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 .
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 third flowpath 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 21-36 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.
Claims 21 and 30 recite limitation directed to “a third flowpath” that is unclear what it refers to. The specification, as originally filed, did not include any description of this. Instant specification only describes a first flowpath 120 (fig. 1) and a second flowpath 130 (fig. 1).
Claims 22-29 and 31-36 are rejected as being respectively dependent on claims 21 and 30.
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.
Claim(s) 21-25, 29-31 and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Demong (20110198080) in view of Yong et al. (20130153042 – Young).
Demong discloses a system, comprising:
Re claim 1 (as best understood – 112 issue) (method claim 30 is pertinent because when put the system is put in operation, it will result in the steps as called for in the method claim):
an inlet configured to receive gas from a gas source (i.e., fig. 1, pgh. 19, line 16 from wellbore 13);
an inlet valve 20 (i.e., fig. 1, pgh. 19, “inlet control valve”) downstream from the inlet and configured to actuate between: a first position, in which the inlet valve permits flow from the inlet, and a second position, in which the inlet valve prevents flow from the inlet;
a first flowpath 1 downstream from the inlet valve;
a second flowpath 2 downstream from the inlet valve and parallel to the first flowpath;
one or more flowpath valves V1, V2, V3, V4 downstream from the inlet valve and configured to control an amount of the gas (i.e., pgh. 25, claim 6, “oil”, “gas”) that flows from the inlet valve 20 into the first flowpath 1 and the second flowpath 2;
a third flowpath (i.e., see attached figure - 3rd) configured to receive the gas from the first flowpath 1 and the second flowpath 2;
wherein the inlet valve is configured to actuate between the first and second positions responsive to the energy content (i.e., “oil”, “gas”).
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Demong is silent on one or more pipeline taps configured to facilitate measurement of an energy content of the gas in the third flowpath. Young discloses a British thermal unit (BTU) measurement pipe tap, wherein the BTU measurement pipe tap is configured to measure the BTUs of the gas (i.e., pgh. 84). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the third flowpath of Demong by including the measurement pipe tap as taught by Young for accurate flow rate measurement of the gas flowing through the flowpath (i.e., Young, pgh. 84).
Re claim 22, the first flowpath 1 comprises a first pressure regulator V1, V2, V6, V7 configured to regulate a pressure of the gas by a first amount (i.e., pghs. 22-23, pressure regulated across screen 18 using valves V1, V2, V6, V7)
Re claim 23, the second flowpath 2 comprises a second pressure regulator V3, V4, V8, V9 that is configured to regulate the pressure of the gas by a second amount that is different from the first amount (i.e., pghs. 22-23, the valves V1, V2, V6, V7 divert flow from the discharge line 16 to the second flowpath) .
Re claim 24, a strainer 18 (i.e., fig. 1) disposed downstream of the inlet and upstream of the first flowpath and the second flowpath and configured to remove debris from the gas (i.e., pgh. 19, debris catcher 17 comprises screening device 18)
Re claims 25, 34, the one or more flowpath valves are selectively actuatable between: a first position where the gas is directed through the first flowpath and not the second flowpath, and a second position where the gas is directed through the second flowpath and not the first flowpath (i.e., pghs. 22-23).
Re claim 29, Demong and Young is silent on a scrubber disposed in the third flowpath and configured to remove liquid from the gas. However, a scrubber is a well-known device. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the third flowpath of Demong and Young by including a scrubber for purifying gases (https://www.bing.com/search?q=scrubber+meaning&cvid=3dfb293b720c495087a1e94d1b0d9dda&gs_lcrp=EgRlZGdlKgYIABBFGDkyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQABhAMgYIAhAAGEAyBggDEAAYQDIGCAQQABhAMgYIBRAAGEAyBggGEAAYQDIGCAcQABhAMgYICBAAGEAyCAgJEOkHGPxV0gEJMTIwODFqMGoxqAIA sAIA &FORM=ANAB01&PC=U531), since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Re claim 31, removing debris from the gas by operation of a strainer 18, 22 (i.e., pghs. 19-20, screening device) disposed upstream of the first flowpath 1 and the second flowpath (i.e., fig. 1).
Re claim 32, discharging the gas from an outlet 30 (i.e., fig. 1).
Claim(s) 28 and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Demong and Young, in view of Terabayashi et al. (20060243047 – Terabayashi).
Demong and Young discloses the pipeline tap, but is silent on an optical analyzer configured to measure the energy content of the gas as the gas moves through the third flowpath. Terabayashi teaches an optical analyzer configured to measure the energy content of the gas (i.e., pgh. 24). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the third flowpath of Demong and Young by including the optical sensor as taught by Terabayashi to detect the asphaltene precipitation, the condensate oil and outbreak of gas bubbles (i.e., Terabayashi, pghs. 26-27).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 26, 27, 35 and 36 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited prior art all show similar features t those of the claimed invention
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/YONG-SUK (PHILIP) RO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676