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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Claims 1-22 & 26 in the reply filed on September 29, 2025 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “subsea hydraulic pressure storage device” (e.g. Claim 10), “pressure vessels” (e.g. Claim 11), “subsea fluid displacement energy storage device” (e.g. Claim 12), “structural anchoring mechanism” (e.g. Claim 18), “turbocharger pressure exchanger” (e.g. Claim 19), “subsea hydraulic actuators, machinery” (e.g. Claim 20), “sediment flushing channels” (e.g. Claim 22) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 1-22 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 recites “using the water hammered pressurized fluid”, which renders the claim indefinite because the claim does not set forth what the step does or how it is performed rendering the scope of the claim unascertainable.
Regarding Claim 9, the phrase "or other fluids" renders the claim(s) indefinite because the claim(s) include(s) elements not actually disclosed (those encompassed by "or other fluids"), thereby rendering the scope of the claim(s) unascertainable. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claims 2-8 & 10-22 are rejected due to their dependence from Claim 1.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-14, 16-20, 22, & 26, as far as they are definite, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)&(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ching (US 20090152871 A1).
Ching discloses a process for subsea power generation and fluid utilization from open water currents, comprising: channeling water from a subsea current through a pipe system constructed to withstand subsea pressures; creating a water hammered pressurized fluid within the pipe system; directing the water hammered pressurized fluid through a delivery valve; using the water hammered pressurized fluid (e.g. Para. [100], Figs. 1, 2, & 11).
Wherein the using comprises one or more of: power generation, fluid transport, desalination, pressure exchange, fluid pressurization, energy storage, and downstream processing (e.g. Fig. 2); the water hammered pressurized fluid is created by cyclically closing a valve (e.g. 5) within the pipe system; the using comprises driving a hydroelectric turbine for generating electricity (e.g. Figs. 2, 11); the using comprises pressure exchanging to transfer hydraulic power to a secondary fluid for downstream applications (e.g. Para. [0025]); and the using comprises transporting water or other fluids through subsea pipelines (e.g. Para. [0025, Figs. 7-9]) the using comprises transferring pressurized fluid to a higher elevation reservoir located on an offshore platform, wind turbine tower, or floating vessel, or bridge, or oil rigs, or FPSOs, or coastal facilities, onshore structure, or offshore structure, or any combination thereof (e.g. Fig. 14); discharging the transferred pressurized fluid to a hydroelectric turbine located at a lower elevation to convert potential energy into power (e.g. Fig. 14); and the using comprises driving a turbocharger pressure exchanger to transfer pressure or power to a secondary fluid (e.g. Figs. 7-9) ; and the using comprises powering subsea hydraulic actuators, machinery, or both (e.g. Para. [0034]). The process further comprises: transporting the pressurized fluid to a higher elevation reservoir, a surface platform, or a land-based facility; or integrating the pressurized fluid with an infrastructure selected from the group consisting of offshore wind turbine towers, offshore platforms, bridges, oil rigs, subsea processing or fluid handling facilities, floating production storage and offloading vessels, coastal facilities for energy or fluid applications, or any combination thereof (e.g. Fig. 14); concentrating the subsea current at an intake of the pipe system (e.g. 2 in Figs. 1 & 11); diffusing flow (e.g. via 18); storing the pressurized fluid in a subsea hydraulic pressure storage device (e.g. 13); pressure vessels configured to hold pressurized fluid (e.g. 13); a subsea fluid displacement energy storage device (e.g. 13); deploying a second pipe system in parallel to aggregate pressurized fluid (e.g. Fig. 11, 9A, 9B); channeling water from a subsea current of below 50 meters (e.g. Paras. [0061] & [0077]); anchoring at least a portion of the pipe system with a structural anchoring mechanism selected from the group consisting of suction anchors, gravity-based foundations, pile-driven supports, or hydrodynamically shaped bases (e.g. as shown in Fig. 1); and further comprises employing one or more sediment flushing channels (e.g. Para. [0034]).
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 15 & 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ching (US 20090152871 A1).
Regarding Claim 15, Ching does not explicitly teach that the system further comprises monitoring pressure, flow rate, and valve performance and transmitting data to a surface platform or control station.
It is common practice in the art of hydropower systems to include measurement instrumentation in order to monitor system performance. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the system of Ching to further include monitoring pressure, flow rate, and valve performance and transmitting data to a surface platform or control station, as an engineering expedient for the purpose of allowing for reporting and optimizing system performance.
Regarding Claim 21, Ching does not explicitly teach that the system further comprises employing anti-fouling coatings, biofouling-resistant materials, or both.
It is common practice in the art of hydropower systems to include measures to protect the system from harsh environmental factors that degrade system performance or reliability. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the system of Ching to further include employing anti-fouling coatings, biofouling-resistant materials, or both, as an engineering expedient for the purpose of protecting system performance and reliability.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional references listed on form PTO-892 are cited for their relevance to the disclosed invention and demonstration of the state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL LESLIE whose telephone number is (571)272-4819. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8 am - 4-30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel Wiehe can be reached at (571)272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL LESLIE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
January 8, 2026