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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1, comprised of claims 1-8, in the reply filed on October 15th, 2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Interpretation
Claim 1 recites limitations that include “support feet” of the claimed welding disk. For the sake of this Office Action, “support feet” will be interpreted as any projections upon which a welding disk could “stand” or be set in an upright position without additional support.
In their specification, the Applicant states that the term “connected” is to be understood broadly and, for example, may be fixedly connected, may be detachably connected, or may be integrally connected; may be mechanically connected, may be directly connected, may be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, may be internally communicated with each other or may be interactively connected to each other” ([0011] of the published application). These interpretations will be used with respect to prior art rejections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (US 2005/0260487 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 3-5, Kim discloses a current collecting plate comprising a main disk, a plurality of support feet (the contacting regions (52); [0035]), and a plurality of through holes (the electrolyte passage regions (53); [0035]). The support feet are integrally connected to the main disk (as required by claim 3), are connected to the lower end surface of the disk (as required by claim 5), and are vertically disposed in the same direction as the lower end surface (as required by claim 1 and 4). See the annotated figure below:
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Regarding claim 2, the claimed method of connecting the support feet to the welding disk (i.e., “in a welded fixation manner”), is a product-by-process limitation. “[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). See MPEP 2113.
Regarding claims 6-8, the sidewall of the disk comprises a plurality of arc-shaped protrusions and the support feet are connected to said protrusions (as required by claim 6). These four protrusions (required by claim 8) are circumferentially and uniformly distributed around a central axis of the disk (as required by claim 7). A gap is located between these protrusions (also required by claim 7). See the annotated figure below:
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Satoh (US 2002/0004162 A1) discloses a current collecting plate with a plurality of circular-arc protrusions (abstract).
Wang (CN 106410102 A) discloses circular “anode bus disc” (title) that is analogous to the claimed current collector disk.
Nakanishi (US 2004/0247998 A1) discloses a current collector plate (title) that has a plurality of through-holes configured to allow electrolyte to pass through the plate [0064].
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/R.B.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1722
/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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