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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/10/26 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 02/26/2026 does not place the application in condition for allowance.
The rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 of claims 1-2, 4-6 and 8 are maintained.
Additional analysis follows.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding applicants’ argument that tabs 13 are not "accommodated in the through hole of the spacer" as explicitly required by amended claim 1, Shangfu clearly shows a connecting portion (i.e. tab 113 in Fig, 4) being accommodated in and going through the spacer 12 from the electrode assembly to allow for electrical connection and while portions of the tab 113 are both inside and outside the accommodating hole, all portions are not required to be located inside the spacer according to claim 1.
Furthermore, newly amended claim 1 recites “to fix the spacer with the housing in a thickness direction W of the battery”, which does not limit the location of the first/second positioning portion but rather the movement of the spacer in the thickness direction W such that it is fixed. While the examiner recognizes there is a difference between the applicants’ invention and Shangfu, the first/second positioning portions of Shangfu, as described in the rejection of claim 1, are understood to hold the spacer in position including against movement in the thickness direction W.
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.
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 1-2, 4-6, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shangfu et. al. (CN207116600U, as cited in the IDS dated 11/16/22, reference made to provided English translation) in view of Lynds (US20150283965A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shangfu discloses a battery (M), comprising a housing (frame 2 and endplates 6, Fig. 7, ¶[0075])
and a plurality of electrode core assemblies (1, battery cell) disposed in the housing (Fig. 7), wherein
the electrode core assemblies are connected in series (¶[0074], see each adjacent battery connected to each other, which one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize as in series), each of the electrode core assemblies comprises a packing film (¶[0004], see polymer as film) and at least one electrode core, and the at least one electrode core is disposed in an accommodating cavity defined by the packing film (¶[0080], see electrode assembly in pouch battery);
a spacer (i.e. support block 12 containing parts 121 and 122, Fig. 6, ¶[0058]) is arranged between two of the electrode core assemblies connected in series (Fig. 7), and the spacer has a through hole(¶[0057], see accommodating cavity 123, Fig. 5 and 6);
each of the electrode core assemblies comprises a first electrode and a second electrode (i.e. positive electrode sheet and negative electrode sheet, ¶[0080]), the first electrode and the second electrode extend out of the packing film (Fig. 6 see electrode tab 113 on each side of cell 111), a first electrode of a first electrode core assembly of the two of the electrode core assemblies connected in series is connected to a second electrode of a second electrode core assembly of the two of the electrode core assemblies (¶[0074], each of the extending tabs 113 are bent to connect to the adjacent pouch battery), and a connecting portion (portion of tab 113) between the first electrode of the first electrode core assembly and the second electrode of the second electrode core assembly is accommodated in the through hole of the spacer (see the tab 113 may extend into receiving cavity 123, ¶[0057]); and
the spacer comprises an outer circumferential surface facing an inner surface of the housing, at least one first positioning portion (H3) is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the spacer (Fig. 7, see H3 facing the end plates of the housing), at least one second positioning portion is formed on the inner surface of the housing(P3), and the at least one first positioning portion is coupled with the at least one second positioning portion to fix the spacer with the housing in a thickness direction W of the battery(¶[0077], Fig. 8 where the H3 and P3 interaction fix the spacers and batteries in position) but does not disclose wherein the electrode core assemblies are connected in series along a length direction of each of the electrode core assemblies.
Lynds, related to batteries, teaches an energy storage sub-module (400) which connects energy storage devices (402) through a connector portion (470, Fig. 7) in series along a length direction(Fig. 3, ¶[0064]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized arranging the individual energy storage devices of Shangfu along a length direction with the spacer between the cells would provide a space-saving design(¶[0064]) to the battery module of Shangfu.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to have arranged the electrode assemblies of Shangfu in series in a length direction as taught by Lynds to provide a space saving design.
Regarding claim 2, Shangfu discloses a battery according to claim 1 and wherein the at least one first positioning portion includes a groove (H3) recessed on the outer circumferential surface of the spacer, the at least one second positioning portion includes a protrusion formed on the inner surface of the housing(P3), and the protrusion of the at least one second positioning portion is disposed in the groove of the at least one first positioning portion (Fig. 7, ¶[0077]).
Regarding claim 4, Shangfu discloses a battery according to claim 1 wherein the two of the electrode core assemblies connected in series are two adjacent electrode core assemblies, and the spacer is located between the two adjacent electrode core assemblies (¶[0074], see adjacent battery cells).
Regarding claim 5, Shangfu discloses a battery according to claim 4 wherein the spacer comprises a first insert (121) and a second insert(122), the first insert and the second insert are respectively arranged on two sides of the connecting portion(Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, see parts 121 and 122 on each side of the tab 113) to clamp the connecting portion, and the through hole is formed at a gap between the first insert and the second insert (¶[0073]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the parts 121 and 122 that surround tab 113 are capable of clamping the connecting portion 113. The Courts have held that if the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. See In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235 (CCPA 1967); and In re Otto, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963). The Courts have held that it is well settled that the recitation of a new intended use, for an old product, does not make a claim to that old product patentable. See In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (see MPEP § 2114).
Regarding claim 6, Shangfu discloses a battery according to claim 5 wherein the first insert and the second insert are respectively fixed to the two adjacent electrode core assemblies by adhesion, in this case the housing is filled with an adhesive to fix the cells together after assembly, including the addition of the insert parts 121 and 122, such that the first and second inserts would also be fixed to the adjacent cells by adhesion(¶[0081], Fig. 14).
Regarding claim 8, Shangfu discloses a battery according to claim 1 wherein an outer surface of an electrode core assembly is fixed to the inner surface of the housing by adhesion (¶[0079], Fig. 14, see glue 7 attaches battery 11 to wall 21 of case component 214).
Conclusion
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/K.J.A./Examiner, Art Unit 1726 /RYAN S CANNON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726
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