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 .
1. The Applicant’s amendment filed on 1/05/2026 was received. Claims 1, 6 were amended. Claim 7 was cancelled.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S.C. code not included in this action can be found in the prior Office action issued on 6/13/2025.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/05/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jo et al. (US 20250343275 A1).
Regarding to claim 1: Jo et al. disclose an electrode assembly, a cylindrical battery cell, and a battery pack (abstract, par. 1). The cylindrical battery cell (equivalent to a secondary battery) comprising:
an electrode assembly (100) (par. 106, fig. 3);
a battery can (200) (equivalent to a case) (par. 113, fig. 3) accommodating the electrode assembly (100) (fig. 3) and comprising a beading portion (240) (equivalent to a beading part) (par. 178, fig. 3) recessed toward an inside of the battery can (200) (fig. 3);
a lower current collector plate (700) (equivalent to a current collector plate) (par. 218, fig. 3) welded to a second uncoated region (120) of the electrode assembly (100) at an electrode welding portion (par. 221, fig. 3) and welded to the battery can (200) at a case welding portion (par. 220, fig. 3) (see fig. bent below); and
a cap plate (230) (par. 179, fig. 3) on the lower current collector plate (700) and sealing the battery can (200) (par. 181, fig. 3),
wherein the case welding portion of the lower current collector plate (700) is bent upwardly toward the cap plate (230) (fig. 3),
wherein an edge of the case welding portion is in contact with a side surface of the beading portion (240) that protrudes inwardly in a convex shape (fig. 3) and
wherein the lower current collector plate (700) has a bent portion between the electrode welding portion and the case welding portion, the bent portion protruding toward the cap plate (230) (see fig. bent below).
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Regarding to claim 2: Jo et al. disclose the lower current collector plate (700) further comprises a disc-shaped body (fig. 1, 2),
wherein the electrode welding portion is inside the body; and
wherein the case welding portion is outside of the body (fig. 3).
Regarding to claim 5: Jo et al. disclose the case welding portion extends from the body toward the battery can (200) (fig. 3).
Regarding to claim 6: Jo et al. disclose the case welding portion is welded to the beading portion (240) of the battery can (200) (par. 220, fig. 3)
Regarding to claim 9: Jo et al. disclose a sealing gasket (260) (equivalent to an insulating gasket) (par. 179, 202 fig. 3) between the case welding portion and the cap plate (230).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Makino et al. (US 11670815 B2) in view of Lim et al. (US 20220271403 A1) on claims 1-2, 5-6, 8, 10 are withdrawn because Applicant amended independent claim 1. The claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Makino et al. (US 11670815 B2) in view of Lim et al. (US 20220271403 A1) and Miura et al. (US 20140293510 A1) on claims 3-4 are withdrawn because Applicant amended independent claim 1. The claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Makino et al. (US 20250079655 A1) in view of Lim et al. (US 20220271403 A1) on claims 1-2, 5-6, 8-10 are withdrawn because Applicant amended independent claim 1.
Claims 3, 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Jo et al. (US 20250343275 A1) as applied in claim 2, and further in view of Miura et al. (US 20140293510 A1).
Regarding to claim 3: Jo et al. disclose a cylindrical battery cell as described in paragraph 1 above. Jo et al. fail to explicitly disclose the slit is between the body and the electrode welding portion. However, Miura et al. disclose an electric storage device (abstract). The electric storage device, which could be a capacitor or secondary battery, comprises a collector plate (33) (equivalent to a current collector plate) (par. 117, 158, figures 10A-10B). The collector plate (33) comprises a disc-shape body, wherein an element connecting part (33A) (equivalent to an electrode welding portion), which is welded onto an element end (1B) of capacitor element (1), is inside the body (par. 122, figure 14). Slit holes (33C) are around the element connecting part (33A) (equivalent to a slit is between the body and the electrode welding portion) (par. 122, par. 141, figures 13-14). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to place the slit holes (33C) of Miura et al. between the body and the electrode welding portion of the lower current collector plate (700) of Jo et al. because Miura et al. teach that the collector plate (33) can act as a damper with slit holes (33C) and long-term reliability can be improved (par. 139-140).
