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
This is a final office action in response to Applicant’s remarks and amendments filed on 01/02/2026. Claims 1 and 5-7 are currently amended. Claim 10 is canceled. Claim 12 is new. Claims 1-9 and 11-12 are presented for examination.
Applicant’s amendment to claim 1 has overcome the objection set forth in the previous Office Action.
The 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections in the previous Office Action are withdrawn. New grounds of rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendments are presented below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The new rejection does not rely on Eguchi to teach “wherein the first plate completely covers the thermal-fusion layer, and the second plate is spaced apart from the thermal-fusion layer” as required by amended claim 1.
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 12 recites “nickel,and” but should recite “nickel, and.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. Claims 1-4 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eguchi (US 2022/0311108 A1; priority to Japanese patent application JP2019-219432, filed 12/04/2019, cited 10/02/2025) in view of Ringel (DE-102018200159-A1, a machine translation is attached and referenced below).
Regarding claim 1, Eguchi discloses a rechargeable battery (100, FIG. 5B, [0125]) comprising: an electrode assembly (10, FIG. 1, [0039]) including a first electrode (positive electrode 1, FIG. 1, [0039]), a second electrode (negative electrode 2, FIG. 1, [0039]), and a separator (3, FIG. 1, [0039]) disposed between the first electrode (1) and the second electrode (2); a case (cup-shaped member 52 of exterior body 50, FIG. 5(B), [0071]) that is connected to the first electrode (1) (the metal exterior body is a positive electrode or negative electrode [0076]) to accommodate the electrode assembly (10) and includes an opening (opening in annotated figure below) exposing the electrode assembly (10); a cap plate (lid-shaped member 54, FIG. 5(B), [0071]) configured to be coupled with the case (52) to cover an outer area of the opening (opening), and configured to include a through-hole (opening portion 55, FIG. 5(B), [0099]) exposing a central area of the opening (opening); and a terminal plate (external output terminal 60, see FIG. 9 for illustrative purposes, [0059]) that is insulation-bonded to the cap plate (54) (via insulating member 64 with bonding force, FIG. 5(B), [0089]) to cover the through-hole (55) and is connected to the second electrode (2) (external output terminal is connected to the electrode not connected to the case [0076]), wherein the terminal plate (60) includes a first plate (metal plate 62, FIG. 5(B), [0089]) positioned on the cap plate (54); and a thermal-fusion layer (insulating material 64, FIG. 10, [0059]; insulating material contains a thermoplastic resin [0069]) that is positioned between the cap plate (54) and the first plate (62) of the terminal plate and insulation-bonds the cap plate (54) and the first plate (62) ([0069]).
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Annotation of Eguchi FIG. 5(B)
Eguchi does not disclose wherein the terminal plate (60) includes a second plate that is coupled to the first plate (62) to pass through the through-hole (55) and is connected to the second electrode (2), and the second plate is spaced apart from the thermal-fusion layer (64). However, in the embodiment of FIG. 10, Eguchi teaches a second plate (metal member 67, FIG. 10, [0089]) that is coupled to the first plate (62) to pass through the through-hole (55) and is connected to the second electrode (2) (via tab 70 extending from the electrode assembly, FIG. 10, [0060]), wherein the second plate (67) is spaced apart from the thermal-fusion layer (64). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the battery of Eguchi FIG. 5(B) to include the metal member (second plate) interposed between the metal plate (first plate) and the tab and welding the tab to both the metal member and the metal plate, wherein the metal member is spaced apart from the thermal-fusion layer as depicted in FIG. 10 of Eguchi, because Eguchi teaches that the metal member facilitates the connection between the electrode and the terminal plate ([0086],[0123]). In addition, Eguchi teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the embodiments of the disclosure ([0155]) and it has been held that combining two embodiments disclosed adjacent to each other in prior art does not require a leap of inventiveness and involves only routine skill in the art.
Eguchi does not disclose wherein the first plate completely covers the thermal-fusion layer.
