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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I (claims 1-9 and 13-14) in the reply filed on December 17, 2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)). Thus, claims 10-12 and 15-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Specification
A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the ELECTED invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: --REWORK AUTOMATION EQUIPMENT FOR MANUFACTURING BATTERY CELL--.
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 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 1-5, 7-9 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S Patent 9,811,060 to Choi et al.
Regarding claim 1, Choi et al disclose a battery cell manufacturing apparatus comprising rework automation equipment configured to automatically rework battery cells (14) determined to be defective (see Fig. a/b).
Regarding claims 2-3, Choi et al disclose the rework automation equipment comprises: a sorting unit (616, see Fig. 6) configured to sort the battery cells determined to be defective based on battery cell-specific rework types predesignated by a user (programmer) and the sorting unit comprises a type-specific quantity measurement portion configured to check a quantity of battery cells while sorting the battery cells based on their rework types; and a rework unit configured to automatically rework each of the battery cells sorted by the sorting unit based on a respective rework types associated with each one of the battery cells (see Col. 5, lines 28-47).
Regarding claim 4, Choi et al disclose a detection unit (probe or camera) configured to determine whether any of the battery cells reworked by the rework unit are abnormal; a separation unit configured to separate battery cells determined to be abnormal according to a result of the detection unit; and a defect quantity measurement unit (testing tool 12) configured to check the quantity of battery cells determined to be abnormal by the detection unit (12, see flow chart 6b).
Regarding claims 5, 7 and 13-14, Choi et al disclose the defect quantity measurement unit (12) measures a-quantities of battery cells based on defect types associated with the abnormal battery cells; the rework types are sorted according to work steps, comprising a battery cell input step, a tab welding step, a cell assembly formation step, an electrolytic solution injection step, and a sealing step, or are sorted according to a rework method based on defects (see Col. 5, line 20 to Col. 7, line 2).
Regarding claim 8, Choi et al disclose the rework automation equipment is configured to rework the battery cells more than once (see Fig. 6a/b).
Regarding claim 9, Choi et al disclose a quantity of battery cells determined not to be reworkable by the sorting unit is measured as a defect quantity (see Col. 7, line 61).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al.
Choi et al do not disclose the sorting unit comprises a button configured to be manually operated depending on the defect types. It would have been an obvious matter of designed choice to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to choose any desired sorting system such as having a button configured to be manually operated, since Applicants have not disclosed the specific manually operated unit, solves any stated problem or is for any particular purposes and it appears the invention would perform equally well with the automatically sorting unit as disclosed by Choi et al.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent 3,684,088 to Buttke discloses apparatus and method for manufacturing a battery cell. U.S. Patent 6,202,037 to Hattori et al disclose a system for detecting, testing, sorting and marking semiconductor device.
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/DN/ /DONGHAI D NGUYEN/January 24, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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