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 .
The Applicant has canceled claims 1-22. The Applicant has added new claims 23-38. The pending claims are claims 23-38.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/15/2025 has been entered.
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 23-38 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 claim 23, the phrase "wherein the coupling members are provided so as to cooperate with other coupling members formed on a support body of another battery block to couple the battery blocks together” renders the claim indefinite because:
a. It is unclear which coupling members are being referred to in each instance.
b. The term “support body” is already provided in the claim, so it is unclear if the new “a support body” is meant to refer back to the previous recitation or introduce a newly required “support body”.
c. It is unclear what exactly is being referred to by “the battery blocks” since several battery blocks have been recited in the claim at this point.
Regarding claim 23, the phrase "a plurality of pieces of battery blocks" renders the claim indefinite because the claim reads as requiring nothing more than: “A battery pack device, comprising: a plurality of pieces of battery blocks”. If “a plurality of pieces of battery blocks” just means “a plurality of battery blocks” then I would encourage Applicant to delete “of pieces” because it renders the claim indefinite.
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.
Claim(s) 23-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yusa et al., US 2017/0244073, in view of Wang, CN 203103456.
Regarding claim 23, Yusa et al., teaches a battery pack (abstract) comprising: a battery (battery pack) (abstract) including a plurality of batteries (0066) arranged in at least one row (Fig. 1-2); a support body (holder) configured to hold the plurality of batteries (0066); and a coupling member provided on the support body (holder), wherein the coupling member (connecting unit) is provided to cooperate with another coupling member (connecting unit) formed on a support body (holder) of another battery block (block 10B) to couple the battery blocks (10B) with each other (Fig. 2) and to locate at an equal position after the battery block is rotated in an equal plane (abstract; 0010; 0017; 0055), wherein the battery block is configured to switch (0068); wherein the battery block is configured to be rotated (abstract; 0061; 0091; 0101) around a longitudinal direction of the battery (0102; Fig. 12; “[0102] A fitting direction of the relay connector 30 to the connectors 11a and 11b is a direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to a connecting direction of a plurality of battery blocks 10B, that is to say, a rotational axis direction.”).
Yusa et al., does not teach a switch from a series connection to a parallel connection, or from a parallel connection to a series connection, based on whether the battery block rotates.
Wang teaches a switch (0002; 0007; 0019) from a series connection to a parallel connection (0019-0021), or from a parallel connection to a series connection (0019-0021), based on whether the battery block rotates (0010; 0020; 0036).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to insert the teachings of Wang into Yusa because Wang teaches “The turntable of the utility model includes a first rotating connector, a second rotating connector and a third rotating connector, which realize series-parallel switching of the battery pack by connecting to the contact pieces and the battery terminals in different ways. The design is ingenious and the switching is convenient..” (0020).
Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to have a series-parallel conversion switch because “The design is ingenious and the switching is convenient.” (0020).
Regarding claim 24, Yusa et al., teaches a plurality of connection electrodes (connector 30) are provided to connect the electrodes of the batteries of two adjacent battery blocks with each other (Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 25, Yusa does not teach the batteries with even number of pieces are arranged in a row.
However, the batteries with even number of pieces arranged in a row, is an obvious matter of design choice. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Regarding claim 26, Yusa et al., teaches the battery (ref. 101) arranged at a first end of the row and the battery arranged at a second end of the row have electrodes (positive electrode 101a; negative electrode 101b) exposed on an equal surface with different polarities (Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 27, Yusa et al., teaches battery pack device according to wherein the positive electrodes (0067; 0069) and the negative electrodes (0067; 0069) are alternately exposed in the one row (Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 28, Yusa et al., teaches battery pack device (abstract) according to wherein the coupling members includes first coupling members having projections (projections 111a, 122a, 132a) formed on a side surface of the support body (0069-0072) and second coupling members having recesses formed on a side surface of the support body (0061; 0070), and wherein the battery blocks adjacent to each other are configured to be coupled with each other by fitting the first coupling members and the second coupling members of the battery blocks adjacent to each other (0056; 0069-0070; 0072).
Regarding claim 29, Yusa et al., teaches battery pack device according to wherein the first coupling members are provided on one side of a center line of the side surface of the support body (0054-0056; 0103).
Regarding claim 30, Yusa et al., teaches battery pack device according to wherein the projections (0069-0072) and the recesses are integrally provided (0132) near a boundary position between upper and lower holders of the battery block (0066; 0069-0073).
Regarding claim 31, Yusa et al., teaches power system (0123; 0185), wherein the battery pack device according to claim 23 is charged by a power generation device configured to generate power from renewable energy (0185; 0234).
Regarding claim 32, Yusa et al., teaches power system (0123; 0185), comprising the battery pack device according to claim 23, wherein the power system is configured to supply electric power to an electronic device connected to the battery pack device (0185; 0234).
Regarding claim 33, Yusa et al., teaches electric vehicle (0122) comprising: a converter that receives power supply from the battery pack device (0025) according to claim 23 and converts the power into driving force of the electric vehicle (0122); and a controller that performs information processing regarding vehicle control based on information of the battery pack device (0124; 0185; 0234).
Regarding claim 34, Yusa et al., teaches power system comprising a power information transceiver (0124; 0185) configured to transmit and receive a signal (0097; 0104) to and from another device via a network (0097; 0104), wherein charging and discharging of the battery pack device (0079; 0097) according to claim 23 is performed based on information received by the power information transceiver (0121; 0126).
Regarding claim 35, Yusa et al., teaches a power system (0124; 0185), wherein electric power is configured to be received from the battery pack device (0124) according to claim 23, or electric power (0124) is configured to be supplied from a power generation device (0124; 0185) or a power network to the battery pack device (0124; 0185: 0234).
Regarding claim 36, Yusa et al., teaches battery pack device according to wherein the battery block (abstract; 0054-0063) has a box shape as a whole (Fig. 2-3), and the box shape has a first side surface and a second side surface (Fig. 2), a first end surface and a second end surface, and a top surface and a bottom surface (Fig. 2-3).
Regarding claim 37, Yusa et al., teaches battery pack device (0053) according to wherein on the top surface, a first connection electrode (0038-0040) connects the positive electrodes of first and second batteries (0038-0040); a second connection electrode (abstract; 0021).
Yusa does not teach connect the negative electrodes of third and fourth batteries and the positive electrodes of fifth and sixth batteries and a third connection electrode connects the negative electrodes of seventh and eighth batteries and wherein on the bottom surface, a fourth connection electrode connects the negative electrodes of the first and second batteries and the positive electrodes of the third and fourth batteries, and a fifth connection electrode connects the negative electrodes of the fifth and sixth batteries and the positive electrodes of the seventh and eighth batteries.
However, the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960).
Regarding claim 38, Yusa et al., teaches battery pack device (0121) according to wherein a control board bracket is attached to a mounting boss (connectors) (0053-0056) provided on a side surface of the battery block (0054-0066), and a control board is attached to the control board bracket (0097; 0126).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/15/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant has canceled claims 1-22 and has added new claims 23-38.
Conclusion
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ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727