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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-19 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-17 of U.S. Patent No. 12362563, hereinafter Reference Patent. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Re claims 1 and 10, Reference Patent claims 1, 8, anticipate the recited limitations.
Re claims 2-9, 11-19, Reference Patent claims 1-8 respectively teach the further recited limitations.
Claims 1-19 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12573855, hereinafter Reference Patent. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Re claims 1 and 10, Reference Patent claims 1, 10, anticipate the recited limitations.
Re claims 2-9, 11-19, Reference Patent claims 1-10 respectively teach the further recited limitations. Although the Reference Patent claims do not explicitly recite details of starting the gas turbine or that the containerized demand sink is 0-500 meters from the generators, Official Notice is hereby taken that the recited process of starting a generator by respective motor is well-known in the art, and one of ordinary skill would find the further limitations obvious given the claims imply ramping and starting of generators that may use the known process, and that the flexible firm skid is recited as within the power plant having the generators and thus the optimization of its distance would be obvious to those of ordinary skill.
Claims 1-19 provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-19 of copending Application No. 18/455883, hereinafter Reference Application, in view of Lewis (US2019/0339756).
Re claims 1 and 10, Reference Application claims 1, 10, teaches most of the recited limitations (note that broadly operation of Reference Application claim 10 would include the scenario where the grid demand exceeds some given ramp rate, and present claim 1 does not require further operations in response to other conditions). Although Reference Application claims 1, 10 does not explicitly recite providing buck up power source and backup power output to the flexible firm skid, Lewis teaches it is known in the art of power plant systems having flexible firm skid/digital asset controllably consuming portion of plant power for the skid to also include backup power source providing backup power (see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0056], [0060-0061], Figs. 1-2 regarding providing part of power plant generated power and also back-up power to operate loads of the energy offloading system <200>). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Reference Application to incorporate the teachings of Lewis by including backup power source as recited for purposes of providing backup power to the components of the flexible firm skid in case power from the main plant generators is terminated (see Lewis: [0060-0061]).
Re claims 2-9, 11-19, Reference Application claims 1-10 in view of Lewis respectively teach the further recited limitations. Although the Reference Application claims in view of Lewis do not explicitly recite details of starting the gas turbine, Official Notice is hereby taken that the recited process of starting a generator by respective motor is well-known in the art, and one of ordinary skill would find the further limitations obvious given the claims imply ramping and starting of generators that may use the known process.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
Claim Objections
Claims 15, 18-19 objected to because of the following informalities:
Re claim 15, the claim should be amended: “…wherein the flexible firm skid includes the containerized demand sink…” to correct grammar and prevent potential antecedent basis issues.
Re claim 18, the claim preamble should be amended: “…the operations further comprise[[s]]:” to correct grammar.
Re claim 19, the claim preamble should be amended: “The power plant as in claim 18, wherein the operations include:” to correct grammar.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-5, 7-12, 14-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lewis (US2019/0339756) in view of Biellmann (US2018/0145511), further in view of McNamara (US2021/0035242), further in view of Mokhtari (US2015/0261240).
Re claim 1. Lewis teaches a method of operating a power plant (power plant <102>, see Lewis: [0045], Figs. 1-2), the method comprising:
generating, with one or more power generators (power generators of power plant <102>, see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0094-0096], Figs. 1, 7 regarding power plants generating total power to supply grid and energy offloading system), a total plant power;
supplying, with a back up power source (alternative energy supply <208>), a backup power output (see Lewis: [0056], [0061], Figs. 2A-B regarding alternative energy supply providing power to energy offloading system <200>);
providing at least one of a second portion of the total plant power and the backup power output to a flexible firm skid (energy offloading system <200/112>, see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0056], Figs. 1-2) to meet a flexible firm demand, the flexible firm skid including one or more digital assets configured to generate the flexible firm power demand through operation of the one or more digital assets (see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0056], [0060-0061], Figs. 1-2 regarding providing part of power plant generated power and also back-up power to operate loads including computing units in a container housing of the energy offloading system <200>); and
providing a third portion of the total plant power to a power grid (grid <109>) outside of the power plant to meet a grid demand (see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], Fig. 1 regarding power plant providing some of generated power to electrical grid). See Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0056-0064], [0094-0096], Figs. 1-2, 7.
