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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 January 19, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 23, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Larsen’s “jigs” are “flat without any inner groove.” Examiner respectfully notes that the claim does not currently require that the surfaces of the bending jig and the base jig have inner grooves. Please also see 112 rejection below. Therefore, the rejection is respectfully maintained; that is, Larsen’s cavity/groove is considered to be where the workpiece is located in at least Figures 3 and 5.
Applicant also argues that Larsen’s jigs are not directly connected. Examiner noted that the claim required “one side wall of a bending jig and one side wall of a base jig directly connected together via a hinge part.” Examiner noted that the term “hinge part” can encompass more than one element. Therefore, the rejection is respectfully maintained; that is, Larsen’s hinge part is considered to include elements 6, 7 and 8, as seen in Figure 1.
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 8 currently reads “and the cylinder is configured…” and should read “and each respective cylinder is configured…”
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1 and 4-11 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 1 recites: “wherein the base jig and the bending jig are respectively configured in a plate shape having a pouch-accommodating-part seating groove therein” – It is unclear what is required by “a plate shape” – is it circular? Flat? It is also unclear what the metes and bounds of “configured in” encompasses. The limitation as a whole appears to read that the jigs only need to have the groove when in the particular configuration i.e. the claim does not require the groove to be in each jig.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-8 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Larsen (US Patent 2,696,241).
With regards to claim 1, Larsen discloses a pouch bending guide apparatus of a secondary battery packaging system wherein the pouch bending guide apparatus is configured to folds a pouch sheet to form a pouch [It is noted that setting for the environment in which the bending guide apparatus is to be used in does not set forth any structural requirements of a packaging system],
the pouch bending guide apparatus comprising:
one side wall of a bending jig (reference element 9, left side of Figure 2) and one side wall of a base jig (reference element 9, right side of Figure 2) directly connected together via a hinge part (considered to be elements 6, 7 and 8),
wherein the bending jig comprises a first stopper formed of a pad (17) provided on an inner surface of the bending jig to support at least one side of the pouch while the pouch is formed from the pouch sheet by folding of the bending jig, as seen in Figure 3, and
wherein the base jig and the bending jig are respectively configured in a plate shape having a pouch-accommodating-part seating groove therein, and
wherein the first stopper is configured to support an outer surface of the pouch to prevent a bending side of the pouch from being pushed into the pouch, as seen in Figure 3.
With regards to claim 4, Larsen discloses wherein the first stopper (17) is slidably embedded in a push operation hole formed in the bending jig, and a spring (23) is interposed between the push operation hole and the stopper, as seen in Figure 6, so that the stopper is configured to adjust a clearance according to a thickness of the pouch in a state where the spring supports the stopper [Column 2, lines 70-75].
With regards to claim 5, Larsen discloses wherein further comprising:
a second stopper (17) provided inside the base jig, as seen in Figures 4 and 6,
wherein the first and second stoppers (17, 17) are respectively slidably embedded in a push operation hole formed in the bending jig and the base jig as seen in Figures 4 and 6, and
a spring (23) interposed between the push operation hole and the first and second stoppers, so that the first and second stoppers are respectively is configured to adjust a clearance according to a thickness of the pouch in a state where the spring supports the first and second stoppers, as seen in Figures 4 and 6.
With regards to claim 6, Larsen discloses further comprising: a cylinder (21) for moving the stopper (17) back and forth [Column 2, lines 65+ and as seen in Figure 7.]
With regards to claim 7, Larsen discloses a second stopper provided inside the base jig, as seen in at least Figure 4, and wherein forming the pouch by folding the pouch sheet, the second stopper on the base jig side and the second stopper on the bending jig side are configured to support both outer both surfaces of the pouch, as see in at least Figure 4.
With regards to claim 8, Larsen discloses wherein a cylinder (21) is provided outside each of the base jig and the bending jig, and each respective cylinder is configured to push the second stopper on the base jig side and the first stopper on the bending jig side, as seen in Figure 4 and 6.
With regards to claim 10, Larsen discloses wherein one side wall of the base jig and one side wall of the bending jig are connected to each other by the hinge part, and a bending guide opening part is formed on one side wall of the base jig and one side wall of the bending jig to communicate with inner and outer surfaces of the one side wall of the base jig and the one side wall of the bending jig, respectively, as seen in Figures 4 and 5.
With regards to claim 11, Larsen discloses providing the pouch bending guide apparatus of claim 1, folding the bending jig toward the base jig to form the pouch from the pouch sheet, as seen in Figures 4 and 5.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and further shows the state of the art: KR 10185680B1.
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/TERESA M EKIERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725