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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/10/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This is a non-final office action in response to Applicant’s remarks and amendments filed on 04/10/2026. Claims 1 and 10 are currently amended. Claims 4-9 are canceled. Claims 18-21 are new. Claims 1-3, 10-15, and 17-21 are presented for examination.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome the objections set forth in the previous Office Action.
The 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections in the previous office action are withdrawn. New grounds of rejection required by Applicant’s amendments are presented below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 18 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. The new rejection does not rely on Amezutsumi and does not rely on Huang to teach the newly added claim 1 and 18 limitations related the metal member.
Claim Interpretation
Claim 21 requires "a tab connected to the metal member and so configured to facilitate venting of the secondary battery." The instant disclosure indicates that the tab is related to venting in that it is long or flexible enough that it does not prevent the vent from operating (see [0091]-[0092] of published specification US 2022/0311108 A1). Accordingly, prior art will be considered to read on the limitation “configured to facilitate venting of the secondary battery” as if it includes both a tab and an operable vent function.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The changes to claims 1 and 10 are not marked. See MPEP 714.
In claim 1, the deleted text “and,” (line 11) and “the insulation material” (line 13) should be included with strike-through, while lines 15-18 are new and should be underlined.
In claim 10, the deleted text “the exterior portion of the exterior body that provides the surface on which the metal plate is disposed” should be included with strike-through.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-3, 11, 14-15, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (CN-109192889-A; the rejections below refer to the machine translation mailed 06/12/2025) in view of Wang (Lithium and lithium ion batteries for applications in microelectronic devices: A review, 2015; cited 06/12/2025), Kim (US 2010/0233528 A1; cited 01/12/2026), and Tamachi (US 2017/0207491 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses a battery (Figs. 1-3, [0027]) comprising:
an electrode assembly (2, Fig. 2, [0027]); and
an exterior body (1/3, Fig. 2, [0027]) that houses the electrode assembly (2),
wherein the battery includes a metal plate (conductive sheet 33, Fig. 2, [0027]; (bond between insulating material and conductive sheet is a plastic-metal bond, [0037]; insulating material is plastic so conductive sheet is necessarily metal, [0030]) joined with an insulating material (32, Fig. 2, [0027]) interposed between the exterior body (1/3) and the metal plate (33), and the metal plate (33) is an external output terminal ([0051]),
wherein the exterior body (1/3) is provided with an opening portion (34, Fig. 2, [0027]), and the metal plate (33) is disposed on a surface (31, Fig. 2, [0027]) of the exterior body (1/3) located around the opening portion (34) with the insulating material (32) interposed between the metal plate (33) and the surface (31) of the exterior body (1/3), and
wherein the insulating material (32) may be provided along the peripheral edge (peripheral edge in annotated figure 1 below) of the opening portion (34) on the surface (31) of the exterior body (1/3).
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Huang teaches that the battery is a microbattery ([0001]), but does not disclose wherein the battery is a secondary battery, wherein a thickness of a portion of the insulating material sandwiched between the exterior body and the metal plate is smaller than a thickness of a portion of the insulating material that is in contact with only one of the exterior body or the metal plate, wherein the metal plate is positioned on an inner side of the exterior body with the insulating material interposed between the metal plate and the exterior body, wherein a metal member is further provided on an outer surface of the metal plate, and wherein the metal member does not protrude from an exterior surface of the exterior body.
However, in a non-depicted embodiment, Huang teaches wherein the metal plate (33) is positioned on an inner side of the exterior body (1/3) with the insulating material (32) interposed between the metal plate (33) and the exterior body (1/3) (32 and 33 can be arranged inside the accommodating space 4, [0029]; see configuration of 32a and 33a in Fig. 4 embodiment for illustrative purposes). Therefore, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang by positioning the metal plate on an inner side of the exterior body with the insulating material interposed between the metal plate and the exterior body, because Huang teaches an operable battery having this configuration ([0029]) and it has been held that combining two embodiments disclosed adjacent to each other in a prior art patent does not require a leap of inventiveness and involves only routine skill in the art.
Wang teaches a microbattery that is a secondary battery (p. 331, col. 1 bridging col. 2). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have formed the battery of Huang as a secondary battery because Wang teaches that doing so increases the service life of the battery (p. 331, col. 1 bridging col. 2).
