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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 22 December 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 16-28 and 33-36 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.
Claim 16 lines 18-19 and line 24 recite the limitations “a bag of resin formed by thermally bonding” and “a second resin sheet formed by laying”, respectively, which render the meaning of the claim indefinite. The claim is directed toward a product, an electricity storage device, not a method of making, and therefore these limitations will not be given patentable weight. In order to advance prosecution the examiner will be interpreting the limitations as “a bag of resin comprising” and “a second resin sheet comprising”, respectively.
Claim 20 line 2 recites the limitation “wherein the first packing material is formed of a molding of a sheet” which renders the meaning of the claim indefinite. The claim is directed toward a product, an electricity storage device, not a method of making, and therefore this limitation will not be given patentable weight. In order to advance prosecution the examiner will be interpreting the limitations as “wherein the first packing material is formed of a sheet”.
Claim 21 line 2 recites the limitation “wherein the second packing material is formed of a molding of a sheet” which renders the meaning of the claim indefinite. The claim is directed toward a product, an electricity storage device, not a method of making, and therefore this limitation will not be given patentable weight. In order to advance prosecution the examiner will be interpreting the limitations as “wherein the second packing material is formed of a sheet”.
Claim 27 lines 2-3 recites the limitation “a protection layer formed by dry-laminating” which renders the meaning of the claim indefinite. The claim is directed toward a product, an electricity storage device, not a method of making, and therefore this limitation will not be given patentable weight. In order to advance prosecution the examiner will be interpreting the limitations as “a protection layer comprising”.
Claim 35 line 10 recites the limitation “the second packing material is formed by laminating” which renders the meaning of the claim indefinite. The claim is directed toward a product, an electricity storage device, not a method of making, and therefore this limitation will not be given patentable weight. In order to advance prosecution the examiner will be interpreting the limitations as “the second packing material comprising”.
Claims 17-19, 22-26, 28, 33-34 and 36 are rejected as being dependent upon above rejected claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 16, 20-28, 33 and 35-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa US20050170243A in view of Yamashita US20020142178A1 (cited in IDA filed 14 July 2021).
Regarding claim 16, Ozawa discloses an electricity storage device (Ozawa, [0070], Fig. 5, battery module) comprising:
a plurality of electricity storage cells (Ozawa, [0042], Figs. 3 and 5, battery 3)
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wherein: each of the electricity storage cells includes a primary packing container (Ozawa, [0087], annotated Figs. 3-5, battery 3, outer wrapper 4c),
the primary packing container is formed of a bag of resin (Ozawa, [0057], [0091], Fig. 3, outer wrapper 4c) comprising
a first resin sheet (Ozawa, [0091], Fig. 3, layer 6a), the first resin sheet has a first thermal adhesive resin layer the first resin sheet has a first thermal adhesive resin layer (Ozawa, [0057]),
a protection layer that is electrically insulating (Ozawa, [0057], [0091], Fig. 3, layer 6c),
and a barrier layer (Ozawa, [0091], Fig. 3, layer 6b) laid between the first thermal adhesive resin layer and the protection layer (Ozawa, Fig. 3, layers 6a-6c) and having a vapor-deposited coating (Ozawa, [0057]), the examiner is interpreting the limitation as a coating and the aluminum foil as disclosed by Ozawa (Ozawa, [0057]) satisfies the limitation as it would be understood to have a coating of alumina absent an explicit teaching otherwise.
