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 .
Summary
Since the Office Action mailed on 31 December 2025, claims 21-23 are new and added to the set of claims, and claims 1-9, 13-14, and 16-23 remain in the application to be further examined with full consideration of applicant remarks.
New in this Office Action are the basis of 103 rejections.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-6, 9, 13-14 and 16-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ensling et al (US 2015/0236370 A1) with evidence provided by Takahashi et al (US 2002/0106559 A1), in view of Li (CN 106098973 A) and Pan et al (CN 203134875 U). These prior art references cited as Ensling, Takahashi, Li, and Pan, respectively, in this Office Action hereinafter.
Regarding claim 1, Ensling discloses a secondary lithium battery (“We provide a button cell” [0006] and “The button cells are preferably lithium-ion button cells, i.e., button cells in which lithium ions migrate from the at least one negative electrode to the at least one positive electrode or, conversely, from the at least one positive electrode to the at least one negative electrode during charging and/or discharging operations.” [0014]) comprising:
(a) a housing enclosing an interior space (“We provide a button cell including a cylindrical housing closed in a liquid-tight manner and having a planar housing bottom side, a planar housing top side parallel thereto and a circumferential lateral housing casing arranged therebetween” [0006]), and
(b) a composite body arranged in the interior space (“and an assembly” [0006]) and comprising at least one positive electrode, at least one negative electrode and at least one separator (“of at least one band-shaped positive electrode, at least one band-shaped negative electrode and at least one band-shaped separator within the housing” [0006]), wherein
(c) the housing comprises a metal housing part (301 Fig. 3; “cup-shaped housing half (301)” [0072]) having an inner side facing the interior space (the bottom surface of 301 that extends along the length of 301 shown in Fig. 3) and an outer side facing away from the interior space (the top surface of 301 that extends along the length of 301 shown in Fig. 3), and
(d) the metal housing part comprises:
a first layer consisting of aluminum or an aluminum alloy (“The housing half (301) consists of aluminum” [0072]) that formed the inner side of the metal housing part (per the latter citation of this limitation, the whole sheet of housing half 301 corresponds to the claimed first layer),
wherein the housing comprises the metal housing part as a first housing part (“cup-shaped housing half (301)” [0072] then corresponds to the claimed first housing part) and a further metal housing part as a second housing part (302 Fig. 3; “housing half (302)” [0072] into which “cup-shaped housing half (301) … is inserted into” [0072]), and
wherein the first and second housing parts are electronically isolated from one another by a seal having insulating properties (“the seal (303) arranged between the two housing halves and electrically insulates the parts” [0072]).
Ensling does not disclose
the metal housing part also comprises a second layer, being in direct contact with the first layer, consisting of nickel or a nickel alloy that forms the outer side of the metal housing part,
wherein the first layer consisting of aluminum or aluminum alloy has a thickness in the range from 10 µm to 1500 µm,
wherein the second layer consisting of nickel or nickel alloy has a thickness in the range from 0.1 µm to 50 µm, and
wherein the second layer is sandwiched between the seal and the first layer.
However, Li discloses a secondary lithium battery (“a lithium battery” [0001]) comprising a metal housing part that a composite body is arranged in (“battery core casing” [0006]), and the metal housing part comprises a first layer consisting of aluminum or an aluminum alloy (“aluminum battery core 3” [0011] where “If aluminum can be used instead of stainless steel to make the core case, it can reduce the hidden danger and reduce the cost of the lithium battery” [0002]).
Li teaches the metal housing part also comprises a second layer (“a nickel strip 12” [0010]), being in direct contact with the first layer (“which also has an aluminum strip 11, which is rolled and composited” [0010]), consisting of nickel or a nickel alloy (“nickel” [0010]), and
a second layer that forms the outer side of the metal housing part (Fig. 2 shows nickel electrode sheet 4 to be disposed on the outer side of the metal housing part of the lithium secondary battery 3 such that one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to dispose the nickel strip 12 of the aluminum-nickel composite strip 1 taught in Li on the outer side of the metal housing part of the lithium secondary part of Ensling).