Regarding to claim 4: Jo et al. disclose a cylindrical battery cell as described in paragraph 1 above. Jo et al. fail to explicitly disclose the slit is C-shaped or U-shaped. However, Miura et al. disclose an electric storage device (abstract). Slit holes (33) in a collector plate (33) are in C shape (figures 13 and 14). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to place the C-shape slit holes (33C) of Miura et al. in the electrode lead plate (6) of Makino 815 et al. because Miura et al. teach that the collector plate (33) can act as a damper with slit holes (33C) and long-term reliability can be improved (par. 139-140). The change in form or shape, without any new or unexpected results, is an obvious engineering design. See In re Dailey, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966) (see MPEP § 2144.04). In addition, it is the position of the examiner that disclosure provides no evidence of criticality with regard to the shape of the slit.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Jo et al. (US 20250343275 A1) as applied in claim 2, and further in view of Makino et al. (US 11670815 B2).
Regarding to claim 8: Jo et al. disclose a cylindrical battery cell as described in paragraph 1 above. Jo et al. fail to explicitly disclose the current collector plate has a through hole corresponding to a center of the cap plate. However, Makino et al. disclose a cylindrical secondary cell (1) (abstract). The cylindrical secondary cell comprises an electrode lead plate (6) (equivalent to a current collector plate) (col. 5, lines 1-11, fig. 1). The electrode lead plate (6) comprises a central through hole (6e) (equivalent to a through hole corresponding to a center of the cap plate) (par. 60, figure 2). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the central through hole (6e) of Makino et al. to the lower current collector plate (700) of Jo et al. because Makino et al. teach that the through hole is for filling the electrolyte (col. 2, lines 49-54) and the through hole can be on the lid side (fig. 1).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Jo et al. (US 20250343275 A1) as applied in claim 1, and further in view of Kelley et al. (US 20140272503 A1).
Regarding to claim 10: Jo et al. disclose a cylindrical battery cell as described in paragraph 1 above. Jo et al. fail to explicitly disclose an outer diameter of the current collector plate is greater than an outer diameter of the electrode assembly. However, Kelly et al. disclose an electrochemical cell (abstract). The electrochemical cell comprises an electrode assembly (16) (par. 17, fig. 1), a case (12) (par. 17, fig. 1), and a current collector (26) (equivalent to a current collector plate) (par. 18, fig. 2). A diameter of the wound electrode assembly (16) is smaller than a diameter of the case (12), the case (12), thus, can accommodate the wound electrode assembly (16) (par. 9). A diameter of the current collector (26) is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the case (12) (par. 22) (equivalent to an outer diameter of the current collector plate is greater than an outer diameter of the electrode assembly). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the larger diameter of the current collector (26) compared to the outer diameter of the wound electrode assembly (16) of Kelly et al. as the relative diameters of the lower current collector plate (700) and the electrode assembly (100) of Jo et al. because Kelly et al. teach that the relatively larger diameter of the current collector (26) can assist in stabilizing the electrode assembly (16) in the case (12) (par. 22).
Response to Arguments
12. Applicant's arguments filed 1/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant's principal arguments are:
(i) Makino 815 discloses the electrode lead plate 6 under the beading groove 3 and Lim discloses the current collector 30 above the beading portion 21. Therefore, there is no apparently reason to modify/combine two references.
(ii) Makino 655 does not disclose the beading portion.
In response to Applicant's arguments:
Applicant's (i) and (ii) arguments are moot because they do not refer to the newly cited Jo et al. reference as stated in Paragraph 1 above.
Conclusion
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/PIN JAN WANG/
Examiner, Art Unit 1717
/ULA C RUDDOCK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1729