Lewis does not explicitly disclose that part of the total plant power is used to supply auxiliary loads coupled to the generators as recited. However, use of power plant generated power to operate equipment necessary for running of the power plant is very well-known to those skilled in the art. Biellmann, for example, teaches that it is known in the art of power plant systems supplying the electrical grid to provide a first portion of the total plant power to one or more auxiliary devices (auxiliaries <6, 16>, see Biellmann: [0002], [0014-0016], [0052-0054], Fig. 2 regarding power plant auxiliary equipment normally supplied from power derived from main electricity production units/generators) to meet an auxiliary demand, the auxiliary demand being generated through operation of the one or more auxiliary devices, the one or more auxiliary devices being one of thermally, fluidly, or mechanically coupled to the one or more power generators (see Biellmann: [0016], [0052-0053], Fig. 2 regarding auxiliaries including pumps fluidly/mechanically coupled to the main energy production unit <2> generator). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement/modify the system of Lewis to incorporate the teachings of Biellmann by having a first portion of the power generated by the power plant also be used to power auxiliary equipment needed to run the power plant equipment/generators as recited for purposes of providing known electrical supply arrangement for powering electrical equipment needed to operate the power plant's generators from the power available.
Lewis in view of Biellmann generally discloses adjusting an operation of the flexible firm skid to modify the flexible firm demand in response to based generally on available power from the one or more generators when advantageous to do so (see Lewis: [0046], Fig. 1), but does not explicitly discuss specific control in response to increased grid demand relative to power ramp rate of the one or more generators. McNamara, however, teaches that it is known in the art of power plants have flexible digital asset loads using power from plant generators when advantageous to do so for adjusting the flexible firm demand to advantageously be in response to receiving an increase in the grid demand exceeding the available power/anticipated available power from the generators, the flexible load able to quickly ramp up and down to modify flexible load demand in response (see McNamara: [0063], [0186-0187], Fig. 2). Additionally, Mokhtari further teaches that it is known in the art of power generation and consumption management that balancing generation and loading includes considerations of the generator ramping rate constraints when determining whether the generator will be capable of meeting anticipating load, and reducing load consumption as needed (see Mokhtari: [0040-0042], Fig. 1). One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that Lewis and McNamara both suggest reducing/modifying the flexible firm demand when anticipating that the generators will not be able to meet a requested increase in grid demand since the flexible firm skid load may be flexibly and quickly changed. One of ordinary skill in the art would also appreciate that Mokhtari further suggests that determining a generator will not be able to meet a given grid demand may be due to constraints on how quickly generators may ramp up power output and meet said demand. It would therefore have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Lewis in view of Biellman to further incorporate the teachings of McNamara and Mokhtari by having the system designed to adjust flexible firm demand in response to receiving increase in grid demand exceeding a power ramp rate of the one or more generators for purposes of ensuring the system meets power requirements of the grid considering the physical limits of the generation system and taking advantage of the ability of the flexible firm skid to change power balance very quickly (see Lewis: [0046]; McNamara: [0063], [0186-0187]; Mokhtari: [0040-0042]).
Re claim 2. Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the method as in claim 1, wherein providing at least one of the second portion and the backup power output further comprises: providing both the second portion of the total plant power and the backup power output to the flexible firm skid to meet the flexible firm demand (see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0056], [0060-0061], [0073-0075], Figs. 1-2 regarding providing part of power plant generated power and also back-up power to operate loads of the energy offloading system <200>, including supplying power from alternative energy source when energy from power plant to energy offloading system is curtailed; see also McNamara: [0067], [0101-0103], Fig. 2, regarding control of power supply from multiple sources including generators and back-up/alternative sources to the flexible load based on optimal conditions).
