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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, filed 1/04/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of amended claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 9, 12-13, 16, and 18 under 102 in view of Yoo have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made under 103 in view of Yoo and Akita.
Applicant's arguments filed 1/04/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The arguments are presented on page 9 that the coating of Yoo would be incompatible with the fixing claws (raised pieces) taught by Akita. These arguments are not found persuasive due to the fact that the rejection relies upon the raised areas of Yoo that include the surface treatment area and not solely the surface treatment area. Therefore, the raised area of Yoo would be capable of being modified to include the fixing claws (raised pieces) of Akita.
The arguments are presented on pages 10-11 that one of ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to combine the teaching of Yoo and Akita since Akita would not teach the benefit of guiding through a structure. These arguments are not found persuasive due to the fact that Akita teaches the benefits of reduced resistance between an electrode unit and current collector plate [Akita 0010] which would motivate one of ordinary skill in the art to use the fixing claws (raised pieces) taught by Akita with the battery connecting member of Yoo. The fact that the inventor has recognized another advantage which would flow naturally from following the suggestion of the prior art cannot be the basis for patentability when the differences would otherwise be obvious. See Ex parte Obiaya, 227 USPQ 58, 60 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1985).
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 9, 12-13, 16, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo et al. (US 2005/0238951 A1, hereafter Yoo) in view of Akita et al. (US 2004/0234849 A1, hereafter Akita).
With regard to claim 1, Yoo teaches a battery connecting member (collecting plate 40) configured to electrically connect a cell and a battery casing, the battery connecting member comprising [0033]:
a first connecting portion (raised areas with surface treatment layer 50) configured to be electrically connected to the cell [0032, 0037, 0042, fig. 2-3];
a second connecting portion, configured to be electrically connected to the battery casing (lower portion of body 41 including corners as seen in annotated fig. 3) [0032, 0037, fig. 2-3]; and
a buffering portion (sidewalls of contact units 42) wherein two ends of the buffering portion are respectively connected to the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion [0040, fig. 2-3],
wherein an included angle is provided between the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion such that a surface of the second connecting portion for electrical connection to the battery casing (lower portion of body 41 including corners as seen in annotated fig. 3) is inclined to a surface of the first connecting portion for electrical connection to the cell (vertical vs horizontal, 90 degree angle, claim 8) [0032, 0037, fig. 2-3].
Yoo further teaches the buffering portion has a bent sub-portion protruding from a surface of the first connecting portion away from the cell (90 degree bend at start of sidewalls of contact units 42) to form a guide space between the buffering portion and the first connecting portion (grooves 43 underneath contact units 42) that would be capable of accommodating a fixing claw [0032-0040, fig. 2-3].
Yoo teaches a support piece (surface treatment layer 50) on the battery connecting member [0042, fig. 2-3] but does not teach fixing claws. However, in the same field of endeavor, Akita teaches the use of fixing claws (raised pieces 53) provided on an upper surface of a collector plate (analogous to the guide space that would be located between the buffering portion, first connecting portion, and cell; claim 15) [0007, 0008]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the fixing claws (raised pieces 53) of Akita with the support piece of Yoo for the benefit of reduced resistance between an electrode unit and current collector plate [Akita 0010].
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With regard to claim 2, Yoo teaches a plurality of the second connecting portions arranged at intervals (as seen in fig. 2 the lower portions and corners are arranged in intervals of 4 lower sections divided by 8 sidewalls and corners) [0032, 0037, fig. 2-3].
With regard to claim 4, Yoo teaches a plurality of the buffering portions (as seen in fig. 2 the lower portions and corners are arranged in intervals of 4 lower sections divided by 8 sidewalls) [0032, 0037, fig. 2-3].