Ringel teaches a battery ([0001]) comprising (see FIG. 2, [0028], and [0034]): a cap plate (114), a terminal plate (106) including first (104) and second (108) plates, and a fusion layer (102/112/110) that insulation bonds ([0023]) between the cap plate (114) and the first plate (104), wherein the first plate (104) completely covers the fusion layer (102/112/110). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Eguchi such that the first plate completely covers the thermal-fusion layer because Ringel teaches that this configuration can yield a strong and insulating seal ([0024]-[0025]).
Regarding claim 2, Eguchi in view of Ringel teaches (see Eguchi) wherein the second plate (67) is welded to the first plate (62) ([0123]).
Regarding claim 3, Eguchi in view of Ringel teaches (see Eguchi) wherein an area of the second plate (67) is smaller than that of the first plate (62) (FIG. 10, the diameter of the second plate 67 is smaller than that of the first plate 62).
Regarding claim 4, Eguchi in view of Ringel does not disclose wherein the second plate (67) includes a different material from the material included in the first plate (62). However, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have included a different material in the second plate than in the first plate in the battery of Eguchi and Ringel with a reasonable expectation of yielding an operable battery because teaches that the material of the second plate may be the same as or different from that of the metal plate ([0086]).
Regarding claim 8, Eguchi in view of Ringel teaches (see Eguchi) wherein a thickness of the second plate (67) is thicker than that of the first plate (62) (FIG. 10, [0086]).
Regarding claim 9, Eguchi in view of Ringel teaches (see Eguchi) wherein the case (52) and the cap plate (54) have the same polarity as the first electrode (1), and the first plate (62) of the terminal plate (60) has the same polarity as the second electrode (2) (the exterior body connected to the first electrode has the opposite polarity as the terminal plate connected to the second electrode [0076]; the exterior body 50 comprises the case 52 and the cap plate 54 [0071]).
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eguchi (US 2022/0311108 A1) and Ringel (DE-102018200159-A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Joswig (US 2016/0268583 A1, previously cited), as evidenced by VMT (Copper vs Aluminum: A materials Comparison Guide, 2025, previously cited).
Regarding claim 5, Eguchi in view of Ringel, but does not disclose wherein the first plate (62) has stronger corrosion resistance than the second plate (67).
Joswig teaches a rechargeable battery (electrochemical accumulator 1, FIG. 1, [0023]; accumulator includes a lithium-ion cell [0013] and therefore is a rechargeable battery) comprising: an electrode assembly (cell 6, FIG. 2, [0024]), a case (housing 2, FIG. 1, [0023]) to accommodate the electrode assembly (6); a cap plate (wall 3, FIG. 2, [0023]) configured to include a through-hole (unlabeled housing opening delimited by seal 13, FIG. 2, [0026]) exposing the electrode assembly (6); and a terminal plate (connection terminal 5, FIG. 2, [0024]) to cover the through-hole and connected to the electrode assembly (6) ([0023]), wherein the terminal plate (5) includes a first plate (upper section 11, FIG. 2, [0024]) positioned on the cap plate, and a second plate (lower section 10, FIG. 2, [0024]) that is coupled to the first plate (11) to pass through the through-hole and is connected to the electrode assembly (6). Joswig teaches that the first plate (11) has stronger corrosion resistance than the second plate (10) (the second plate 10 is composed of copper and the first plate 11 is composed of aluminum [0024]; VMT evidences that aluminum has stronger corrosion resistance than copper, see table on p. 8-9).
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to modify the terminal plate of Eguchi in view of Ringel such that the first plate has higher corrosion resistance than the second plate by including copper in the second plate and aluminum in the first plate because Joswig teaches that copper is the material best suited for contact with the electrode assembly while aluminum is the material best suited for the external connection of the terminal plate to other devices ([0004],[0007]). In addition, Eguchi teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the embodiments described in the disclosure ([0155]).
Regarding claim 6, Eguchi in view of Ringel teaches (see Eguchi) that the materials of the first (67) and second (62) plates are not particularly limited and may comprise one or more of aluminum, nickel, stainless steel, and copper ([0067]), but does not disclose wherein the second plate (67) has higher electrical conductivity than the first plate (62).
