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 without traverse of Group I (claims 1-11 and 14-20) in the reply filed on 1/8/26 is acknowledged.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 7-11 and 15, 16,18, 20 are allowable over the prior art of record.
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.
1. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
2. The limitation “the covering material” in line 4 of claim 11 lacks antecedent basis.
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.
3. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Han (US20160308186).
4. Regarding claim 1, Han teaches a cell separating device (see Fig. below) for spacing apart two respectively adjacent battery cells in a battery module, comprising:
an incompressible frame unit which is configured to withstand a mechanical load force present in case of a specified condition of use when the cell separating device is in an arranged state between the two adjacent battery cells in the battery module, and
a deformable compression element enclosed by the frame unit, which element is configured, in the arranged state, on the one hand to absorb the mechanical load force of at least one of the adjacent battery cells and, on the other hand, to thermally insulate the two adjacent battery cells, wherein the frame unit for enclosing the compression element has a first frame member and a second frame member, between which the compression element is arranged with a specified edge region (see Fig. below).
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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 of this title, 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.
5. Claims 2, 3, 6, 14 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han (US20160308186) as applied to claim 1 in view of Cherng et al. (US20210384568 filed 6/3/2020).
6. Regarding claims 2, 3, 6, 14, and 19, the complete discussion of Han as applied to claim 1 is incorporated herein. Han teaches (see Figure below).
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7. However, they are silent about some limitations of claims 2, 3, and 14.
8. Cherng teaches components (see Fig. below) for the benefit of heat dissipation of the battery to keep operating temperatures stable [0002].
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9. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han with Cherng’s teachings for the benefit of heat dissipation of the battery to keep operating temperatures stable.
10. Claims 5 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han (US20160308186) in view of Cherng et al. (US20210384568 filed 6/3/2020) and further in view of Komaki et al. (US20140014418)
11. Regarding claims 5 and 17, the complete discussion of Han and Cherng is incorporated herein. However, they are silent about claim 5.
12. Komaki teaches components (see Fig. below) for the benefit of the construction wherein the battery block is securely held [0041].
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13. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han with Komaki for the benefit of the construction wherein the battery block is securely held.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLATUNJI GODO whose telephone number is (571)272-3104. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 5:30 pm.
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/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752