Li further teaches that a nickel electrode sheet is welded to the second layer while the first layer functions as the core case of the secondary lithium battery (“nickel electrode sheet 4 is welded to the side of the aluminum-nickel composite strip 1 having the nickel strip, which is equivalent to The nickel electrode sheet 4 is welded to the aluminum battery case 3, making it possible to use an aluminum battery case for the lithium battery” [0011]), which reduces a hidden destructive potential and cost of manufacturing the secondary lithium battery (“the stainless steel core case has a greater destructive power. If aluminum can be used instead of stainless steel to make the core case, it can reduce the hidden danger and reduce the cost of the lithium battery, but the nickel electrode piece cannot be welded to the aluminum battery case” [0002]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to add a second layer to the metal housing part of Ensling that comprises a first layer consisting of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, in view of Li, such that the second layer, being in direct contact with the first layer, and consisting of nickel or a nickel alloy that forms the outer side of the metal housing part. The person of ordinary skill would then be able to achieve a way to weld a nickel electrode sheet to the metal housing part while reducing a hidden destructive potential and cost of manufacturing the secondary lithium battery.
The examiner recognizes, and one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to recognize, that this modification to the metal housing part of Ensling would inherently obtain the claimed limitation of
wherein the second layer is sandwiched between the seal and the first layer (nickel strip 12 taught in Li disposed on the outer side of the metal housing part of the lithium secondary battery of Ensling housing half (301) would arrange the second layer, or nickel strip 12 of Li, between seal 303 and housing half 301).
Additionally, Pan discloses a secondary lithium battery (“lithium button battery” [0004]) comprising a housing that comprises a metal housing part (comprising of “a positive battery shell 1, a negative battery shell 7” [0017], 1 and 7 in Fig. 3) having an inner side (the side of 1 that faces 3 in Fig. 3), an outer side (the side of 7 that faces in a direction away from 3 in Fig. 3), a first layer consisting of aluminum or an aluminum alloy that forms the inner side of the metal housing part (“the inner surface of the positive battery shell 1 is coated with an aluminum composite layer 14” [0017]), and a second layer (“nickel plating layer 13” [0017]) being in direct contact with the first layer (“the nickel plating layer 13 on the inner surface of the positive battery shell 1 is coated with an aluminum composite layer 14” [0017]) and consisting of nickel or a nickel alloy (“nickel plating” [0017] is known in the art to involve depositing a thin layer of nickel).
Pan teaches wherein the first layer consisting of aluminum or aluminum alloy has a thickness in the range from 10 µm to 1500 µm (“the thickness of the aluminum composite layer 14 coated with the nickel-plated layer 13 on the inner surface of the positive battery shell 1 is 100 microns” [0018]), and
wherein the second layer consisting of nickel or nickel alloy has a thickness in the range from 0.1 µm to 50 µm (“The thicknesses of the nickel-plated layers 13 and 11 on the inner and outer surfaces of the positive battery case 1 are both 4 microns.” [0018]).
Pan further teaches that the secondary lithium battery of this structure has good high-temperature storage performance and high-temperature cycle life after experimental tests ([0024]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to replace the first layer and the second layer of the metal housing part of modified Ensling with the first layer and the second layer taught by Pan, wherein the first layer consisting of aluminum or aluminum alloy has a thickness in the range from 10 µm to 1500 µm, and wherein the second layer consisting of nickel or nickel alloy has a thickness in the range from 0.1 µm to 50 µm, in order to achieve good high-temperature storage performance and high-temperature cycle life in the secondary lithium battery.
Regarding claim 2, modified Ensling discloses the lithium battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein:
the first layer consists of the aluminium or the aluminium alloy having a thickness of 50 µm to 150 µm (Pan [0018] “the thickness of the aluminum composite layer 14 coated with the nickel-plated layer 13 on the inner surface of the positive battery shell 1 is 100 microns”), and
the second layer consists of the nickel or the nickel alloy having a thickness of 3 µm to 10 µm (Pan [0018] “The thicknesses of the nickel-plated layers 13 and 11 on the inner and outer surfaces of the positive battery case 1 are both 4 microns.”).
Regarding claim 3, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein:
the composite body comprises the electrodes in stacked form or in wound form (Ensling “The assembly of the electrodes and the at least one separator is present in the form of a spiral-shaped winding, which has two flat end sides and a circumferential outer side” [0017]), the electrodes are able to reversibly store and release lithium ions (Ensling “The button cells are preferably lithium-ion button cells, i.e., button cells in which lithium ions migrate from the at least one negative electrode to the at least one positive electrode or, conversely, from the at least one positive electrode to the at least one negative electrode during charging and/or discharging operations.” [0014]), the electrodes each comprise a current collector partly covered with an active material (Ensling “The current collectors are usually sheet-like substrates, for example, a metal foil or a metallic mesh or grating covered on one or both sides by electrochemical active material.” [0013]), and the positive electrode is electrically connected to the metal housing part (Ensling “The at least one positive electrode comprises a first band shaped current collector covered by electrochemical active material and electrically connected to the positive-polarity housing half via a first metallic current output conductor.” [0012]).