Joswig teaches a rechargeable battery (electrochemical accumulator 1, FIG. 1, [0023]; accumulator includes a lithium-ion cell [0013] and therefore is a rechargeable battery) comprising: an electrode assembly (cell 6, FIG. 2, [0024]), a case (housing 2, FIG. 1, [0023]) to accommodate the electrode assembly (6); a cap plate (wall 3, FIG. 2, [0023]) configured to include a through-hole (unlabeled housing opening delimited by seal 13, FIG. 2, [0026]) exposing the electrode assembly (6); and a terminal plate (connection terminal 5, FIG. 2, [0024]) to cover the through-hole and connected to the electrode assembly (6) ([0023]), wherein the terminal plate (5) includes a first plate (upper section 11, FIG. 2, [0024]) positioned on the cap plate, and a second plate (lower section 10, FIG. 2, [0024]) that is coupled to the first plate (11) to pass through the through-hole and is connected to the electrode assembly (6). Joswig teaches that the second plate (10) has higher electrical conductivity than the first plate (11) (the second plate 10 is composed of copper and the first plate 11 is composed of aluminum [0024]; VMT evidences that copper has higher electrical conductivity than aluminum, see table on p. 8-9).
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to modify the terminal plate of Eguchi in view of Ringel such that the second plate has higher electrical conductivity than the first plate by including copper in the second plate and aluminum in the first plate because Joswig teaches that copper is the material best suited for contact with the electrode assembly while aluminum is the material best suited for the external connection of the terminal plate to other devices ([0004],[0007]). In addition, Eguchi teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the embodiments described in the disclosure ([0155]).
Regarding claim 7, Eguchi in view of Ringel teaches (see Eguchi) that the materials of the first (67) and second (62) plates are not particularly limited and may comprise one or more of aluminum, nickel, stainless steel, and copper ([0067]), but does not disclose wherein the first plate (62) has less ductility than the second plate (67).
Joswig teaches a rechargeable battery (electrochemical accumulator 1, FIG. 1, [0023]; accumulator includes a lithium-ion cell [0013] and therefore is a rechargeable battery) comprising: an electrode assembly (cell 6, FIG. 2, [0024]), a case (housing 2, FIG. 1, [0023]) to accommodate the electrode assembly (6); a cap plate (wall 3, FIG. 2, [0023]) configured to include a through-hole (unlabeled housing opening delimited by seal 13, FIG. 2, [0026]) exposing the electrode assembly (6); and a terminal plate (connection terminal 5, FIG. 2, [0024]) to cover the through-hole and connected to the electrode assembly (6) ([0023]), wherein the terminal plate (5) includes a first plate (upper section 11, FIG. 2, [0024]) positioned on the cap plate, and a second plate (lower section 10, FIG. 2, [0024]) that is coupled to the first plate (11) to pass through the through-hole and is connected to the electrode assembly (6). Joswig teaches that the first plate (11) has less ductility than the second plate (10) (the second plate 10 is composed of copper and the first plate 11 is composed of aluminum [0024]; VMT evidences that aluminum has less ductility than copper, see table on p. 8-9).
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to modify the terminal plate of Eguchi in view of Ringel such that the first plate has less ductility than the second plate by including copper in the second plate and aluminum in the first plate because Joswig teaches that copper is the material best suited for contact with the electrode assembly while aluminum is the material best suited for the external connection of the terminal plate to other devices ([0004],[0007]). In addition, Eguchi teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the embodiments described in the disclosure ([0155]).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eguchi (US 2022/0311108 A1) and Ringel (DE-102018200159-A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Katsumoto (US 2022/0200110 A1; priority to Japanese patent application JP 2019-180863, filed 09/30/2019).
Regarding claim 11, Eguchi in view of Ringel teaches (see Eguchi) wherein the electrode assembly (10) further includes: a second electrode tab (70, FIG. 10, [0060]) extending from the second electrode (2) to be coupled to the second plate (67) of the terminal plate (60). Eguchi does not disclose a first electrode tab extending from the first electrode (1) to be coupled to the case (52).