Kim teaches a secondary battery (100, FIG. 2, [0036]) comprising a terminal plate (protrusion 322, FIGS. 2 and 3, [0042]) disposed on an exterior body (20/30, FIG. 2, [0036]) with an insulating material (70, FIGS. 2 and 3, [0042]) interposed between the exterior body (20/30) and the plate (322), wherein a thickness of a portion (321, FIGS. 2 and 3, [0042]) of the insulating material (70) sandwiched between the exterior body (20/30) and the plate (322) is smaller than a thickness of a portion of the insulating material (70) that is in contact with only one of the exterior body (20/30) or the plate (322) (FIG. 2).
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang in view of Wang by adding a groove to the insulating material, such that a thickness of a portion of the insulating material sandwiched between the exterior body and the metal plate is smaller than a thickness of a portion of the insulation material that is in contact with only one of the exterior body or the metal plate, because Kim teaches that doing so prevents rotation of the external output terminal ([0054]). Further, Huang teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the disclosed embodiments ([0053]).
Tamachi teaches a secondary battery (301, Fig. 26, [0149]) comprising a terminal plate (340, Fig. 26, [0161]) joined on an inner side of an exterior body (25, Fig. 26, [0073]), wherein a metal member (306, Fig. 26, [0161]-[0162]) is further provided on an outer surface (top surface in Fig. 26) of the terminal plate (340), and wherein the metal member (306) does not protrude from an exterior surface (25a, Fig. 26) of the exterior body (25). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang in view of Wang and Kim by adding a metal member to an outer surface of the metal plate, wherein the metal member does not protrude from an exterior surface of the exterior body, because Tamachi teaches that the metal member can facilitate connections to an external component ([0162]) and it has been held that the combination of familiar elements is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results ([MPEP § 2143A]).
Regarding claim 2, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi teaches (see Huang) wherein the exterior body (1/3) is a metal exterior body (bond between insulating material and exterior body is a plastic-metal bond, [0037]; insulating material is plastic so exterior body is necessarily metal, [0030]), and the metal exterior body (1/3) has a two-part configuration including a cup-shaped member (1) and a lid-shaped member (3) (Fig. 2, [0027]).
Regarding claim 3, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi teaches (see Huang) wherein the external output terminal (33) is a positive electrode and the exterior body (31 of 1/3) is a negative electrode, or wherein the exterior body (31 of 1/3) is the positive electrode and the external output terminal (33) is the negative electrode ([0027]).
Regarding claim 11, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi teaches (see Huang) wherein a joint surface (31) of the exterior body (1/3) and a joint surface of the metal plate (33) to be joined to the insulating material (32) is a surface-treated surface (pre-treated to form a plurality of recesses 35, Fig. 3, [0030]).
Regarding claim 14, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi teaches (see Huang) wherein the metal plate (33) has a shape (circle) along the exterior body (1/3) (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 15, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi teaches wherein the insulating material (32) is formed in a shape (circle) along the exterior body (1/3) (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 17, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi teaches wherein a positive electrode (Huang: 22, Fig. 2, [0027]) and a negative electrode (Huang: 21, Fig. 2, [0027]) capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions are included as electrodes of the electrode assembly (2), but does not disclose wherein the electrodes are capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions.
However, because Wang teaches that lithium ion secondary batteries have high power and energy densities and longer shelf lives than other batteries (p. 330, col. 2, ll. 11-16), a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to modify the battery of Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi to include a positive electrode and a negative electrode capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (CN-109192889-A) in view of Wang (Lithium and lithium ion batteries for applications in microelectronic devices: A review, 2015), Kim (US 2010/0233528 A1), and Tamachi (US 2017/0207491 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kim ‘2021 (KR 20180131798 A, English-language equivalent US 2021/0175567 A1 is referenced below; cited 06/12/2025).
Regarding claim 10, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi does not disclose wherein a thickness of the exterior portion of the exterior body that provides the surface on which the metal plate is disposed is smaller than a thickness of the metal plate.
Kim ‘2021 teaches a secondary battery (100, FIG. 2, [0029]) comprising: an electrode assembly (110, FIG. 2, [0029]); and an exterior body (140/150, FIG. 2, [0029]) that houses the electrode assembly (110), wherein the secondary battery (100) includes a plate (123, FIG. 2, [0037]) joined to the exterior body (140/150) with an insulating material (155, FIG. 2, [0048]) interposed between the exterior body (140/150) and the plate (123), and the plate (123) is an external output terminal ([0037]), and wherein a thickness of the portion of the exterior body (140/150) that provides the surface (150) on which the metal plate (123) is disposed is smaller than a thickness of the metal plate (123) (FIG. 2, [0011]). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi such that a thickness of the exterior portion of the exterior body that provides the surface on which the metal plate is disposed is smaller than a thickness of the metal plate because Kim ‘2021 teaches that doing so prevents holes from forming in the battery terminal when it is welded to a busbar ([0011]).