Regarding claim 4, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein
the first and the second housing part are both in a cup shape (Ensling “the positive-polarity housing half preferably has a cup-shaped form and has a cup base, a circumferential cup wall, a cup edge with a terminal cutting edge and a cup opening defined by the cup edge.” [0017] and “The negative-polarity housing half preferably also has a cup-shaped form and has a cup base, a circumferential cup wall, a cup edge with a terminal cutting edge and a cup opening defined by the cup edge.” [0031]) and each have a circular or oval base and an annular side wall (Ensling “the bases form the aforementioned planar housing bottom side or housing top side of the button cell housing and, as already mentioned, preferably accordingly have a circular or oval form” [0032]),
the first and the second housing part are electrically isolated from one another by the seal (Ensling “Our button cells also always comprise two metallic housing halves (a positive-polarity housing half and a negative-polarity housing half) separated from one another by an electrically insulating seal” [0011]) having an annular shape (Ensling “and together with the latter form a cylindrical housing closed in a liquid-tight manner. The housing generally has a planar housing top side, a planar housing bottom side parallel thereto and a circumferential lateral housing casing lying therebetween.” [0011]) and electrically insulating properties (Ensling “electrically insulating seal” [0011]), and
the first housing part is electrically connected to the positive electrode (Ensling “The positive electrode (113) electrically connects to the housing half (102) via the metallic current output conductor (118)” [0061]) and the second housing part is electrically connected to the negative electrode (Ensling “The negative electrode (114) electrically connects to the housing half (101) via the metallic current output conductor (119)” [0061]).
Regarding claim 5, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein:
the first housing part has a cup-shaped design and a circular base and an annular side wall (Ensling “the positive-polarity housing half preferably has a cup-shaped form and has a cup base, a circumferential cup wall, a cup edge with a terminal cutting edge and a cup opening defined by the cup edge.” [0017] and “The negative-polarity housing half preferably also has a cup-shaped form and has a cup base, a circumferential cup wall, a cup edge with a terminal cutting edge and a cup opening defined by the cup edge.” [0031]), whereas the second housing part is a circular disc (Ensling “the bases form the aforementioned planar housing bottom side or housing top side of the button cell housing and, as already mentioned, preferably accordingly have a circular or oval form” [0032]),
the first and the second housing part are electronically isolated from one another by the seal (Ensling “Our button cells also always comprise two metallic housing halves (a positive-polarity housing half and a negative-polarity housing half) separated from one another by an electrically insulating seal” [0011]) having an annular shape (Ensling “and together with the latter form a cylindrical housing closed in a liquid-tight manner. The housing generally has a planar housing top side, a planar housing bottom side parallel thereto and a circumferential lateral housing casing lying therebetween.” [0011]) and electrically insulating properties (Ensling “electrically insulating seal” [0011]), and
the first housing part is electrically connected to the positive electrode (Ensling “The positive electrode (113) electrically connects to the housing half (102) via the metallic current output conductor (118)” [0061]) and the second housing part is electrically connected to the negative electrode (Ensling “The negative electrode (114) electrically connects to the housing half (101) via the metallic current output conductor (119)” [0061]).
Regarding claim 6, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein:
the first housing part has a cup-shaped design and a circular base and an annular side wall (Ensling “the positive-polarity housing half preferably has a cup-shaped form and has a cup base, a circumferential cup wall, a cup edge with a terminal cutting edge and a cup opening defined by the cup edge.” [0017] and “The negative-polarity housing half preferably also has a cup-shaped form and has a cup base, a circumferential cup wall, a cup edge with a terminal cutting edge and a cup opening defined by the cup edge.” [0031]), whereas the second housing part is a circular disc (Ensling “the bases form the aforementioned planar housing bottom side or housing top side of the button cell housing and, as already mentioned, preferably accordingly have a circular or oval form” [0032]),
the first and the second housing part are electrically isolated from one another by the seal (Ensling “Our button cells also always comprise two metallic housing halves (a positive-polarity housing half and a negative-polarity housing half) separated from one another by an electrically insulating seal” [0011]) having an annular shape (Ensling “and together with the latter form a cylindrical housing closed in a liquid-tight manner. The housing generally has a planar housing top side, a planar housing bottom side parallel thereto and a circumferential lateral housing casing lying therebetween.” [0011]) and electrically insulating properties (Ensling “electrically insulating seal” [0011]), and
the first housing part is electrically connected to the negative electrode (Ensling “The negative electrode (114) electrically connects to the housing half (101) via the metallic current output conductor (119)” [0061]) and the second housing part is electrically connected to the positive electrode (Ensling “The positive electrode (113) electrically connects to the housing half (102) via the metallic current output conductor (118)” [0061]).
