sophorolipids and glucolipids, most preferably sophorolipids.
Xu further discloses in paragraph 0051, the wax dispersant composition may comprise further additives used in wax dispersant compositions to treat subterranean formations for the recovery of oil and gas from oil and gas wells used, such as compounds C) or D) described below.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0052, the wax dispersant composition further comprises a compound C), which is a nonionic alcohol ethoxylate surfactant. These alcohol ethoxylates can be branched or linear and contain an ethylene oxide chain attached to a branched or linear alcohol.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0055, examples of alcohol ethoxylates are the ethoxylated alcohol product from Evonik, TOMADOL® 91-2.5, containing an average of 2.7 ethylene oxide groups with an HLB value of 8.5 (with the formula R(OC2H4)nOH wherein R is an aliphatic hydrocarbyl radical containing from 9 to 11 carbon atoms and with an average value of n being 2.7), or the ethoxylated alcohol product from Evonik, TOMADOL® 91-6, containing an average of 6 ethylene oxide groups with an HLB value of 12.4 (with the formula R(OC2H4)nOH wherein R is an aliphatic hydrocarbyl radical containing from 9 to 11 carbon atoms and with an average value of n being 6).
Xu discloses in paragraph 0056, the wax dispersant composition may further comprise a compound D), which is an alkylbenzene sulfonate, which belongs to the chemical groups of alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are anionic surfactants, consisting of a hydrophilic sulfonate headgroup and a hydrophobic alkylbenzene tail-group. A particularly preferred compound D) is Triethanolamine TEA Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate (TEA-DDBSA).
Xu further discloses in paragraph 0057, the amounts of the carrier medium, the compound A) and the compound B) in the wax dispersant composition, and optionally compounds C) and D), sum up to at least 90% by weight, based on the total weight of the wax dispersant composition.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0060, the wax dispersant composition for treating waxy crude oils and condensates to enhance oil recovery. The wax dispersant composition is an additive composition which is added to the treatment fluid.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0061, a method for treating a crude oil with a wax dispersant composition to enhance oil recovery by reducing interfacial tension between the crude oil and the treatment fluid in the recovery of oil and gas from crude oil and gas wells.
Xu discloses in paragraph 0062, the term "crude oil" or "waxy crude oils and condensates" is equally defined as the crude oil that contains high amount of long chain paraffin wax (alkanes) compounds, making the crude possess a high pour point and become viscous at lower temperatures than wax appearance temperatures. The term "treatment fluid" refers to the carrier medium in field applications. Preferably, the treat rate of wax dispersant composition (additive composition) in the treatment fluid is from 0.01% to 1% by weight, based on the total weight of the treatment fluid injected for the recovery of oil and gas from crude oil and gas wells.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to add the biosurfactants of Xu to the crude oil of Krull. The motivation to do so is to add biosurfactants and additional additives to crude oils in order to reduce wax formation in crude oils.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments directed to the newly submitted claimed amendments, filed June 05, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3-6 and 10-25 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Krull et al. (EP 4326840 B1) in view of Xu et al. (EP 4269530 A1) hereinafter “Xu”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LATOSHA D HINES whose telephone number is (571)270-5551. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Prem Singh can be reached at 571-272-6381. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Latosha Hines/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
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