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (CN-109192889-A) in view of Wang (Lithium and lithium ion batteries for applications in microelectronic devices: A review, 2015), Kim (US 2010/0233528 A1), and Tamachi (US 2017/0207491 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamashita (US 2006/0141357 A1; previously cited).
Regarding claim 12, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Tamachi does not disclose wherein the insulating material includes at least two materials having melting points different from each other. Huang does teach that the exterior body, the insulating material, and the conductive sheet may be joined by laser welding ([0030]) such that the insulating material bonds to the metal exterior body and the metal plate ([0037]).
Yamashita teaches a battery (1, FIG. 4, [0057]) comprising an exterior body (5, FIG. 1, [0057]) and a metal plate (4, FIG. 1, [0060]) joined to the exterior body (5) with an insulating material (6, FIG. 1, [0060]) interposed between the exterior body (5) and the metal plate (4), wherein the insulating material (6) includes at least two materials (polyolefin resin layer 21, heat-resistant base film 22, acid-modified polyolefin resin layer 23, Fig. 1, [0063]) having melting points different from each other (heat-resistant base film 22 has a higher melting point than resins 21,23, [0066]). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang in view of Wang and Kim to include a high-melting point film surrounded by resin layers with lower melting-points because, such that the insulating material includes at least two materials having melting points different from each other, because Yamashita teaches that doing so allows the exterior body and the metal plate to be bonded by heat-sealing and prevents metal-to-metal contact in the event that the outer resin layers melt ([0065]-[0066]).
Regarding claim 13, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, Tamachi, and Yamashita teaches wherein the insulating material has a configuration including a high melting point resin layer having a relatively high melting point and low melting point resin layers having a relatively low melting point with the high melting point resin layer interposed between the low melting point resin layers (Yamashita: heat-resistant base film 22 has a higher melting point than resins 21,23, Fig. 1, [0066]).
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (CN-109192889-A; the rejections below refer to the machine translation mailed 06/12/2025) in view of Wang (Lithium and lithium ion batteries for applications in microelectronic devices: A review, 2015; cited 06/12/2025), Kim (US 2010/0233528 A1; cited 01/12/2026), Guo (US 2019/0214612 A1), and Ma (US 2021/0408627 A1; priority to CN201910960386.3, filed 10/10/2019).
Regarding claim 18, Huang discloses a battery (Figs. 1-3, [0027]) comprising:
an electrode assembly (2, Fig. 2, [0027]); and
an exterior body (1/3, Fig. 2, [0027]) that houses the electrode assembly (2),
wherein the battery includes a metal plate (conductive sheet 33, Fig. 2, [0027]; (bond between insulating material and conductive sheet is a plastic-metal bond, [0037]; insulating material is plastic so conductive sheet is necessarily metal, [0030]) joined with an insulating material (32, Fig. 2, [0027]) interposed between the exterior body (1/3) and the metal plate (33), and the metal plate (33) is an external output terminal ([0051]),
wherein the exterior body (1/3) is provided with an opening portion (34, Fig. 2, [0027]), and the metal plate (33) is disposed on a surface (31, Fig. 2, [0027]) of the exterior body (1/3) located around the opening portion (34) with the insulating material (32) interposed between the metal plate (33) and the surface (31) of the exterior body (1/3),
wherein the insulating material (32) may be provided along the peripheral edge (peripheral edge in annotated figure 1 below) of the opening portion (34) on the surface (31) of the exterior body (1/3), and
wherein the metal plate (33) is positioned on an outer side (top side in Fig. 2) of the exterior body (1/3) with the insulating material (32) interposed between the metal plate (33) and the exterior body (1/3) (Fig. 2).
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Huang teaches that the battery is a microbattery ([0001]), but does not disclose wherein the battery is a secondary battery, wherein a thickness of a portion of the insulating material sandwiched between the exterior body and the metal plate is smaller than a thickness of a portion of the insulating material that is in contact with only one of the exterior body or the metal plate, wherein a metal member is further provided on an inner surface of the metal plate, and wherein the metal member does not protrude from an inner surface of the exterior body.