Re claim 3. Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the method as in claim 2, further comprising: adjusting a ratio of the second portion of the total plant power and the backup power output provided to the flexible firm skid based on a magnitude of the grid demand (see Lewis: [0051], [0056], [0060-0061], [0073-0075] Figs. 1-2 regarding changing from power plant provided power to alternative energy source power, i.e. ratio changes to be fully one or the other, based on amount of demand from grid and excess power available; see also similarly discussion of claim 1).
Re claim 4. Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the method as in claim 1. Although Lewis gives example of a variety of power plant technologies (see Lewis: [0045], Fig. 1), Lewis does not explicitly specify use of gas turbines. Biellmann, however, further teaches that it is known in the art of power plants supplying grids for the power plant generators to comprise a gas turbine (see Biellmann: [0030], [0052], [0099], Fig. 2 regarding main electricity production unit <2> having a gas turbine generator/alternator). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the system of Lewis in view of Biellman, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, to incorporate the teachings of Biellmann by having the power plant specifically use gas turbine generators for purposes of providing known, equivalent power plant technology for supplying power to the electric grid (see Biellmann: [0030], [0052], [0099], Fig. 2).
Biellmann further teaches supplying, with a back up power source (auxiliary thermal power generator <11> and/or <14>), a backup power output, and wherein the method further comprises: starting the gas turbine at least partially with the backup power output (see Biellmann: [0054-0056], [0083], [0088-0089], Fig. 2 regarding auxiliary thermal power generator <11> output used to provide energy to start the power plant; note the claim does not require supply to the flexible firm skid, and also due to lack of definition of the skid as discussed one or more of auxiliaries <16> could also be broadly interpreted as the "flexible firm skid"). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the system of Lewis in view of Biellman, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, to incorporate the teachings of Biellmann by providing back up power source with output used to start the gas turbine generators of the power plant as recited for purposes of providing known emergency power supply means for black-starting the power plant generators in case of outage (see Biellmann: [0054-0056], [0075], [0083], [0088-0089]).
Re claim 5. Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the method as in claim 4, wherein starting the gas turbine at least partially with the backup power output further comprises: providing the backup power output to an electric motor coupled to a shaft of the gas turbine; rotating the shaft with the electric motor; and initiating combustion in a combustion section of the gas turbine (see Biellmann: [0054-0056], [0083], [0088-0089], [0098-0101], Fig. 2 regarding starting gas turbine generator by supplying the auxiliary thermal unit <11> generator power to motor to rotate shaft of power plant turbine generator; although Biellmann does not explicitly discuss all details of starting the gas turbine generator such as combustion, Official Notice is hereby taken that it is very well-known in the art of gas turbine generators that generator starting may include the recited steps including initiating combustion, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system of Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, to include the recited steps for purposes of providing known operation for restarting a gas turbine generator).
Re claim 7. Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the method as in claim 1, wherein the flexible firm skid includes a containerized demand sink having the one or more digital assets disposed within a housing, and wherein the one or more digital assets comprises at least one of data centers, digital factory equipment, and computing units (see Lewis: [0056-0057], [0064], Figs. 2A-B regarding the energy offloading system <200> including computing units in a container housing).
Re claim 8. Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the method as in claim 7, wherein the containerized demand sinks are disposed within a proximity of about 0 meters and about 500 meters of the gas turbine (see Lewis: [0006], [0064], Fig. 1 regarding energy offloading systems being within several feet to energy generation system).
Re claim 9. Lewis in view of Biellman, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the method as in claim 1, wherein adjusting an operation of the flexible firm skid further comprises: reducing the flexible firm demand by an amount that is approximately equal to the increase in the grid demand adjusting the operation of the flexible firm skid in response to the increase in the grid demand (see Lewis: [0046] regarding matching demand with generation; McNamara: [0063], [0186-0187] regarding reducing flexible load in response to received grid demand increase; Mokhtari: [0040-0042], and discussion of claim 1 regarding obviousness of reducing flexible load to balance the increase in grid demand).
