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 Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of amendment filed on 12/30/2025 in which claims 1-16 have been amended. By this amendment, claims 1-16 are currently amended. By this amendment, claims 1-16 are still pending in the application for prosecution in a first action on the merits.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 12/30/2025. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: in claim 9, line 5, remove the quotation mark “ before the word “off”. 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 12-16 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.
Amended Claim 12 recites the underlined limitations of, “…the connections between the accumulator cells of the same line in the direction S are ensured by wide tongues…”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Note that the amended claim 12 removed the character “S” on line 3 the word “a given direction S” was recited.
Claim 13 recites the limitation “High-current battery pack according to claim 11, wherein the bezels hold…” in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these underlined limitations in the claim. Note claim 11 recites “a battery management system” and not “High-current battery pack”. Furthermore, the limitations “wherein the bezels hold…” lack antecedent basis in claim 11 as bezels is only recited in claim 12.
Claims 14-16 recite the underlined limitations of, “High-current battery pack according to claim 11,…”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these underlined limitations in the claims.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 are objected to but are otherwise allowable over the prior art of record.
Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest, among other patentable features, battery management system for accumulators of a semi-modular element comprising a plurality of lithium cell elements connected in series to form a line, said battery management system for accumulators comprising at least two serial lines connected in parallel constituting the semi-modular element, and at least one detection circuit… performing a current limitation at the load, and wherein the semi-modular element includes intermediate printed circuit boards arranged vertically between the cells, the intermediate boards comprising heating resistors of the semi-modular assembly and being connected to the management circuit to supply power on demand to the heating resistors”.
As in claim 2: Battery management system for accumulators of a semi-modular element comprising a plurality of lithium cell elements connected in series to form a line, said battery management system for accumulators comprising at least two serial lines connected in parallel constituting the semi-modular element, and at least one detection circuit, wherein the detection circuit comprises at least one discharge or short-circuit detection device and at least one device for monitoring the voltage and temperature of a cell element, the detection circuit controlling a circuit breaker device comprising at least one switching device per line-and connected to the negative or positive pole of each set of cell elements or each battery and to the positive or negative terminal, respectively, of the battery, the switching device comprising, for each line, a load breaking device, a discharge breaking device, and electronic components limiting the current at the load and said load breaking device comprising at least two MOSFETs per line including a first MOSFET performing a circuit break in the event of discharge below a threshold or during a short circuit, and a second MOSFET performing a load break in the event of voltage or temperature overshoot of an element of said circuit, the electronic components around the second MOSFET performing a current limitation at the load, wherein the first MOSFET is connected by its source to the negative terminal of a set of cells, this first MOSFET receives, on its gate, a voltage source that drives, this source delivering a chosen voltage (for example 6 to 10V) so that the first MOSFET is on, a Zener diode is connected in opposition between the gate and the source of the first MOSFET and a capacitor protect the gate of the first MOSFET from excessively high or high-frequency voltages, and a Zener diode mounted in opposition between the gate of the first MOSFET and the drain and in series with a resistor and a diode in the forward direction in the drain-to-gate direction, limiting the switching speed of the first MOSFET and a circuit consisting of a Schottky diode limits the load current, this Schottky diode is mounted in opposition on the drain of the first MOSFET in the charging direction, and in series with a capacitor and a resistor connected to the positive terminal of the battery to also limit the overvoltage when opening the first MOSFET, in parallel on the Schottky diode a fixed resistor is mounted that is connected on the one hand to the cathode of the diode and on the other hand to the drain of the second MOSFET whose source is connected to the anode of the Schottky diode, the gate of the second MOSFET being controlled by an output of the detection circuit to prevent the load.
Claim 12 would be allowable if rewritten or amended 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.
Regarding claim 12, the prior art of record either taken alone or in combination thereof fails to teach or reasonably suggest, High-current, semi-modular, series and parallel battery pack consisting of lithium accumulator cells of the same characteristics connected in series to form a line by connections in a given direction corresponding to the direction of the high currents to obtain the necessary voltage, and intended to be able to be associated in parallel with another line of accumulator cells, said pack comprising a management system for accumulators of a semi-modular element comprising a plurality of lithium cell elements connected in series to form a line, said battery management system for accumulators comprising at least two serial lines connected in parallel constituting the semi-modular element, and at least one detection circuit, wherein the detection circuit comprises at least one discharge or short-circuit detection device and at least one device for monitoring the voltage and temperature of a cell element, the detection circuit controlling a circuit breaker device comprising at least one switching device per line-and connected to the negative or positive pole of each set of cell elements or each battery and to the positive or negative terminal, respectively, of the battery, the switching device comprising, for each line, a load breaking device, a discharge breaking device, and electronic components limiting the current at the load- and said load breaking device comprising at least two MOSFETs per line including a first MOSFET performing a circuit break in the event of discharge below a threshold or during a short circuit, and a second MOSFET performing a load break in the event of voltage or temperature overshoot of an element of said circuit, the electronic components around the second MOSFET performing a current limitation at the load, wherein a pair of upper and lower bezels that delimit a set of cylindrical housings with a square or polygonal or circular section defining, in the same direction, at least one line of cylindrical housings with a square or polygonal section each holding a lithium accumulator cell; the connections between the accumulator cells of the same line in the direction S are ensured by wide tongues connecting, on each upper or lower face of the module, each pair of adjacent cells connected in series by their poles of opposite polarity in the first direction, the connecting tongues on one face being offset by one cell on the other face; the bezels comprise at least two lines of housings parallel to the direction in which at least two lines of cells are arranged in a direction perpendicular to and interconnected either by thin tongues acting as a fuse or by resettable fuses, in the direction perpendicular to the direction, each fuse connecting two cells belonging to two different parallel lines to make a parallel connection between each cell of two parallel sets of serial cells.
Claims 13-16 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 )(for example by changing their dependencies from claim 11 to claim 12), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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.
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M'BAYE DIAO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/M BAYE DIAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 February 2, 2026