Regarding claim 9, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein at least one of:
the first layer comprises lithium in addition to the aluminium or the aluminium alloy,
the first layer is coated with a layer consisting of lithium,
the first layer is lithium-doped, and
the aluminium in the first layer is alloyed with lithium (Takahashi provides evidence in [0029] that “During the assembly of a battery, when an organic electrolyte is pored into the battery container, the lithium and aluminum are brought into a short-circuited state, the lithium is electrochemically absorbed into the aluminum, and the lithium-aluminum alloy is formed.” Therefore, Ensling [0056] “housing half made of aluminum or the aluminum alloy, in particular the base of the housing half” and [0055] “the electrolyte used moreover is preferably solutions of lithium salts” disclosures in combination with what is evidenced by Takahashi [0029] above discloses a button cell assembly in Ensling that inherently discloses at least any one of the limitations above).
Regarding claim 13, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein the second layer consisting of nickel or nickel alloy is located exclusively on an outer side of the housing part facing away from the interior space (Li Fig. 2 shows nickel electrode sheet 4 to be disposed on the outer side of the metal housing part of the lithium secondary battery 3 such that one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to dispose the nickel strip 12 of the aluminum-nickel composite strip 1 taught in Li exclusively on the outer side of the metal housing part of the lithium secondary part of Ensling).
Regarding claim 14, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein the metal housing part consists only of the first layer consisting of aluminium alloy (Ensling “consists of aluminum.” [0059]) and the second layer consisting of nickel or the nickel alloy (Li Fig. 2 shows nickel electrode sheet 4 to be disposed on the outer side of the metal housing part of the lithium secondary battery 3 such that one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to dispose the nickel strip 12 of the aluminum-nickel composite strip 1 taught in Li exclusively on the outer side of the metal housing part of the lithium secondary part of Ensling).
Regarding claim 16, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein the positive electrode is directly and electrically connected to the first layer of the first housing part (Ensling “The positive electrode (113) electrically connects to the housing half (102) via the metallic current output conductor (118)” [0061]).
Regarding claim 17, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein the first housing part consists of the first layer and the second layer and without any intervening layers between the first layer and the second layer (Li “the aluminum-nickel composite strip 1 has a nickel strip 12, which also has an aluminum strip 11, which is rolled and composited” [0010] and “the aluminum strip is welded to the aluminum battery core 3, and the nickel electrode sheet 4 is welded to the side of the aluminum-nickel composite strip 1 having the nickel strip” [0011] such that the layer consisting of aluminum is in direction contact with the layer consisting of nickel without any additional layer in between consisting of another material).
Regarding claim 18, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein the first layer and the second layer are both seated on a flange of the seal (Ensling Fig. 3 shows the distal ends of housing half 301, which is modified by Li in claim 1 above, are both seated on a thinned portion in the horizontal direction of the seal 303 that is adjacent a collar that projects from the thinned portion, which the thinned portion with the collar structure discloses a flange shape of seal 303).
Regarding claim 19, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 18 above, and wherein the flange of the seal is seated on a lower surface of the second housing part (Ensling Fig. 3 shows that the thinned portion and the collar projecting from it of seal 303 is seated on a surface of housing half 302 that forms the bottom surface of the space confined by the two housing halves).
Regarding claim 20, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein a top surface of the seal is positioned at an elevation between a top surface of the first housing part and a top surface of the second housing part (Ensling Fig. 3 shows that seal 303 is disposed within the height defined between a portion of the top longitudinal surface of 302 and a portion of the longitudinal surface of 301, which are both located on the periphery of the disclosed battery).
Regarding claim 21, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein the seal, the first layer and the second layer each have a cylindrical shape (Ensling “Together with the seal (103) arranged between the two housing halves (101) and (102) and electrically insulates the parts, the housing halves form a cylindrical housing” [0059] wherein housing half 102 is modified by Li as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above) and each have a base wall and an annular side wall depending from the base wall (Ensling “They each have a circular cup base (104) and (105) and also a circumferential cup wall (106) and (107). The bases (104) and (105) form the top side and the bottom side of the cylindrical housing.” [0060]), and wherein distal end surfaces of the first and second layers are respectively seated on the base wall of the seal (Ensling Fig. 3 shows the distal ends of housing half 301, which is modified by Li in claim 1 above, are both seated on a thinned portion in the horizontal direction of the seal 303 that is adjacent a collar that projects from the thinned portion, which the thinned portion with the collar structure discloses a flange shape of seal 303).