With regard to claim 5, Yoo teaches the first connecting portion comprises a connecting body (surface treatment layer 50) and a plurality of connecting sheets (coated surfaces of contact units 42) connected to the connecting body wherein a spacing is provided between adjacent connecting sheets (as seen in fig. 2) and the connecting sheets are configured to be connected to the cell, wherein the buffering portions (sidewalls of contact units 42) are connected to the connecting body and the buffering portions are located between adjacent connecting sheets [0032-0040, fig. 2].
With regard to claim 9, Yoo teaches the second connecting portion (lower portion of body 41 including corners as seen in annotated fig. 3) has a first recess extending inward (groove 43) and a side of the second connecting portion facing the buffering portion (sidewalls of contact units 42) is an inner side [0032-0040, fig. 2-3].
With regard to claim 12, Yoo teaches the connecting member as detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above and further teaches a battery [0014].
With regard to claim 13, Yoo teaches a battery casing (case 11) and a cell (electrode assembly 20) disposed inside the battery casing, wherein the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are respectively connected to the cell and the battery casing [0030, 0034, fig. 2-3].
With regard to claim 16, Yoo teaches a first cover plate (cap plate 31) and a casing piece (case 11) with a second recess (bottom opening) extending inward and matched with a first recess of the second connecting portion (grooves 43) to allow the battery casing and the battery connecting member to be connected and sealed [0034-0040, fig. 2-3].
With regard to claim 18, Yoo teaches a cylindrical battery [0029].
Claim(s) 3 and 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo and Akita as applied to claims 1-2, 4-5, 9, 12-13, 16, and 18 above.
With regard to claim 3, Yoo does not explicitly teach the claimed distance. However, this would be an obvious variant to one of ordinary skill in the art since it would perform the same function of electrically connecting a cell and a battery casing and only require changing the size of the connecting member taught by Yoo [0032, 0037, 0042, fig. 2-3]. See MPEP 2144.04 IV.
With regard to claim 6, Yoo does not explicitly teach the claimed distance. However, this would be an obvious variant to one of ordinary skill in the art since it would perform the same function of electrically connecting a cell and a battery casing and only require changing the size of the connecting member taught by Yoo since the distance between the adjacent sheets would scale with the size of the connecting member [0032, 0037, 0042, fig. 2-3]. See MPEP 2144.04 IV.
With regard to claim 7, Yoo does not explicitly teach the claimed size of the buffering portion. However, this would be an obvious variant to one of ordinary skill in the art since it would perform the same function of electrically connecting a cell and a battery casing and only require changing the size of the buffering portions taught by Yoo [0032, 0037, 0040, 0042, fig. 2-3]. See MPEP 2144.04 IV.
Claim(s) 11 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo and Akita as applied to claims 1-2, 4-5, 9, 12-13, 16, and 18 above, and further in view of Okabe et al. (US 2008/0038629 A1, hereafter Okabe).
With regard to claim 11, Yoo teaches buffering portions (sidewalls of contact units 42) [0040, fig. 2-3] but does not explicitly teach that they have elastic properties. However, in the same field of endeavor, Okabe teaches the use of buffering portions (supplementary leads) with elastic (spring) properties [0075]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the elastic (spring) properties of Okabe with the buffering portions of Yoo for the benefit of absorbing variations in component spacings [Okabe 0075, 0114].
With regard to claim 17, Yoo teaches a cover plate (cap plate 31) [0034-0040, fig. 2-3] but does not teach the buffering portion is in contact with a cover plate due to only teaching it located on the bottom of the cell. However, in the same field of endeavor, Okabe teaches the use of a connecting member (lead 40) with buffering portions (supplementary leads) with spring properties on in contact with a cover plate (lid 50) [0177, fig. 1-4]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the buffering portion with elastic (spring) properties of Okabe with the cover plate of Yoo for the benefit of absorbing variations in component spacings [Okabe 0075, 0114].
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 BRENT C THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)270-7737. The examiner can normally be reached Flexible schedule, typical hours 11-7 M-F.
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/BRENT C THOMAS/Examiner, Art Unit 1724
/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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