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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 1/7/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 3-4, 6-13, and 15-19 remain pending in the application, and claims 2, 5, and 14 have been canceled. Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome every and claim objection and 103 rejection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 7/9/2025. The new grounds of rejection presented below are necessitated by the amendments. Accordingly, this Office Action is made Final.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following limitations in one of or in both claims 1 and 12 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
the plurality of electrical contacts are located down-circuit of the plurality of non-return devices relative to the flow of electricity
the short-circuiting element is a separate element from a housing of the discharge device
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 11 recites “the plurality of battery cells.” Claim 11 is written as introducing a method. It would therefore be appropriate to introducing “a plurality of battery cells.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 12 recite “the short-circuiting element is a separate element from a housing of the discharge device.”
The concept does not seem to be described in the Specification. In paragraph [64] of the PGPub, housing is described in relation to electrical grounding.
Claims 2-11 and 13-19 inherit the deficiencies of either claim 1 or claim 12, do not overcome the deficiencies, and are therefore also rejected under 112(a) for failing to comply with the written description requirement.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-19 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.
Claims 1 and 12 recite “the short-circuiting element is a separate element from a housing of the discharge device.” It is not clear how the short circuiting element is separate from the housing of the discharge device as it seems structurally integrated to the invention as a whole.
Claims 1 and 12 recite “the plurality of electrical contacts are located down-circuit of the plurality of non-return devices relative to the flow of electricity during the discharge process.” The position of electrical contacts 103 in Fig. 1 appear to be between the batteries 105 and the non-return devices 107. If electric flow is away from the battery such as for discharging or short-circuiting, it would seem the flow would first leave the battery 105, pass through the electrical contact 103, and then pass through the non-return device 107. It would seem that the plurality of electrical contacts are located up-circuit of the plurality of non-return devices relative to the flow of electricity during the discharge process. It is unclear how the electrical contacts are described to be down-circuit of the non-return devices during a discharge process.
Claims 2-11 and 13-19 inherit the deficiencies of either claim 1 or claim 12, do not overcome the deficiencies, and are therefore also rejected under 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter.
Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-19 are allowable over prior art. The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for indicating allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 1 and 12, the prior art of record as considered and understood by the examiner does not teach or fairly suggest:
the plurality of electrical contacts are located down-circuit of the plurality of non-return devices relative to the flow of electricity during the discharge process,
taken in combination with the other limitations of each claim 1 and claim 12 respectively. Claims 2-11 and 13-19 are allowable over prior art by virtue of their dependence from either claim 1 or claim 12.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ryu-Sung P. Weinmann whose telephone number is (703)756-5964. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman, can be reached at (571) 272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/Ryu-Sung P. Weinmann/Examiner, Art Unit 2859 March 15, 2026
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859