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an electricity storage element sealed in the primary packing container (Ozawa, [0087], annotated Figs. 3-4, internal electrode pair 4a, outer wrapper 4c),
and a pair of electrode terminals connected to the electricity storage element and projecting from the primary packing container (Ozawa, [0088], Fig. 3, outer wrapper 4c, terminals 8a and 8b),
the electricity storage device comprising: a secondary packing container (Ozawa, [0058], Fig. 5, battery module, casing 2),
the plurality of the electricity storage cells are sealed by the secondary packing container (Ozawa, [0042], Fig. 5, battery module, casing 2, batteries 3; the casing 2 encloses the batteries 3, satisfying the claim limitation),
and a pair of connection terminals (Ozawa, [0089], Figs. 4-5, bus-bars 12a and 12b, element 49),
the pair of electrode terminals of the plurality of the electricity storage cells (Ozawa, Figs. 4-5, batteries 3, terminals 8a and 8b) are connected to the pair of connection terminals (Ozawa, [0089], Figs. 4-5, batteries 3, bus-bars 12a and 12b, element 49),
Ozawa however does not disclose the secondary packing container has a first packing material and a second packing material, with peripheral parts of the first and second packing materials thermally bonded together, the pair of connection terminals are held between the first packing material and second packing material and project from the secondary packing container, and the first packing material and the second packing material are formed of a second resin sheet comprising at least a metal foil and a second thermal adhesive resin layer.
Yamashita teaches an electricity storage device (Yamashita, [0046], Fig. 2b, polymer battery 1) comprising: a secondary packing container (Yamashita, [0046], Fig. 2b, lower and upper bodies 5a, sheet 10), the secondary packing container has a first packing material (Yamashita, [0046], Fig. 2b, lower body 5a, sheet 10) and a second packing material (Yamashita, [0046], Fig. 2b, upper body 5a, sheet 10), with peripheral parts of the first and second packing materials thermally bonded together (Yamashita, [0049]), the pair of connection terminals are held between the first packing material and second packing material and project from the secondary packing container (Yamashita, [0082], Fig. 2b, tabs 4, lower body 5a, upper body 5a, sheet 10), and the first packing material and the second packing material are formed of a second resin sheet (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2b, lower body 5a, upper body 5a, sheet 10) comprising at least a metal foil (Yamashita, [0052], Fig. 1, foil 62) and a second thermal adhesive resin layer (Yamashita, [0052], Fig. 1, layer 65b and 63).
Therefore it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secondary packing container of Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita wherein the secondary packing container has a first packing material and a second packing material, with peripheral parts of the first and second packing materials thermally bonded together, the pair of connection terminals are held between the first packing material and second packing material and project from the secondary packing container, and the first packing material and the second packing material are formed of a second resin sheet comprising at least a metal foil and a second thermal adhesive resin layer, thereby improving and stabilizing the barrier property of the packaging laminated sheet (Yamashita, [0073]).
Regarding claim 20, Ozawa as modified by Yamashita teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but Ozawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the first packing material is formed of a sheet with a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells formed therein.
Yamashita teaches wherein the first packing material is formed of a sheet (Yamashita, [0046], [0113-0114], Fig. 2b, lower body 5a, sheet 10) with a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells formed therein (Yamashita, [0046], Fig. 2e, lower body 5a, hollow part 7, sheet 10). Therefore it would be obvious to modify the first packing material of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita wherein the first packing material is formed of a molding of a sheet with a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells formed therein thereby improving and stabilizing the barrier property of the packaging laminated sheet (Yamashita, [0073]).
Regarding claim 21, Ozawa as modified by Yamashita teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but Ozawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the second packing material is formed of a sheet with the housing portion formed therein.
Yamashita teaches wherein the second packing material is formed of a sheet (Yamashita, [0046], [0113-0114], Fig. 2b, upper body 5a, sheet 10) with the housing portion formed therein (Yamashita, [0049], Fig. 2b, upper body 5a). Therefore it would be obvious to modify the second packing material of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita wherein the second packing material is formed of a sheet with the housing portion formed therein thereby improving and stabilizing the barrier property of the packaging laminated sheet (Yamashita, [0073]).
Regarding claim 22, Ozawa as modified by Yamashita teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but Ozawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the metal foil in the first packing material and the metal foil in the second packing material have different thicknesses.
Yamashita teaches wherein the metal foil in the first packing material (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2b, lower body 5a, sheet 10) has one thickness (Yamashita, [0065], “has a thickness of 15 μm or above”, Fig. 1, sheet 10, foil 62) and the metal foil in the second packing material (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2b, upper body 5a, sheet 10) has another thickness (Yamashita, [0065], “has a thickness of 15 μm or above”, Fig. 1, sheet 10, foil 62). Therefore while Yamashita does not explicitly teach wherein the metal foil in the first packing material and the metal foil in the second packing material have different thicknesses it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the metal foil of the first and second packing material of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita through routine experimentation wherein the metal foil in the first packing material and the metal foil in the second packing material have different thicknesses, thereby stabilizing the workability and providing pinhole resistance (Yamashita, [0065]).
