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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 30, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Here, the applicant asserts that Kim fails to disclose the technical feature recited in the amended claim 1 that “the first ends of two adjacent ones of the buffer parts are connected through a weak part, and the second ends of the buffer parts away from the weak part are connected with the plate body.” The applicant further asserts that the buffer parts are not connected by the weak parts, but by the plate body, and that the second ends of the buffer parts away from the weak part are not connected to the plate body.
This argument has been fully considered, but has not been found to be persuasive. Here, where the components of the current collecting plate are all parts of a single structure, they are all interconnected. Accordingly, this interconnectedness means that each component can be considered to be transitively connected through any other component. It is noted that the claims as written only require connection, but do not require direct connection, and that therefore said connection can be enabled by intermediate components which connect components transitively.
Additionally, the applicant asserts that Kim fails to disclose structure “wherein all of the weak parts are enclosed to define a first through hole, and the first through hole is directly opposite to a center position of the battery cell.” The applicant further asserts that instead the through hole is enclosed by the buffer parts.
This argument has been fully considered but has not been found to be persuasive. Here, the language of the instant claim requires structure where the weak parts are “enclosed to define a through hole”. As such, it is not required that the weak parts enclose the through hole, but instead that the weak parts are enclosed by another component, and that enclosing results in the definition of a through hole. Here, the weak parts are enclosed by the buffer parts, as well as other surrounding parts, where said enclosure results in the formation of the bounds of the through hole.
As currently presented, the claims do not require that the weak parts enclose the through hole, and accordingly, without this being included in the claim language, this limitation cannot be read into the claims from the figures.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (US 20080131767 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim is an analogous art to the instant application. Here, Kim discloses structure which comprises a current collecting plate which comprises a plate body, shown in their figure 2 as first connection cap 160’s plate body 162 (Paragraph 0036, “and a first connection cap 160 that can be used to connect the rechargeable battery 105 to another rechargeable battery (not shown) positioned adjacent to the rechargeable battery 105.”; Paragraph 0050, “The first connection cap 160 includes: a first cap base 162”), as well as a buffer part, shown in Kim’s figure 2 connecting the plate body 162 to the first cover 166, where the four buffer parts are provided. Additionally, Kim’s figure 2 shows structure where the four buffer parts are bent to form an abutment part, which protrudes from a side of the plate body 162 away from the battery cell, as depicted in Kim’s figure 6. Additionally, as depicted in Kim’s figure 6 transitively abuts against the battery housing 105 by means of the plate body 162. Additionally, as depicted in Kim’s figure 2, a first end of either of two adjacent ones of the buffer part is connected through a weak part, smallest width portion denoted as distance d1 in Kim’s figure 2, as well as a second end of the buffer part away from the weak part being connected with the plate body 162, as also shown in Kim’s figure 2, as being opposite the weak part on the buffer part.
Additionally, all of the buffer parts and other surrounding parts enclose the weak parts through defining an end of the weak parts, where the weak parts surround and therefore enclose the buffer parts as a result of the radial positioning of weak parts and buffer parts, and as a result of said enclosing and positioning define a first through hole 168, which corresponds to a center position of the battery cell, as depicted in Kim’s figure 1.
Regarding Claim 2, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the plate body is provided with at least two current collecting pieces, the plate body 162 comprising multiple sections which are current collecting, each section being separated by an indentation portion 163 (Paragraph 0050, “The first connection cap 160 includes: a first cap base 162”), the current collecting pieces are configured to be welded with a tab of the battery cells (Paragraph 0050, “The first connection cap 160 can be fixed to the electrode cap 143 by welding.”). Additionally, Kim discloses structure where each of the current collecting pieces are spaced from the buffer parts, as shown in figure 2, where the collecting pieces are separated from buffer parts by means of their own material and physical distance. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein each of the current collecting pieces comprises a current collecting body and a connecting part 164 (Paragraph 0052, “First depressed portions 164 may be formed in the first cap base 162 so that a welding electrode can be inserted therein.”)
Regarding Claim 3, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 2. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the plate body 162 is annular, shown in their figure 2, and the current collecting pieces are located in an annular region of the plate body, where the current collecting pieces 164 are located within the annular region of the plate body 152. Additionally, a shape of Kim’s current collecting body matches a region surrounded by the plate body, the buffer parts, and the weaker part, where “matches” is interpreted as requiring physical adjacency. Kim’s figure 2 displays structure where the current collecting body is around and about a region surrounded by the plate body, the buffer parts, and the weak part, which is the center of the annular component 160.
Regarding Claim 4, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 2. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the buffer parts are uniformly and annularly distributed along a circumferential direction of the plate body, as shown in Kim’s figure 2, where the buffer parts are uniformly distributed around the circumference of the plate body 162, and where one of the current collecting pieces is arranged between two adjacent ones of the buffer parts, also shown in figure 2, where the current collecting pieces are each arranged between two adjacent ones of the buffer parts, circumferentially.
Regarding Claim 5, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 2. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein each of the current collecting pieces is in a fan-ring shape, as shown in their figure 2 where the components of first connection cap 160 are in first connection cap 160, which has fan-ring shape, thereby resulting in those components being in a fan-ring shape.
