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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, on and species as follow:
A. 1 "the sol forms a gel through a spontaneous gelation reaction."
A. 2) "hydrophobically associative polymers HAP that are insensitive to the surfactant(s) injected in step c)."
A. 2) i. 1., " the sol injected in step b)."
A. 2) i. 2., "step a) of injecting the solution - same selection as claim 9." Of the claims in elected Group I, claims 1-10 read on the elected species in the reply filed on 08/25/2026 is acknowledged.
Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Information Disclosure Statement
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." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: The claim recites “hydrophobically associative polymer HAP “ . The word “HAP” shou be spelled out.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-10 are objected to because of the following informalities: The claims should be amended as follow: “The process”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: The claim recites “ the total mole fractions of hydrophobic monomers
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The terms “portions” and “partially” in claim 1are a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “portions” and “partially” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
All the claims dependent of claim 1 are also rejected.
Regarding claim 1, the phrase "so that as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
All the claims dependent of claim 1 are also rejected.
A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) may be considered indefinite if the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c).
In the present instance, claim 4 recites the broad recitation 0.05% and 10%, and the claim also recites notably between 0.1% and 3% which is the narrower statement of the range/limitation. The claim(s) are considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sandiford et al. (US 3,741,307) OIL RECOVERY METHOD teaches A method for treating heterogeneous petroleum reservoirs to reduce channeling of subsequently injected flooding media is disclosed wherein an aqueous polymer solution is injected into the reservoir through an injection well in an amount sufficient to penetrate into the more permeable strata of the reservoir a substantial distance from the injection well, then a liquid agent that reacts in the reservoir to form or deposit a plugging material that reduces the permeability of the formation is injected through the injection well and into the formation immediately surrounding the well so as to selectively plug the more permeable strata adjacent to the injection well. Channeling of subsequently injected flooding media is reduced, resulting in more uniform flood patterns and higher sweep efficiencies and an attendant increase in oil recovery, Varadaraj (US 2001/0050531 A1) Brine Viscosification For Enhanced Oil Recovery teaches The present invention is related to an aqueous composition of at least one hydrophobically associating polymer and at least one surfactant, the mixture's viscosity being substantially constant or increased over temperatures ranging from about 20.degree. C. to about 100.degree. C. In another embodiment, the invention is related to a method for recovering oil from a subterranean reservoir by injecting into the reservoir a mixture of at least 100 to 25,000 ppm of a hydrophobically associating polymer per million parts by weight of water, about 25 to about 7,500 parts by weight per million parts by weight of water of one or more surfactants; and from about 0.5 wt. % to about 10 wt. %, based on the weight of water, of salts selected from the group consisting of alkali and alkaline earth metal halides and mixtures thereof, and Acuna (US 2023/083056 A1) PRODUCTION OF LOW PERMEABILITY GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES teaches A method for collecting a heated fluid from a fractured subterranean formation can include removing a fluid having a liquid phase from the fractured subterranean formation through a wellbore that is in fluidic communication with the fractured subterranean formation. The method can also include collecting from the wellbore the heated fluid having a vapor phase that is expelled from a low permeability rock matrix of the fractured subterranean formation. The method can also optionally include injecting an injection fluid having the liquid phase into the low permeability rock matrix of the fractured subterranean formation through the wellbore when a parameter falls outside a range of acceptable values.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SILVANA C RUNYAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5415. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:30.
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, Sue Liu can be reached at 571-272-5539. 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.
/SILVANA C RUNYAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1616 09/15/2026
Prosecution Insights