Wang teaches a microbattery that is a secondary battery (p. 331, col. 1 bridging col. 2). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have formed the battery of Huang as a secondary battery because Wang teaches that doing so increases the service life of the battery (p. 331, col. 1 bridging col. 2).
Kim teaches a secondary battery (100, FIG. 2, [0036]) comprising a terminal plate (protrusion 322, FIGS. 2 and 3, [0042]) disposed on an exterior body (20/30, FIG. 2, [0036]) with an insulating material (70, FIGS. 2 and 3, [0042]) interposed between the exterior body (20/30) and the plate (322), wherein a thickness of a portion (321, FIGS. 2 and 3, [0042]) of the insulating material (70) sandwiched between the exterior body (20/30) and the plate (322) is smaller than a thickness of a portion of the insulating material (70) that is in contact with only one of the exterior body (20/30) or the plate (322) (FIG. 2). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang in view of Wang by adding a groove to the insulating material, such that a thickness of a portion of the insulating material sandwiched between the exterior body and the metal plate is smaller than a thickness of a portion of the insulation material that is in contact with only one of the exterior body or the metal plate, because Kim teaches that doing so prevents rotation of the external output terminal ([0054]). Further, Huang teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the disclosed embodiments ([0053]).
Guo teaches a secondary battery (1, FIG. 2, [0083]) comprising a metal terminal plate (1121, FIG. 3, [0060]; aluminum or copper, [0088]) joined on an outer side (top side in FIG. 5) of an exterior body (111, FIG. 5, [0060]), wherein a metal member (1122, FIGS. 3 and 5, [0060]) is further provided on an inner surface (lower surface in FIG. 5) of the metal terminal plate (1121), A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang in view of Wang and Kim by adding a metal member to an inner surface of the terminal plate because Guo teaches that doing so improves battery safety by dissipating heat resulting from welding of the terminal plate ([0064]).
Ma teaches a battery comprising a metal terminal plate (13, FIG. 2, [0040]) joined on an outer side (top side of 21 in FIG. 2, [0035]) of an exterior body (20, FIG. 1, [0035]), wherein a metal member (11/12, FIG. 2, [0040]) is further provided on an inner surface (lower surface in FIG. 2) of the terminal plate (13), and wherein the metal member (11/12) does not protrude from an inner surface (lower surface of 22 in FIG. 2, [0035]) of the exterior body (20). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang in view of Wang, Kim, and Guo by positioning the metal member such that not protrude from an inner surface of the exterior body, because Ma teaches that doing so improves the energy density and safety of the battery ([0036]).
Regarding claim 19, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, Guo, and Ma teaches (see Huang) wherein a joint portion of the insulating material (32) to the exterior body (1/3) and/or the metal plate (33) is peelable due to a raised cell internal pressure of the secondary battery ([0037]).
Regarding claim 20, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, Guo, and Ma teaches (see Huang) wherein an exterior portion of the exterior body (1/3) that provides a surface (31) which the metal plate (33) is disposed is at least partly displaceable due to the raised cell internal pressure (thickness is 150 µm, [0038]; instant specification indicates surface is displaceable if thickness is less than 170 µm, [0076]).
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (CN-109192889-A) in view of Wang (Lithium and lithium ion batteries for applications in microelectronic devices: A review, 2015), Kim (US 2010/0233528 A1), Guo (US 2019/0214612 A1), and Ma (US 2021/0408627 A1), as applied to claim 19 above, and further in view of Lee (US 2013/0216871 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Huang in view of Wang, Kim, Guo, and Ma teaches a tab (Huang: portion of electrode 21 led out from assembly and connected to metal plate 33, see [0029] and annotated figure 2 below) but does not disclose a tab connected to the metal member and so configured to facilitate venting of the secondary battery.
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However, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to modify the battery of Huang in view of Wang, Kim, Guo, and Ma by connecting the tab to the metal member because Guo teaches a tab (adapter 116, FIG. 5, [0086]) connected to the metal member (1122) and the combination of familiar elements is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results ([MPEP § 2143A]).
Lee teaches a battery (100a, FIG. 5, [0064]) comprising a tab (600, FIG. 5, [0069]) connected to a conductive member (320, FIG. 5, [0068]) and so configured to facilitate venting of the battery ([0075]). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Huang in view of Wang, Kim, Guo, and Ma by configuring the tab to facilitate venting of the secondary battery because Lee teaches doing so allows the discharge of high pressure gas when high pressure is generated in the battery ([0023]).
Conclusion
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/C.C.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723
