DETAILED ACTION
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 “at least one injection well and wherein the injection well comprises a pipeline for injecting the surfactant, the pipeline being connected to a dosimetric pump” and the “at least one production well” 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.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains a chemical structure. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
In chemical patent abstracts for compounds or compositions, the general nature of the compound or composition should be given as well as its use, e.g., “The compounds are of the class of alkyl benzene sulfonyl ureas, useful as oral anti-diabetics.” Exemplification of a species could be illustrative of members of the class. For processes, the type of reaction, reagents and process conditions should be stated, generally illustrated by a single example unless variations are necessary.
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." The examiner has noted several non-patent literature documents mentioned in the specification and properly cited on the IDS. If there are any other references in the specification that are not listed on the IDS, or have not been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
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.
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) 1-7, 11-15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26, and 29-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PATEL ET AL (US 2024/0018849) in view of GIZZATOV ET AL (NPL document cited by applicant).
With respect to claim 1, PATEL ET AL discloses a method of storing carbon dioxide in a subterranean formation 14 not containing any hydrocarbons, comprising: - injecting a surfactant 404, 504 into the subterranean formation; - injecting carbon dioxide 406, 502, into the subterranean formation (abs, [0043-0044], [0053-0054], Figs. 1, 4, 5).
However, PATEL ET AL fails to explicitly teach what kind of surfactant and “wherein the surfactant is a compound of formula (I): R2/R3 N-A-N (I)R4 wherein R1, R2, R3, and R4 are independently a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, A is an alkylene group, and the total number of carbon atoms in the surfactant compound of formula (I) is from 10 to 24” as claimed.
GIZZATOV ET AL teaches a method that includes the injection of the type of surfactants as claimed for the purpose of storing carbon dioxide in a subterranean formation not containing any hydrocarbons (deep saline aquifers). See p. 1-2, “materials”, and Fig. 1(e).
Therefore, it would be considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to provide the method of PATEL ET AL with a type/kind of surfactant in view of GIZZATOV ET AL in order to store large amounts of CO2 in underground geological formations.
With respect to claim 2, PATEL ET AL teaches wherein the surfactant and the carbon dioxide are injected simultaneously [0053-0054].
With respect to claim 3, PATEL ET AL teaches further comprising a step of premixing the surfactant and the carbon dioxide to make a C02-surfactant composition, and comprising injecting the C02-surfactant composition into the subterranean formation [0053-0054].
With respect to claim 4, PATEL ET AL teaches comprising a step of injecting carbon dioxide without surfactant into the subterranean formation after the step of injecting the C02-surfactant composition into the subterranean formation [0043], [0047].
With respect to claim 5, PATEL ET AL fails to explicitly teach wherein no water is injected into the subterranean formation. PATEL ET AL does teach less than 30 weight percent water [0053], which includes 0%. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to provide for a water concentration as claimed insofar as because it has been held "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F. 2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
With respect to claim 6, PATEL ET AL teaches wherein the surfactant and the carbon dioxide are injected separately [0043], [0047].
With respect to claim 7, PATEL ET AL teaches further comprising a step of injecting water into the subterranean formation [0022].
With respect to claim 11, PATEL ET AL teaches further comprising a step of premixing the surfactant, the carbon dioxide, and the water to make a CO2-surfactant-water composition, and comprising injecting this CO2-surfactant-water composition into the subterranean formation [0053-0054].
With respect to claim 12, PATEL ET AL teaches further comprising a step of premixing the surfactant and the carbon dioxide to make a C02-surfactant composition and comprising injecting this C02- surfactant composition into the subterranean formation [0053-0054].
With respect to claim 13, PATEL ET AL teaches wherein the step of injecting the C02-surfactant composition and the step of injecting the water are carried out alternately [0050].
With respect to claim 14, PATEL ET AL teaches further comprising a step of premixing the surfactant and water to make a surfactant-water composition and injecting the surfactant-water composition into the subterranean formation [0053-0054].
With respect to claim 15, PATEL ET AL teaches wherein the step of injecting the carbon dioxide and the step of injecting the surfactant-water composition are carried out alternately [0050].
With respect to claim 17, PATEL ET AL teaches wherein the injecting step(s) is/are carried out via at least one injection well 20 and wherein the injection well comprises a pipeline 30 for injecting the surfactant. However, PATEL ET AL fails to explicitly teach the pipeline being connected to a dosimetric pump as claimed. PATEL ET AL teaches pump 40. It would be considered obvious to provide for any known type of pump according to design choice.
Wit respect to claim 19, PATEL ET AL does not explicitly teach further comprising a step of collecting water present in the subterranean formation, via at least one production well as claimed. It would be considered obvious to provide for a production well to recover fluids according to design choice.
With respect to claim 21, PATEL ET AL teaches the method which does not comprise a step of collecting water present in the subterranean formation, via at least one production well (as evident by Fig. 1).
With respect to claims 23, 26, 29-30, PATEL ET AL as modified by GIZZATOV ET AL teaches the surfactant compositions having the alkyl groups and number of carbon atoms as claimed. See GIZZATOV ET AL, p. 1-2, and Fig. 1(e).
With respect to claim 31, PATEL ET AL as modified by GIZZATOV ET AL teaches wherein the compound of formula (I) is selected from those as claimed. See GIZZATOV ET AL, p. 1-2, and Fig. 1(e). With regard to the various treatment compounds of the Markush group recited in claim 31, the Examiner would like to note that the treatment compounds of the Markush group are being considered as obvious variants, and, therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill to employ such alternative treatment compounds in the method of PATEL ET AL as modified by GIZZATOV ET AL, as based on the desired treatment to be applied therewith.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20240093576 teaches a method for subsurface sequestration of carbon in a subterranean zone, the method comprising: forming a fluid-filled volume in the subterranean zone by injecting, into the subterranean zone, an aqueous solution; injecting, into the fluid-filled volume, a mixture comprising silicate nanoparticles suspended in an acidic solution having a pH of less than 4; injecting carbon in the form of carbon dioxide into the fluid-filled volume; and sequestering a least a portion of the carbon in the fluid-filled volume by precipitation of carbonate minerals in the fluid-filled volume, at least a portion of the carbonate minerals formed from reaction of metal cations with bicarbonate formed from the carbon dioxide, wherein at least a portion of the metal cations are a product of decomposition of the silicate nanoparticles in the acidic solution.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZAKIYA W BATES whose telephone number is (571)272-7039. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am - 5pm.
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, Doug Hutton can be reached at 5712724137. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ZAKIYA W BATES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674 12/31/2025