DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
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 1-6, 8, 9, 11, 13-17, 19 21-23 and 25-26 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.
Regarding claims 1 and 26, the claims recite (or substantially similar to) “wherein the received signal relates to a measure of orientation of the data capture device or causes the data capture device to measure or record the orientation of the data capture device” which is indefinite. The limitation “relates to” is very vague and does not specify the scope of the relationship between the “received signal” and the “measure of orientation” For example, it is unclear whether the signal contains the measure of orientation or is calculated using the measure of orientation. Furthermore, there is no positive recitation of obtaining “measure of orientation”. As such, it is unclear how the “received signal relates to a measure of orientation of the data capture device” when there is no clear steps of actually performing the step of measuring orientation.
Claim 2 recites “only upon receiving the signal the data capture device measures and/or records the orientation.” Which is indefinite because the claim requires either “measures” or “records” but its unclear how the “the orientation” is being recorded without being measured. As such, does the step of “records the orientation” require that the “the orientation” is measured as well? The claim does not positively require the step of measuring which makes the claimed step unclear. As such, the metes and bounds of this claim is unclear.
Claim 5 recites “having received the signal, the data capture device records the measured orientation.” Which is indefinite because there is no positive recitation of actually measuring orientation in the claim. As such, it is unclear how the “the orientation” is being recorded without being measured first. Furthermore, claim 1 already requires “or record the orientation of the data capture device”; therefore, it is unclear how the limitation of claim 5 further limits claim 1 when claim 5 requires the same limitation already recited in claim 1.
Regarding claim 15, there is no antecedent basis for the limitation “the inner tube”.
Regarding claim 15, the claim recites “a locking arrangement to lock the data capture device and the inner tube in a fixed relationship.” and it is unclear what “fixed relationship” entails structurally or and functionally. For example, does “fixed relationship” mean that the “data capture device” and “inner tube” are coupled/fixed to each other, are they “fixed” to other components or are they “fixed” from moving in a specific direction? The disclosure does not specify what “fixed relationship” means. As such, the metes and bounds of this claim is indefinite.
Regarding claim 25, the claim recites “wherein the signal sent from aboveground includes a Morse code type signal of short, long or combination of short and long, signals, such as pulse” which is indefinite because the disclosure does not provide an adequate definition, i.e. numerical ranges, of “short signal” and “long signal” signals. As such, one of ordinary skill in the art would not know what qualifies as “short” signals versus what qualifies as “long” signals. For this reason, the metes and bounds of this claim is indefinite.
Claims 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16-19 21-23 and 25 are also rejected under this statute as the claims depend from claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6,8-9,11,13-19,21-23 and 25-26 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The closest prior art to claims 1 and 26 is Parfitt (U.S. Publication No. 20070282533 ) and Rytlewski et al. (U.S. Publication No. 20120067567).
Regarding claim 1, Parfitt teaches method of obtaining or recording orientation relating to a core sample obtained by a core drilling operation, the method including deploying a core drill assembly downhole and a data capture device connected thereto (generating signals associated with a physical orientation of the core orientation device between the first location and the drilling location; pp[0028]), obtaining a core sample by drilling (moving a core drill having a core orientation device from a first location to a drilling location and thereafter operating the core drill to drill a core sample; pp[0027]), the data capture device (22) receiving a signal downhole (The core orientation device 10 includes processing means 22 for processing the signals 16 from arrangement 14 so as to provide processed data 23 from which a measure 24 of the rotational orientation 18 of the core orientation device 10 can be established; pp[0059]) wherein the received signal relates to a measure of orientation of the data capture device (rotational orientation 18 of the core orientation device 10; pp[0059]).
Parfit is silent regarding wherein the signal is initiated at the surface.
Rytlewski teaches sending signals downhole wherein the signal is initiated at the surface (When a wireless command from the surface is transmitted to the independent completion 30 via wireless telemetry system 62 to, for example, open a valve or to transmit a sensor reading, the battery 72 sends the correct amount of power to the flow control valve; pp[0028]).
However, it would not be obvious to modify Parfit such that the signals for processing the rotational orientation of the core orientation device is initiated at the surface because Parfit already has an element (arrangement 14) within the core orientation device to provide the signal directly to the data capture device in order to determine the orientation of the core orientation device. As such, modifying the signal to be initiated from the surface will further complicate the system and method of Parfit and may prevent Parfit from operating as intended because the signal has to travel farther from the surface to reach the data capture device that is downhole. Additionally, there is no clear motivation in the prior art to make such a modification. As such, modifying Parfit with Rytlewski would be based on impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Regarding claim 26, Parfit with Rytlewski does not read on this claim for similar reasons as discussed for claim 1 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lamia Quaim whose telephone number is (469)295-9199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10AM - 6PM CST.
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, Tara Schimpf can be reached at (571) 270-7741. 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.
/LAMIA QUAIM/Examiner, Art Unit 3676
Prosecution Insights