DETAILED ACTION
The present application is a Divisional (DIV) of U.S. Application No. 18/485,482.
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 .
Response to Preliminary Amendment
Applicant’s preliminary amendments, filed September 19, 2025, have been fully considered.
Claims 1-13 have been canceled. Claims 18-24 are newly added.
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.
Claims 14-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farmer et al. (US 2021/0198554).
Claim 14. Farmer discloses A method for mitigating tar in a reservoir (Abstract; [0011]; [0021]; [0040]; [0066]; [0153]), comprising:
introducing tar-mitigating bacteria downhole to a reservoir comprising tar ([0014] – [0017]; [0021]; [0040] “a method for performing oil recovery that comprises applying to an oil recovery site a composition of a biosurfactant-producing yeast … and/or a biosurfactant-producing bacteria …”; [0066] “Heavy hydrocarbons may include highly viscous hydrocarbon fluids such as heavy oil, extra heavy oil, tar, tar sands, fuel oil and/or asphalt.”; [0153]; Claim 13 “A method for recovering oil from oil sands comprising applying a composition that comprises a biosurfactant-producing yeast and/or one or more biosurfactants produced by a microorganism to the oil sands”);
allowing the tar-mitigating bacteria to be delivered to a tar food source in the reservoir, triggering bacterial growth upon reaching the tar food source, whereupon the tar breaks apart ([0021]; [0040]; [0153]; Claim 13 “allowing the oil to detach from the sands”; Claim 14 “wherein the method further comprises reducing the viscosity of the oil recovered by applying a composition that comprises a biosurfactant-producing yeast and/or one or more biosurfactants produced by the yeast to the oil”);
allowing the tar-mitigating bacteria to produce and release biosurfactants, thereby trapping the tar from the reservoir with the biosurfactants ([0021]; [0028] “The microorganisms can grow in situ and produce the active compounds onsite. Consequently, a high concentration of, for example, biosurfactant and biosurfactant-producing microorganisms at a treatment site (e.g., an oil well) can be achieved easily and continuously.”; [0039]; [0040]; [0153]; Claim 13);
mobilizing the tar trapped by the biosurfactants away from porous rock ([0039]; [0153]; [0154]; Claim 13 “allowing the oil to detach from the sands”); and
removing the tar trapped by the biosurfactants from the reservoir ([0039]; [0153]; [0154]; Claim 13 “allowing the oil to detach from the sands; and piping out the oil.”).
Farmer does not expressly disclose the phrase thereby trapping the tar from the reservoir with the biosurfactants. However, Farmer does disclose that applying the biosurfactant-producing yeast to oil sands increases the wettability (i.e. the ability for a liquid to adhere to a solid surface) of the sands and allows for the oil to detach from the sands ([0025]; [0153]); and the oil and other composition liquids (e.g., microbes and/or broth resulting from the microbial growth) can be piped out from the reservoir and optionally further separated ([0154]). Therefore, the Examiner finds the disclosure to sufficiently render obvious the claimed invention.
Claim 15. Farmer discloses The method of claim 14. Regarding the limitation: wherein the tar food source that is the tar trapped within the reservoir is blocked from being ingested by the tar-mitigating bacteria, Farmer discloses that applying the biosurfactant-producing yeast to oil sands increases the wettability (i.e. the ability for a liquid to adhere to a solid surface) of the sands and allows for the oil to detach from the sands ([0025]; [0153]).
Claim 16. Farmer discloses The method of claim 14, further comprising identifying a reservoir that comprises tar ([0066] “Heavy hydrocarbons may include highly viscous hydrocarbon fluids such as heavy oil, extra heavy oil, tar, tar sands, fuel oil and/or asphalt.”; [0153]; Claim 13).
Claim 17. Farmer discloses The method of claim 14, performed at a temperature of from 4°C to 100°C ([0095] “cultivation of microorganisms is carried out at about 5° to about 100° C.”).
Claim 18. Farmer discloses The method of claim 14, further comprising introducing one or more nutrients downhole ([0018]; [0021] “The method optionally includes adding nutrients and/or other agents to the site in order to, for example, promote microbial growth.”).
Claim 19. Farmer discloses The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more nutrients are selected from the group consisting of a nitrogen source, a salt, carbon, phosphate, sulfur, magnesium, iron, potassium, sodium, and calcium ([0018] “the microbe-based composition can further comprise nutrient sources, including nitrogen, nitrate, phosphorus, magnesium and/or carbon”; [0086]; [0088]; [0089] “Inorganic nutrients, including trace elements such as iron, zinc, copper, manganese, molybdenum and/or cobalt may also be included in the medium.”).
Claim 20. Farmer discloses The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more nutrients are introduced during introducing the tar-mitigating bacteria downhole ([0018]; [0021] “The method optionally includes adding nutrients and/or other agents to the site in order to, for example, promote microbial growth.”; [0086] – [0089]).
Claim 21. Farmer discloses The method of claim 18. Regarding the limitation: wherein the one or more nutrients are introduced after introducing the tar-mitigating bacteria downhole, it would have been an obvious matter of predictable design choices to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the order of fluid injection(s) downhole in Farmer based on a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success. KSR, 550 U.S. at 418, 82 USPQ2d at 1396. MPEP § 2141(III).
Claim 22. Farmer discloses The method of claim 14. Regarding the limitation: further comprising maintaining a concentration of the biosurfactants of from 50 mg/L to 500 mg/L at a target location in the reservoir, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to maintain the concentration range of bacterial microorganisms in Farmer at the concentration of biosurfactants in the range as claimed, because it has been held that “where 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).
Claim 23. Farmer discloses The method of claim 22, wherein the target location is near a physical tar barrier ([0021]; [0040]; [0066] “Heavy hydrocarbons may include highly viscous hydrocarbon fluids such as heavy oil, extra heavy oil, tar, tar sands, fuel oil and/or asphalt.”; [0153]).
Claim 24. Farmer discloses The method of claim 14. Regarding the limitation: further comprising forming a produced liquid tar in combination with the biosurfactants when mobilizing the tar and removing the produced liquid tar from the reservoir, Farmer discloses applying the biosurfactant-producing yeast to oil sands to increase the wettability of the sands and allowing for the oil to detach from the sands ([0025]; [0153]; Claim 13); wherein the oil and other composition liquids (e.g., microbes and/or broth resulting from the microbial growth) can be piped out from the reservoir and optionally further separated ([0154]; Claim 13).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Crystal J. Lee whose telephone number is (571)272-6242. The examiner can normally be reached M-F from 8:00am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Doug Hutton can be reached on (571) 272-4137. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CRYSTAL J LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674
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