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 .
Claim Status
A review of the Notice of Allowance mailed 11/25/2025 found that claims 1 and 3 are unpatentable due to issues relating to 35 U.S.C. 112(b). A Notice of Withdrawal from issue was mailed 06/09/2026. Therefore, a Non-Final Rejection has been set forth below. The Office apologizes for the inconvenience.
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.
Claim 1, and thus dependent claim 3, is 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
Regarding claim 1, the claim recites the limitation of “the thin part is formed to be inclined upward from an inside toward an outside in a radial direction of the sealing plate and is formed to directly connect only a portion of an outer peripheral face of the terminal part, below a central part as viewed from the up-and-down direction and only a portion of an inner peripheral face of the flange part, above a central part as viewed in the up-and-down direction.”
It is unclear whether the two recitations of “a central part” are referring to the central part of the same component or different components. Moreover, the claim is unclear as to the central part(s) of which components are being referred to. The central part could be the central part of the flange part, the central part of the terminal part, or the central part of the thin part.
Further, the claim states “as viewed in the up-and-down direction”. Applicant’s Remarks filed 11/10/2025 note that support for these limitations are found in P22-26 and Fig. 2 of the application as filed. However, the Examiner notes that the battery cell shown in Fig. 2 does not appear to be viewed in “the up-and-down direction”.
Further, the limitation "the up-and-down direction" has insufficient antecedent basis.
Claim Analysis
In order to advance prosecution, the Examiner has rejected the claims below to the best of their ability in light of the clarity issues above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Geshi et al (US 20230048822 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Geshi discloses a cylindrical battery (Power storage device 100 in Fig. 1, see entire disclosure and especially P57), comprising:
an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate are wound with a separator interposed between the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate; an electrolyte (P21; given Geshi teaches the electrode assembly is utilized within a cylindrical case, P24, 59, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the electrode assembly would be in a wound form);
a bottomed cylindrical exterior housing can that houses the electrode assembly and the electrolyte (case 10 in Fig. 1, P24, 59); and
a sealing plate that seals an opening of the exterior housing can (sealing plate 42 in Fig. 1, P58),
wherein the sealing plate has a flange part that is fixed by crimping to the opening of the exterior housing can (outer peripheral part 42p in Fig. 1, P61), a terminal part that is formed further on an inside in a radial direction than the flange part (protrusion 42a + central part 42c in Fig. 1, P61), and a thin part that connects the flange part and the terminal part (thin part 42t in Fig. 1, see entire disclosure and especially P62) and
the thin part is formed to be inclined upward from an inside toward an outside in a radial direction of the sealing plate (see Fig. 1) and is formed to directly connect only a portion, of an outer peripheral face of the terminal part, below a central part (thin part 42t is formed to directly connect only a portion of an outer peripheral face of the protrusion 42a + central part 42c below a central part of the thin part 42t) and only a portion, of an inner peripheral face of the flange part, above a central part (thin part 42t is formed to directly connect only a portion of an outer peripheral part 42p above a central part of the thin part 42t).
Regarding claim 3, Geshi discloses wherein the thin part is formed into a tapered shape from the inside toward the outside in the radial direction of the sealing plate (see Fig. 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mary Harris whose telephone number is (571)272-0690. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm EST.
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, Ula Ruddock can be reached at (571)272-1481. 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.
/MARY GRACE HARRIS/Examiner, Art Unit 1729
/ULA C RUDDOCK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1729
Prosecution Insights