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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roddier et al (US 2019/0152015; cited by Applicant) in view of Skaare (WO 2022/086342). With respect to claim 1, 4, Roddier et al disclose the basic claimed structure including an offshore wind turbine system (Figure 8) with a wind turbine 101, 125, 11 in combination with a semisubmersible support structure (Figure 6) for floating at a water surface (Figures 13, 15-23; paragraphs 0004, 0040) including a tower support 102 that carriers a tower 111 of the wind turbine and at least one buoyancy member 102, 103, 104 providing buoyancy to the support structure including at least one adjustable ballast reservoir (paragraphs 0059-0062) having a water fillable volume with an effective part 103 of the volume being arranged distal to the tower and configured for receiving water for providing extra load on the support structure by gravitation as a restoring force that counteracts inclination of the tower relative to a predetermined orientation, despite variations in wind pressure (paragraphs 0059-0062; 0065-0066). Not disclosed by Roddier et al is a volume of the effective part of the ballast reservoir being above the waterline with a pump, conduit and drain. Skaare teaches an offshore wind turbine system with an effective ballast 16 above the water line with pump 19, conduit 21 and drain valve (page 7, last paragraph). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the device of Roddier et al with an effective ballast above the water line with pump, conduit and drain as taught by Skaare with a high likelihood of success for improved stability during certain operational conditions. The combination combines known features to achieve predictable results. Further, it is noted that a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have years of experience and advanced degrees. Such a person would have been familiar with various ballasting offshore systems and would have found the combination to have been obvious.
Claims 2-3, 5-7 and 9-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if re-written in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure Wang (US 2011/0214596) shows a ballast system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN AVILA whose telephone number is (571)272-6678. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 6-4.
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STEPHEN AVILA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3617
/STEPHEN P AVILA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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