Regarding claim 23, modified Ozawa further teaches wherein the vapor-deposited coating is formed of an oxide (Ozawa, [0057]), the examiner is interpreting the limitation as a coating and the aluminum foil as disclosed by Ozawa (Ozawa, [0057]) satisfies the limitation as it would be understood to have a coating of alumina (aluminum oxide) absent an explicit teaching otherwise.
Regarding claim 24, modified Ozawa additionally teaches wherein the metal foil is formed of aluminum (Ozawa, [0057]).
Regarding claim 25, Ozawa as modified by Yamashita teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but Ozawa does not explicitly disclose wherein a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material and is not formed in the second packing material, and the metal foil in the second packing material has a thickness greater than a thickness of the metal foil in the first packing material.
Yamashita teaches wherein a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material (Yamashita, [0046], Fig. 2a and 2e, lower body 5a, hollow part 7, sheet 10) and is not formed in the second packing material (Yamashita, [0046], [0049], Fig. 2a, cover 5t, sheet 10), wherein the metal foil in the first packing material (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2a, lower body 5a, sheet 10) has one thickness (Yamashita, [0065], “has a thickness of 15 μm or above”, Fig. 1, sheet 10, foil 62) and the metal foil in the second packing material (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2a, cover 5t, sheet 10) has another thickness (Yamashita, [0065], “has a thickness of 15 μm or above”, Fig. 1, sheet 10, foil 62). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the first and second packing material of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita wherein a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material and is not formed in the second packing material, and through routine experimentation wherein the metal foil in the second packing material has a thickness greater than a thickness of the metal foil in the first packing material thereby stabilizing the workability and providing pinhole resistance (Yamashita, [0065]).
Regarding claim 26, Ozawa as modified by Yamashita teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but Ozawa does not explicitly disclose wherein a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material and is not formed in the second packing material, and the metal foil in the first packing material has a thickness greater than a thickness of the metal foil in the second packing material.
Yamashita teaches wherein a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material (Yamashita, [0046], Fig. 2a and 2e, lower body 5a, hollow part 7, sheet 10) and is not formed in the second packing material (Yamashita, [0046], [0049], Fig. 2a, cover 5t, sheet 10), wherein the metal foil in the first packing material (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2a, lower body 5a, sheet 10) has one thickness (Yamashita, [0065], “has a thickness of 15 μm or above”, Fig. 1, sheet 10, foil 62) and the metal foil in the second packing material (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2a, cover 5t, sheet 10) has another thickness (Yamashita, [0065], “has a thickness of 15 μm or above”, Fig. 1, sheet 10, foil 62). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the first and second packing material of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita wherein a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material and is not formed in the second packing material, and through routine experimentation wherein the metal foil in the first packing material has a thickness greater than a thickness of the metal foil in the second packing material thereby stabilizing the workability and providing pinhole resistance (Yamashita, [0065]).
Regarding claim 27, Ozawa as modified by Yamashita teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but Ozawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the second resin sheet has, on an outer side of the metal foil, a protection layer formed by dry-laminating polyethylene terephthalate and nylon.
Yamashita teaches wherein the second resin sheet has, on an outer side of the metal foil, a protection layer formed by polyethylene terephthalate and nylon (Yamashita, [0055-0057], Fig. 1, layer 61, foil 62). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the second resin sheet of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita wherein the second resin sheet has, on an outer side of the metal foil, a protection layer formed by polyethylene terephthalate and nylon thereby providing pinhole resistance and improved insulating ability (Yamashita, [0054]).
Regarding claim 28, modified Ozawa additionally teaches an electric-powered vehicle comprising the electricity storage device according to claim 16 (Ozawa, [0102]).