Regarding Claim 6, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein two adjacent ones of the buffer parts are connected by one of the weak parts, as shown in figure 2 where two of the adjacent buffer parts extending upward from the plate body 162 are transitively connected by weak parts which are the spans with length d1, which are in turn connected to the plate body, and to other buffer parts which contact the plate body.
Regarding Claim 7, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the buffer part is provided with a second through hole, those holes being the holes positioned laterally adjacent to the buffer parts, shown in Kim’s figure 2.
Regarding Claim 8, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure where the outer periphery of the plate body 162 is provided with a flange, shown in Kim’s figure 2, where the plate body 162 has outward extending portions on its periphery, consistent with the definition of a flange.
Regarding Claim 9, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 8. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein a plurality of third through holes are defined in a bent region of the flange, here, the through holes being the holes formed by first indentations 163 (Paragraph 0054, “In this embodiment, the four first indentations 163 are formed.”), where the through holes are defined in a region that is adjacent to the depressed portions 164 (Paragraph 0052, “First depressed portions 164 may be formed in the first cap base 162 so that a welding electrode can be inserted therein.”), and is therefore a bent region of the flange. Additionally, the plurality of third holes are spaced from each other along a circumferential direction of the plate body, as shown in Kim’s figure 2.
Regarding Claim 10, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 8. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the flange is at a same side as the abutment part, that being an upper and outer side of the first connection cap 160, shown in Kim’s figure 2.
Regarding Claim 11, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein a cross sectional shape of the abutment part which consists of the four buffer parts which connect part 167 to part 166 are wavy shaped in a cross-sectional view, as shown in figure 6.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 20080131767 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nakanishi (US 6692863 B1).
Regarding Claim 12, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, in regards to the limitation of the instant claim which requires that a width of the plate body range from 1 mm to 3 mm, Kim is silent in regards to the width of their current collecting plate’s plate body. Therefore, we look to Nakanishi which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing a battery comprising current collecting plates (Abstract, “and a negative electrode current collector plate and a positive electrode current collector plate joined to the respective ends of the electrode unit.”). Here, Nakanishi discloses that a preferable thickness for their current collector plates, where thickness and width are interchangeable within the context of the claim requiring “a width” such that any span with defined bounds can be considered “a width”, is from 1.10 mm to 5.00 mm (Column 6 lines 4-6, “Stated more specifically, the negative electrode current collector plate 3 has a thickness in the range of 1.10 mm to 5.00 mm.”), specifically stating that too high of a thickness results in an increased needed welding power (Column 6 lines 11-15, “If the thickness is in excess of 5.00 mm, on the other hand, welding of the collector plate 3 requires increased power, presenting difficulty in welding the collector plate 3 to the negative electrode edge which is tens of micrometers in thickness.”) and that too low of a thickness results in a lower current collecting efficiency and increased electric resistance (Column 6 lines 6-11, “If the thickness is smaller than 1.10 mm, the collector plate 3 itself has increased electric resistance, which not only results in a lower current collecting efficiency but also permits the collector plate 3 to become melted to excess by laser welding to produce a cave-in in the weld.”)
Here, where Kim discloses that their plate body is welded to a nut (Paragraph 0058, “ The first connection cap 160 includes: a first cap base 162 in which a first indentation 163 is formed; and a first cover 166 in which a first opening 167 is formed. The first connection cap 160 can be fixed to the electrode cap 143 by welding”), it would therefore be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to select a width of the plate body which is minimized so as to achieve an effective weld, while being high enough to not result in increased electric resistance, thereby making obvious the lower end of the range of Nakanishi, 1.10 mm as the width of the plate body, thereby reading upon and making obvious the scope of the instant claim which requires it be from 1 mm to 3 mm.
Additionally, in regards to the limitation of the instant claim which requires structure wherein a width of the weak part ranges from 0.3 mm to 0.8 mm, Kim discloses that the weak part width d1 is preferably 0.6 mm to 3.5 mm (Paragraph 0054, “In this case, a shortest distance d 1 between a pair of the first opening 167 and the first indentation 163 may be formed according to capacity and size of the rechargeable battery 105 , approximately in the range of 0.6 mm to 3.5 mm.”), as well as disclosing that it is preferable to have said weak part, where it is the focus of external forces to protect the battery, be as thin as possible (Paragraph 0055, “Referring to FIG. 2, the distance d 1 between the first indentation 163 , and the first opening 167 nearest to this first indentation 163 is short. Thus, a stress resulting from an external force can be concentrated on this portion of the first cap base 162 between the indentations 163 and the openings 167 . As a result, damage will likely occur between the first indentation 163 and the first openings 167 nearest to the first indentation 163 . That is, when external forces are exerted on the rechargeable battery IOS, damage will likely first occur at a portion between the first opening 167 and its corresponding first indentation 163 . Due to this buffer effect, the external forces exerted on the rechargeable battery 105 can, accordingly, be minimized.”; Paragraph 0061, “The shortest distance d 2 can be formed according to the capacity and size of the rechargeable battery 105 . For example, the shortest distance d 2 may be in the range of 0.6 mm to 3.5 mm.”). Accordingly, based on this benefit of a short weak part it would be obvious for one ordinarily skilled in the art to select the shortest possible weak part out of the range provided by Kim, thereby making obvious a weak part width of 0.6 mm, which falls within the range of 0.3 mm to 0.8 mm, as required by the instant claim.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/J.W.E./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/BASIA A RIDLEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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