Regarding claim 22, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 21 above, and wherein the annular side walls of the seal, the first layer and the second layer are oriented perpendicular to the bases of the seal, the first layer and the second layer, respectively (Ensling Fig. 3 shows that housing half 301, which is modified by Li as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above, and seal 303 has a wall that extends vertically from the respective circular bases that are disposed along the horizontal direction).
Regarding claim 23, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, and wherein:
the composite body comprises the electrodes in stacked form or in wound form (Ensling “The assembly of the electrodes and the at least one separator is present in the form of a spiral-shaped winding, which has two flat end sides and a circumferential outer side” [0017]), the electrodes are able to reversibly store and release lithium ions (Ensling “The button cells are preferably lithium-ion button cells, i.e., button cells in which lithium ions migrate from the at least one negative electrode to the at least one positive electrode or, conversely, from the at least one positive electrode to the at least one negative electrode during charging and/or discharging operations.” [0014]), the electrodes each comprise a current collector partly covered with an active material (Ensling “The current collectors are usually sheet-like substrates, for example, a metal foil or a metallic mesh or grating covered on one or both sides by electrochemical active material.” [0013]), and the positive electrode is electrically connected to the metal housing part by a current conductor that is not covered with the active material (Ensling “The at least one positive electrode comprises a first band shaped current collector covered by electrochemical active material and electrically connected to the positive-polarity housing half via a first metallic current output conductor.” [0012]).
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ensling (US 2015/0236370 A1) with evidence provided by Takahashi (US 2002/0106559 A1), in view of Li (CN 106098973 A) and Pan (CN 203134875 U), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gaugler et al (EP 3447819 A1). The latter prior art reference cited as Gaugler in this Office Action hereinafter.
Regarding claims 7 and 8, modified Ensling discloses the battery with all the features set forth in claim 1 above, but does not disclose wherein:
the housing comprises the metal housing part as first housing part, a further non-metal housing part and a further metal housing part second housing parts,
the metal housing part is a prismatic container having a polygonal base with n sides and n rectangular side walls that enclose a right angle with the base, wherein n is an integer from 4 to 8, and
the second housing part serves as cover for the first housing part and closes off an opening defined by the n rectangular side walls.
However, Gaugler discloses a battery (“miniature secondary battery” [0001]) comprising a housing that comprises a metal housing part having an inner side (the side of 102 that faces the interior space of the housing shown in Fig. 1), and an outer side (the side of 101 that faces in a direction away from the interior space of the housing shown in Fig. 1). Gaugler teaches wherein:
the housing comprises the metal housing part as first housing part (101 Fig. 1, “metallic housing part” [0046]), a further non-metal housing part (103 Fig. 1, “circumferential seal 103 is arranged. This consists of a cooled hot melt adhesive” [0047]), and a further metal housing part as second housing parts (102 Fig. 1, “metallic housing part” [0046]),
the metal housing part is a prismatic container having a polygonal base with n sides and n rectangular side walls that enclose a right angle with the base, wherein n is an integer from 4 to 8 (square base area” [0046]), and
the second housing parts serve as cover for the first housing part and closes off an opening defined by the n rectangular side walls (“seal 103, a film of a hot melt adhesive was arranged in the gap formed by the side walls of the housing parts 101 and 102” [0050] while “The housing part 102 is inserted into the housing part 101” [0047]).
Gaugler further teaches that the assembly of the metal housing part of prismatic design is preferred because housing parts of cylindrical design are susceptible to undesirable deformations easily occur in partial regions having non-bent side walls ([0006]), and that many small appliances have a prismatic design with an interior available for a battery of prismatic geometry such that cylindrical battery designs create dead volumes, making it difficult to utilize the cylindrical battery into ([0005]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to replace the metal housing part of modified Ensling with the metal housing part taught by Gaugler wherein the metal housing part is a prismatic container having a polygonal base with n sides and n rectangular side walls that enclose a right angle with the base, wherein n is an integer from 4 to 8, and wherein the second housing part serves as cover for the first housing part and closes off an opening defined by the n rectangular side walls, in order to achieve a battery that is not susceptible to undesirable deformations in regions of the battery that does not have bent side walls, and that can be easily applied to the various small appliances that utilize a prismatic interior geometry.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 has been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLENE BERMUDEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-0610. The examiner can normally be reached Wednesdays generally from 8 AM to 5 PM.
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, Allison Bourke can be reached at (303) 297-4684. 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.
/CHARLENE BERMUDEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 1721
/ALLISON BOURKE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1721