DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final, first office action on the merits. Claim 1 is pending. 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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Specifically, claim 1 is directed to an abstract idea without additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea.
With respect to Step 2A Prong One of the framework, claim 1 recites an abstract idea. Claim 1 includes “(1) constructing a dry-season drawdown optimization model based on the constraints of cascade pre-flood energy storage, monthly electricity generation control during the dry season, and conventional hydropower operation restrictions; the model is used to obtain the optimal dry-season drawdown plan; the objective function of the dry-season drawdown optimization model is as follows:…….
(5.5) for other hydropower plants in the cascade, the steps (5.2) to (5.6) are repeated to
pre-calculate flood energy storage values; finally, detailed relationships between cascade energy storage and dry-season power shortage, flood-season water spillage, inadequate year end energy storage, and wind and solar power curtailment are obtained”.
The limitations above recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One. More particularly, the elements above recite mental processes-concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion) and mathematical formulas or equations because the elements describe a process for risk analysis and control of pre-flood energy storage. As a result, claim 1 recites an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One.
With respect to Step 2A Prong Two of the framework, claim 1 does not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. As a result, claim 1 does not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application under Step 2A Prong Two.
With respect to Step 2B of the framework, claim 1 does not include additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea. As a result, independent claims 1 does not include additional elements that amount to significantly more than the abstract idea under Step 2B.
Therefore, the claims are directed to an abstract idea without additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 appear to be allowable if rewritten to overcome the 35 USC § 101 rejection.
The prior art references most closely resembling the Applicant’s claimed invention Shen et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0268742), in view of Zhou et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0367280), in view of Hu et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 9,811,061), in view of C Chen, H Liu, Y Xiao, F Zhu, L Ding, F Yang et al. (Power generation scheduling for a hydro-wind-solar hybrid system: A systematic survey and prospect) - Energies, 2022 - mdpi.com, and further in view of G Liu, J Zhou, Y Yang, S Ke, L Mo, Y Wang et al. (Risks analysis of discarding water in power generation process of hydropower station) - Ieee …, 2019 - ieeexplore.ieee.org.
With respect to the 35 USC 103 rejections, none of the prior art of record, taken individually or in any combination, teach, inter alia,
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Shen et al. discloses a method for quantifying the flexibility demand and coordinating optimization of a hydro-wind-solar multi-energy complementary system.
Zhou et al. discloses an optimal scheduling method for peak regulation of a cascade hydro-photovoltaic complementary power generation system.
Hu et al. discloses optimization and management of a serial, non-linear, hydropower generation system on an hourly basis based on economic and trader inputs.
C Chen, H Liu, Y Xiao, F Zhu, L Ding, F Yang et al. (Power generation scheduling for a hydro-wind-solar hybrid system: A systematic survey and prospect) - Energies, 2022 - mdpi.com discloses wind and solar power station cluster output, the risks brought … for power generation at the end of the dry season, power … of wind and solar power generation has a seasonal.
G Liu, J Zhou, Y Yang, S Ke, L Mo, Y Wang et al. (Risks analysis of discarding water in power generation process of hydropower station) - Ieee …, 2019 - ieeexplore.ieee.org discloses discarding water risks under the control of pre-flood falling … cascade hydropower station as an example, the optimized … integrated risk analysis model of FCOMFI for reservoirs.
While the teachings of Shen et al., Zhou et al., Hu et al., Yang et al., and Wang et al. separately address different parts of the claimed invention, these teachings would not be combinable by one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to provide a predictable combination that would render the claimed invention obvious. Thus, the novelty of the claimed invention is in the combination of limitations rather than any single limitation.
Conclusion
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/HAFIZ A KASSIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3623 08/24/2026
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