Re claim 10. Lewis in view of Biellman, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches a power plant (see discussion of claim 1 above regarding details of combination) comprising:
one or more power generators (power generators of power plant <102>, see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0094-0096], Figs. 1, 7 regarding power plants generating total power to supply grid and energy offloading system) electrically connected to a power grid outside of the power plant (grid <109>, see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], Fig. 1);
one or more auxiliary devices (auxiliaries <6, 16>, see Biellmann: [0002], [0014-0016], [0052-0054], Fig. 2 regarding power plant auxiliary equipment normally supplied from power derived from main electricity production units/generators) that is at least one of mechanically, thermally, or fluidly coupled to the one or more power generators, the one or more auxiliary devices configured to generate an auxiliary demand;
a flexible firm skid (energy offloading system <200/112>, see Lewis: [0006], [0045-0047], [0051], [0056], Figs. 1-2 regarding system located at power generation source; additionally or alternatively, see Biellmann: [0053-0056], Fig. 2 regarding one or more of auxiliaries <16> which also may be broadly interpreted as part of the "flexible firm skid") disposed within the power plant, the flexible firm skid including a containerized demand sink (see Lewis: [0056-0057], [0064], Figs. 2A-B regarding the energy offloading system <200> including computing units using power; additionally or alternatively, see Biellmann: [0053-0056], Fig. 2 regarding one or more of auxiliaries <16> which also may be broadly interpreted as part of the "containerized demand sink") and a back up power source (alternative energy supply <208>, see Lewis: [0056], [0061], Figs. 2A-B regarding alternative energy supply providing power to energy offloading system <200>; additionally or alternatively, see Biellmann: [0053-0056] , Fig. 2 regarding auxiliary thermal power generators <11,14> connected to the power generation system and loads) electrically connected to the containerized demand sink and the one or more power generators, the flexible firm skid including one or more digital assets configured to generate a flexible firm power demand through operation of the one or more digital assets (see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0056], [0060-0061], Figs. 1-2 regarding providing part of power plant generated power and also back-up power to operate loads including computing units in a container housing of the energy offloading system <200>); and
a controller (corresponding electronic controls for the generators and energy offloading system, see Lewis: [0065-0066], [0073], [0094], [0098], Fig. 8 regarding computing device with memory and processors for electronically managing the power plant and energy offloading system components; see also Biellmann: [0053], [0087] regarding corresponding electronic control for the power plant production unit and auxiliaries) operably connected to the one or more generators and the flexible firm skid, the controller including memory and one or more processors, the memory storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the power plant to perform one or more operations including the following:
generate, with the one or more power generators, a total plant power (see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0094-0096], Figs. 1, 7 regarding power plants generating total power to supply grid and energy offloading system);
supply, with the back up power source, a backup power output (see Lewis: [0056], [0061], Figs. 2A-B regarding alternative energy supply providing power to energy offloading system <200>; additionally or alternatively see Biellmann: [0053-0056], [0083], [0088-0089], Fig. 2 regarding auxiliary thermal power generators <11,14> providing output);
provide a first portion of the total plant power to one or more auxiliary devices (auxiliaries <6, 16>, see Biellmann: [0002], [0014-0016], [0052-0054], Fig. 2 regarding power plant auxiliary equipment normally supplied from power derived from main electricity production units/generators) to meet an auxiliary demand, the auxiliary demand being generated through operation of the one or more auxiliary devices, the one or more auxiliary devices being one of thermally, fluidly, or mechanically coupled to the one or more power generators (see Biellmann: [0016], [0052-0053], Fig. 2 regarding auxiliaries including pumps fluidly/mechanically coupled to the main energy production unit <2> generator);
provide at least one of a second portion of the total plant power and the backup power output to the flexible firm skid to meet the flexible firm demand (see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0056], [0060-0061], Figs. 1-2 regarding providing part of power plant generated power and also back-up power to operate loads of the energy offloading system <200>; additionally or alternatively, see Biellmann: [0002], [0014-0016], [0052-0056] , Fig. 2 regarding auxiliary thermal power generators <11,14> and main generators <2> of plant providing power to auxiliaries <6,16>), the flexible firm demand being generated through operation of the flexible firm skid;
provide a third portion of the total plant power to a power grid (grid <109>) outside of the power plant to meet a grid demand (see Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], Fig. 1 regarding power plant providing some of generated power to electrical grid; see also Biellmann: [0050-0052], Fig. 2);
receive an increase in the grid demand that exceeds a power ramp rate of the one or more power generators; and
adjust an operation of the flexible firm skid to modify the flexible firm demand in response to the increase in the grid demand (see Lewis: [0046]; McNamara: [0063], [0186-0187]; Mokhtari: [0040-0042], and discussion of claim 1 regarding obviousness of reducing flexible load in response to receiving increased grid demand above generator ramp rate). See Lewis: [0045-0047], [0051], [0056-0064], [0094-0096], Figs. 1-2, 7; Biellmann: [0002], [0014-0016], [0052-0056], [0083], [0088-0089], Fig. 2; McNamara: [0063], [0186-0187], Fig. 2; Mokhtari: [0040-0042], Fig. 1; and also discussion of claim 1 above regarding details of combination and essentially the same limitations.
