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 .
The present application is a 371 of PCT/EP2023/072170 filed on August 10, 2023.
A preliminary amendment was filed by the applicant on February 7, 2025.
Drawings
The drawings were received on February 6, 2025. These drawings are acceptable.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 6, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shell Internationale Research (WO 2011/101461 A1).
Shell Internationale Research discloses a hydrocarbon processing vessel, as shown in Figures 1-8, which is comprised of a marine vessel, defined as Part #100, with a hull, defined as Part #2, that is configured to support a weight, a pair of sidewalls, defined as Parts #4 and 6, having a length that extends in a longitudinal direction, a base or bottom structure, defined as Part #8, that extends between said sidewalls, a main or upper deck, defined as Part #10, having a breadth, a processing deck, defined as Part #50, that is disposed over said main or upper deck, a plurality of hydrocarbon processing units, each defined as Part #52, that are mounted on and supported by said processing deck, as shown in Figure 2, side spaces that are bounded by said base or bottom structure, said main or upper deck, said pair of sidewalls, and a pair of longitudinal bulkheads, defined as Parts #40 and 42, that are disposed at a distance from said pair of sidewalls, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, at least one hydrocarbon storage tank, defined as Parts #20 and 22, that is disposed between said base or bottom structure, said main or upper deck, and said pair of longitudinal sidewalls, as shown in Figure 5, and a centerline bulkhead that is formed by a second pair of longitudinal bulkheads, defined as Parts #26 and 28. Between one and eight of said hydrocarbon storage tanks of substantially the same size extend in a transverse direction between said pair of longitudinal bulkheads and said centerline bulkhead, as shown in Figure 5. Said hydrocarbon storage tanks are disposed between front and aft transverse bulkheads, each defined as Part #32, as shown in Figure 5. Said hydrocarbon processing units are disposed on said processing deck, which is supported by said main or upper deck, as shown in Figure 2. Said marine vessel is further comprised of a turret, defined as Part #60, that is connected to a plurality of hydrocarbon risers which extend to a subsea well, as described in lines 9-18 of page 12. Pipes, which are not shown, inherently connect said hydrocarbon risers to said hydrocarbon processing units in order to allow hydrocarbons to be transported from said subsea well to said hydrocarbon processing units. Said side spaces are further comprised of seawater ballast tanks, as described in lines 19-23 of page 9, which in order to function inherently require the use of pumps that are configured to fill or empty said ballast tanks.
Shell Internationale Research, as set forth above, discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of a marine vessel having a specific weight in tons, and a specific distance between a pair of sidewalls and a pair of longitudinal bulkheads.
The use of a marine vessel having a weight of a specific tonnage would be considered by one of ordinary skill in the art to be an obvious design choice based upon the required size of said marine vessel in order to carry and support a desired volume and weight of cargo.
The use of a marine vessel having a specific spacing distance between a pair of sidewalls and a pair of longitudinal bulkheads would also be considered by one of ordinary skill in the art to be an obvious design choice based upon the required spacing to hold and support a desired volume of cargo or ballast.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art, to utilize a marine vessel having a specific weight in tons, and having a specific distance between a pair of sidewalls and a pair of longitudinal bulkheads, in combination with the hydrocarbon processing vessel as disclosed by Shell Internationale Research for the purpose of providing a marine vessel of sufficient size and weight to carry and support a desired volume and weight of cargo or ballast.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sikora et al. (US 5,582,124) discloses a framing system for marine vessels.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARS A OLSON whose telephone number is (571) 272-6685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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October 14, 2026
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615B
