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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-11, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Urschel et al. (US 2014/0210399), cited in the Information Disclosure Statement dated February 9, 2023, and further in view of WO 2020/219760 A1, of which a complete copy of the reference is provided with this Office Action.
Regarding independent claims 1, 7, and 15, as well as claim 13, Urschel et al. disclose a removable and replaceable battery power pack as part of a battery power system (see paragraphs [0026]-[0060]; and Figures 1-6), in which the battery pack (100) comprises the following structural features:
a plurality of battery cells (180), as shown in Figures 4 and 5;
an outer housing (104) configured to encase the plurality of battery cells (180), as shown in Figure 3;
a handle (106) extending from the outer housing (104) configured to be grasped by a user (see Figures 3-5);
a pack electrical connector (102) located on a rear side of the outer housing (104), wherein the electrical connector (102) includes at least one battery pack receptacle that can electrically couple to a battery receptacle connector (202) comprising a plurality of ports and configured to electrically couple to the pack electrical connector (102) of the battery pack (100), and a latch (interpreted as pins inside the connector (102) that can selectively couple to the battery pack (100) (see paragraphs [0026], [0027], and [0060]; and Figures 3-6), wherein the battery pack receptacle; and
a plurality of MOSFETs (137) configured to control a current output to the electrical connector (102), wherein each of the plurality of MOSFETs (137) is thermally coupled to the outer housing (104), as shown in Figure 5.
Urschel et al. disclose the removable and replaceable battery power pack as part of a battery power system, but do not disclose that the outer housing (104) is fabricated from a die cast aluminum material, instead reciting a lightweight injection molded plastic (see paragraph [0029]).
However, WO ‘760 discloses a removable and replacement battery pack (abstract; paragraph [0034]; and Figure 2), in which the battery pack (114) includes a case (116) and a battery (120) disposed in the case (116), wherein the case (116) is made of a semi-rigid and lightweight material, including aluminum, for the purpose of providing a small (carbon) footprint and conserving weight, including at a weight of the case to be about 21% of the weight of a battery, thus increasing service life of the battery operated device between charges (see paragraph [0034]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the applicants’ invention was made to modify the lightweight injection molded plastic material of the outer housing of the removable and replaceable battery power pack as part of a battery power system, as disclosed by Urschel et al., by providing a material of the battery pack with a case made of a semi-rigid and lightweight material, including aluminum, in order to provide a small (carbon) footprint and to conserve weight, including at a weight of the case to be about 21% of the weight of a battery, thus increasing service life of the battery operated device between charges (WO ‘760; paragraph [0034]).
In addition, the limitation of a “die cast aluminum material” for a case of a battery pack is evidenced by CN 106856231 A (see the sentence in the middle of page 4 of the machine translation of CN ‘231 that recites “the case 1 can be made of aluminum alloy or magnesium alloy by die-casting” – Figures 1-3 of CN ‘231 show the case 1).
Furthermore, use of an aluminum material is provided in the teachings of CN 110190228 A (see the sentence in the middle of page 5 of the machine translation of CN ‘228 that recites “in the actual execution, the battery pack case 110 is made of aluminum alloy material, aluminum alloy material with heat conducting performance is good, and density is small and the weight is light, the price is cheap” – Figure 2 of CN ‘228 shows the battery pack case 110).
Regarding claims 2 and 8, Urschel et al. disclose a battery management system (136) configured to control the plurality of MOSFETs (137) to maintain a current output within a threshold by applying pulse width modulation to the current output (see paragraphs [0039]-[0044]; and Figure 4).
Regarding claims 3 and 14, and in referring to independent claims 1 and 7 above, the combined teachings of Urschel et al. and WO ‘760 disclose and/or suggest that the removable and replaceable battery pack would weigh less than thirty pounds (see paragraph [0028] of Urschel et al., as well as paragraph [0034] of WO ‘760).
Regarding claims 4 and 10, Urschel et al. disclose that the battery pack (100) can supply at least 1.5 kilowatt-hours of energy due to the desired combination of the number of battery cells (180), nominal voltage, and continuous current output (see paragraphs [0057]-[0060]).
Regarding claims 5 and 11, Urschel et al. disclose a user interface (display screen (142)) configured to display a battery information, wherein the user interface (142) is positioned at a top side of the outer housing (104) under a handle (106), as shown in Figures 3 and 5.
Regarding claim 9, Urschel et al. disclose that the battery power pack (100) can be coupled to a common power bus (see paragraphs [0030] and [0056]; and Figures 4 and 5).
Regarding claims 16 and 20, Urschel et al. disclose a battery management system (136) configured to control the plurality of MOSFETs (137) to maintain a current output within a threshold by applying pulse width modulation to the current output, and can send a bi-directional current into and out of the electrical connector to diagnose an error (see paragraphs [0039]-[0044]; and Figure 4).
Regarding claim 17, and in referring to independent claim 15 above, the combined teachings of Urschel et al. and WO ‘760 disclose and/or suggest that the removable and replaceable battery pack would weigh less than thirty pounds (see paragraph [0028] of Urschel et al., as well as paragraph [0034] of WO ‘760).
Regarding claim 18, Urschel et al. disclose that the battery pack (100) can supply at least 1.5 kilowatt-hours of energy due to the desired combination of the number of battery cells (180), nominal voltage, and continuous current output (see paragraphs [0057]-[0060]).
Regarding claim 19, Urschel et al. disclose a user interface (display screen (142)) configured to display a battery information, wherein the user interface (142) is positioned at a top side of the outer housing (104) under a handle (106), as shown in Figures 3 and 5.
Response to Arguments
The examiner acknowledges the applicants’ Appeal Brief received by the USPTO on March 20, 2026. Upon further consideration, the applicants’ arguments addressing the 35 USC 103 rejection are persuasive, and thus the 35 USC 103 rejection is withdrawn and this Office Action is made non-final. Claims 1-5, 7-11, and 13-20 remain under consideration in the application.
Applicants’ arguments on pages 7-11 under the ARGUMENT section filed March 20, 2026, with respect to claims 1-5, 7-11, and 13-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The final rejection mailed October 17, 2025 based on the 35 USC 103 rejection over Urschel et al. (US 2014/0210399) alone has been withdrawn, and this Office Action is made non-final.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicants' disclosure. CN 106856231 A and CN 110190228 A (each of which is provided with a machine translation) are cited as further evidence in the above 35 USC 103 rejection (and as related art) of using aluminum as a lightweight and heat dissipating material for battery packs.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN P KERNS whose telephone number is (571)272-1178. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-430pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Walker can be reached at (571)272-3458. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN P KERNS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735 May 31, 2026
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