Katsumoto teaches a rechargeable battery (20, FIG. 1, [0041]), comprising: an electrode assembly including a first electrode (22, FIG. 2, [0084]), a second electrode (21, FIG. 2, [0038]), a separator (23, FIG. 2, [0037]) located between the first electrode (22) and the second electrode (21); a case (11, FIG. 2, [0044]) connected to the first electrode tab (22) to accommodate the electrode assembly, and including an opening portion (11K, FIG. 2, [0044]) to expose the electrode assembly; a cap plate (12, FIG. 2, [0044]) coupled with the case (11) to cover an outer peripheral region of the opening portion (11K) and including a through-hole (10K, FIG. 2, [0049]) to expose a center region of the opening portion (11K); a terminal plate (30, FIG. 2, [0041]) connected to the second electrode (21); and a first electrode tab (52, FIG. 2, [0084]) extended from the first electrode (22) to be coupled to the case (11). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have added a first electrode tab extended from the first electrode to be coupled to the case to the battery of Eguchi and Ringel with a reasonable expectation of successfully connecting the first electrode tab and the case, because Katsumoto teaches an operable battery having this configuration (FIG. 2, [0085]). In addition, Eguchi teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the embodiments depicted in the disclosure ([0155]) and it has been held that the combination of familiar elements is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results [MPEP § 2143A]).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eguchi (US 2022/0311108 A1) and Ringel (DE-102018200159-A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Guan (CN-210245625-U, a machine translation is attached and referenced below)
Regarding claim 12, Eguchi in view of Ringel teaches (see Eguchi) that the materials of the first (67) and second (62) plates are not particularly limited and may comprise one or more of aluminum, nickel, stainless steel, and copper ([0067]), but does not disclose wherein the first plate includes nickel, and the second plate includes aluminum.
Guan teaches a battery (Fig. 1) comprising a terminal plate (200, Fig. 2), wherein the terminal plate (200) includes a first plate (210, Fig. 2) and a second plate (220, Fig. 2) that is coupled to the first plate (210) and is connected to an electrode assembly (410, Fig. 1), wherein the first plate (210) includes nickel, and the second plate (220) includes aluminum ([0044]). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the terminal plate of Eguchi in view of Ringel by forming the first plate of nickel and the second plate of aluminum because Guan teaches that using aluminum for the second plate, which contacts the interior of the battery cell, prevents the electrolyte from corroding and using nickel for the first plate, which faces the external environment, prevents rusting, provides strength, and facilitates welding ([0044]).
Double Patenting
Claims 1 and 11 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 4, and 16 of copending Application No. 17/794,242 (reference application).
Regarding claim 1, claims 1, 4, and 16 of the ‘242 application teach a rechargeable battery comprising: an electrode assembly including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a separator disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode; a case that is connected to the first electrode to accommodate the electrode assembly and includes an opening exposing the electrode assembly; a cap plate configured to be coupled with the case to cover an outer area of the opening, and configured to include a through-hole exposing a central area of the opening; and a terminal plate that is insulation-bonded to the cap plate to cover the through-hole and is connected to the second electrode, wherein the terminal plate includes a first plate (flange part) positioned on the cap plate, and a second plate (protruded part) that is coupled to the first plate to pass through the through-hole and is connected to the second electrode; and a thermal-fusion layer that is positioned between the cap plate and the first plate (flange part) of the terminal plate and insulation-bonds the cap plate and the first plate, wherein the first plate completely covers the thermal-fusion layer, and the second plate is spaced apart from the thermal-fusion layer (the thermal fusion layer is entirely arranged between an outer periphery of the through-hole in the cap plate and an outer periphery of the flange part of the terminal plate).
Regarding claim 11, claims 1 and 4 of the ‘242 application teach the rechargeable battery of claim 1, wherein the electrode assembly further includes: a first electrode tab extending from the first electrode to be coupled to the case; and a second electrode tab extending from the second electrode to be coupled to the second plate (protruded part) of the terminal plate.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
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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/C.C.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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