Re claims 11-12, 15-19, the further recited limitations essentially correspond to the limitations recited in claims 4-5, 7-8, 2-3, respectively, and are therefore rejected by the same reasoning applied above.
Re claim 14. Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the power plant as in claim 10. Biellmann further teaches that use of generators as the backup source, and use of diesel generators is known (see discussion of claim 9 above, and also Biellmann: [0054-0056], [0088], Fig. 2), but does not explicitly disclose back up generators having a respective standalone fuel supply. Official Notice is hereby taken that it is well-known in the art of backup power generators for the generator to be fluidly coupled to a standalone fuel supply that supplies fuel for operating the respective generator, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system of Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, with the standalone fuel supply as recited for purposes of providing known fuel supply means for ensuring a generator has respective fuel needed for its operation.
Claim(s) 6, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, as applied respectively above, further in view of Cavness (US2020/0040272).
Re claim 6. Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, teaches the method as in claim 5, and discloses the gas turbine and back up power source as generators requiring fuel (see Biellmann: [0054-0056], [0088], [0099]) but does not explicitly disclose arrangement such that they couple to the same fuel supply. Cavness, however, teaches that it is known in the art of multiple generator systems wherein the combustion section of the gas turbine is fluidly coupled to a fuel supply, and wherein a second generator/the back up power source is also fluidly coupled to the fuel supply (see Cavness: [0101], [0124], Fig. 4 regarding multiple combustion generators receiving fuel from shared fuel supplies). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Lewis in view of Biellmann, further in view of McNamara, further in view of Mokhtari, to incorporate the teachings of Cavness by having the multiple generator power sources disclosed by Lewis in view of Biellman be designed as fuel based generators with common supply for purposes of providing known equivalent generator power sources for generating electrical power, and allowing for sharing of fuel supplies at a single site (see Cavness: [0101], [0124], Fig. 4).
Re claims 13, the further recited limitations essentially correspond to the limitations recited in claim 6, respectively, and are therefore rejected by the same reasoning applied above.
Conclusion
In summary, it is recommended Applicant address the noted Double Patenting issues, and consider the cited prior art of record which appears to suggest that systems for using a portion of a power plant output to supply onsite digital assets and absorb excess power generation is generally known in the art. Additionally, standard power plant arrangements to power auxiliary equipment or start generators is also known in the art. The prior art also appears to sufficiently suggest generally using the digital asset as a fast responding load in response to increases in grid demand that cannot be handled by the generator. It is recommended that if further details of the specific determinations and/or comparisons of values, and/or specific control of components in response to the different conditions in Applicant’s preferred operation manner would be nonobvious over the prior art suggestions, then it is recommended that the claims be amended to explicitly and clearly recite all the particular features of the combination with explanation of nonobviousness. Applicant is cautioned that claim language is given broadest reasonable interpretation during examination. Applicant may contact the examiner to discuss possible amendments or the office action as needed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID A SHIAO whose telephone number is (571)270-7265. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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/DAVID A SHIAO/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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