Regarding claim 33, modified Ozawa further teaches wherein the pair of electrode terminals of the plurality of electricity storage cells are connected to the pair of connection terminals in a space between the plurality of electricity storage cells and the secondary packing container (Ozawa, [0058], [0089], annotated Fig. 5, terminals 8a and 8b, bus-bars 12a and 12b), but does not explicitly teach parts of the pair of connection terminals protrude from the secondary packing container in a direction parallel to a direction in which the pair of electrode terminals protrude.
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Yamashita teaches parts of the pair of connection terminals protrude from the secondary packing container in a direction parallel to a direction in which the pair of electrode terminals protrude (Yamashita, Fig. 2b, tabs 4, lower body 5a, upper body 5a, sheet 10). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to modify the parts of the part of connection terminals of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita wherein parts of the pair of connection terminals protrude from the secondary packing container in a direction parallel to a direction in which the pair of electrode terminals protrude thereby improving and stabilizing the barrier property of the packaging laminated sheet (Yamashita, [0073]).
Regarding claim 35, modified Ozawa teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above including wherein the first packing material and the second packing material are formed of a second resin sheet (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2b, lower body 5a, upper body 5a, sheet 10) (see claim 16 above). Ozawa as modified in claim 16 by Yamashita however does not teach wherein: the first and second packing materials are each formed of the second resin sheet having a protection layer, the metal layer, and the second thermal adhesive resin layer laid on each other, a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material but not in the second packing material, a thickness of the metal layer in the first packing material is larger than a thickness of the metal layer in the second packing material, the protection layer in the first packing material is formed solely of polyethylene terephthalate, the protection layer in the second packing material is formed by laminating polyethylene terephthalate and nylon, and a thickness of the protection layer in the first packing material is smaller than a thickness of the protection layer in the second packing material.
Yamashita teaches wherein: the first and second packing materials are each formed of the second resin sheet (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2b, lower body 5a, upper body 5a, sheet 10) having a protection layer (Yamashita, [0052], Fig. 1, layer 61), the metal layer (Yamashita, [0052], Fig. 1, foil 62), and the second thermal adhesive resin layer (Yamashita, [0052], Fig. 1, layer 65b and 63) laid on each other (Yamashita, Fig. 1, sheet 10, layer 61, foil 62, layer 65b, layer 63),
a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material (Yamashita, [0046], Figs. 2a and 2e, lower body 5a, hollow part 7, sheet 10) but not in the second packing material (Yamashita, [0049], Fig. 2a, cover 5t),
wherein the metal foil in the first packing material (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2a, lower body 5a, sheet 10) has one thickness (Yamashita, [0065], “has a thickness of 15 μm or above”, Fig. 1, sheet 10, foil 62) and the metal foil in the second packing material (Yamashita, [0113-0114], Fig. 2a, cover 5t, sheet 10) has another thickness (Yamashita, [0065], “has a thickness of 15 μm or above”, Fig. 1, sheet 10, foil 62)
the protection layer in the first packing material is formed solely of polyethylene terephthalate (Yamashita, [0053], Fig. 1, layer 61),
the protection layer in the second packing material comprising polyethylene terephthalate and nylon (Yamashita, [0055-0057], Fig. 1, layer 61),
and a thickness of the protection layer in the first packing material (Yamashita, [0053], “the base layer 61 of the polymer battery module packaging sheet of the present invention is a polyester…Possible polyester resins are PE terephthalate (PET) resins”) is smaller than a thickness of the protection layer in the second packing material (Yamashita, [0055-0057], examples of the laminated base layer 61. 1) PET resin layer/Nylon layer, 2) Nylon layer/PET resin layer), the protection layer in the first packing material having only one material, PET, would have a smaller thickness than the protection layer in the second packing material having two materials, PET/nylon, absent a teaching to the contrary.
Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electricity storage device of modified Ozawa further with the teaching of Yamashita wherein: the first and second packing materials are each formed of the second resin sheet having a protection layer, the metal layer, and the second thermal adhesive resin layer laid on each other, a housing portion for housing at least one of the electricity storage cells is formed as a recess in the first packing material but not in the second packing material, the protection layer in the first packing material is formed solely of polyethylene terephthalate, the protection layer in the second packing material is formed by laminating polyethylene terephthalate and nylon, and a thickness of the protection layer in the first packing material is smaller than a thickness of the protection layer in the second packing material and through routine experimentation wherein a thickness of the metal layer in the first packing material is larger than a thickness of the metal layer in the second packing material, thereby having satisfactory properties required of battery module packaging sheets for packaging, including chemical resistance to the detrimental effects of an electricity storage device (Yamashita, [0052]).
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[AltContent: oval]Regarding claim 36, modified Ozawa additionally teaches wherein the pair of electrode terminals are provided within the secondary packing container (Ozawa, [0058], [0089], annotated Fig. 5, terminals 8a and 8b, bus-bars 12a and 12b, but does not explicitly teach a portion of the pair of connection terminals are exposed from the secondary packing container.
Yamashita teaches a portion of the pair of connection terminals are exposed from the secondary packing container (Yamashita, Fig. 2b, tabs 4, lower body 5a, upper body 5a, sheet 10). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to modify the pair of connection terminals of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Yamashita wherein a portion of the pair of connection terminals are exposed from the secondary packing container thereby improving and stabilizing the barrier property of the packaging laminated sheet (Yamashita, [0073]).
Claim(s) 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa US20050170243A in view of Yamashita US20020142178A1 (cited in IDA filed 14 July 2021), as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Kumar US20120028105A1.
Regarding claim 17, modified Ozawa teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above and further teaches wherein: each electricity storage cell is formed in a rectangular shape as seen in a plan view (Ozawa, [0087], Fig. 1, sheet-like lithium ion secondary battery 3), but does not teach wherein the primary packing container is formed such that a distance between one pair of opposite sides and a distance between another pair of opposite sides are each 500 mm or more.
Kumar teaches wherein the primary packing container is formed such that a distance between one pair of opposite sides and a distance between another pair of opposite sides are each 500 mm or more (Kumar, [0058], “a pouch battery can range from about 75 mm to about 750 mm”). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the primary packing contained of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Kumar wherein the primary packing container is formed such that a distance between one pair of opposite sides and a distance between another pair of opposite sides are each 500 mm or more thereby providing the ability to design high energy pouch batteries with a reasonable footprint and electrode stack design while having the ability to produce a total capacity of at least about 40 Ah (Kumar, [0041])
Regarding claim 18, modified Ozawa additionally teaches wherein: the pair of electrode terminals of the electricity storage cell have a width of 50 mm or more in a circumferential direction (Ozawa, [0079], “A positive electrode terminal of an aluminum foil of width 3 cm”, [0080], “A negative electrode terminal of a nickel foil of width 3 cm”).
Regarding claim 19, modified Ozawa also teaches wherein the pair of electrode terminals have a thickness of 0.2 mm or more (Ozawa, [0059], “The positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal…each having a thickness of about 50 to 200 μm”).
Claim(s) 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa US20050170243A in view of Yamashita US20020142178A1 (cited in IDA filed 14 July 2021), as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Cho US20120040235A1.
Regarding claim 34, modified Ozawa teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but does not teach wherein the primary packing container is formed as a gusseted bag.
Cho teaches wherein the primary packing container (Cho, [0059], Fig. 2, case 20’ and 30’) is formed as a gusseted bag (Cho, [0059], Fig. 2, spacing edges 120 and 130). Therefore it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the primary packing contained of modified Ozawa with the teaching of Cho wherein the primary packing container is formed as a gusseted bag, thereby ensuring the service life and safety (Cho, [0016]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant' s arguments with respect to claim(s) 16-28 and 33 have 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sasayama US6461757B1 (discloses a pouch battery comprising a layered primary packing container comprising a foil with a vapor deposition coating)
Yamazaki US20040029001A1 (discloses a pouch battery being 500 mm or more in one direction)
Yokota JP2009231164A (discloses a pouch battery comprising a layered secondary container comprising similar materials to the claimed invention)
Waki JP2017208188A (discloses an expandable/gusseted primary packing container).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JARED HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4590. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tiffany Legette can be reached at 571-270-7078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JARED HANSEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723