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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 12/20/2022, 11/01/2023, 01/24/2024 and 09/30/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication 2012/0231307 to Ha.
With respect to claim 1, Ha teaches a pouch-shaped case comprising: a receiving portion 225 configured to receive an electrode assembly 100; a sealed portion 221-224 formed as a result of hermetically sealing a periphery of the receiving portion 225; and a gas discharge portion 120 or 160 disposed in the sealed portion 221, the gas discharge portion 120 or 160 having one end disposed in contact with the receiving portion 225 and the other end disposed in contact with an outside, the gas discharge portion 120 or 160 configured to selectively discharge only gas (Ha: Section [0052]; Figs. 1-4).
With respect to claim 6, Ha teaches the pouch-shaped case, wherein the gas discharge portion wraps an electrode lead protruding outwards from the electrode assembly (Ha: Section [0052]; Figs. 1-4).
With respect to claim 7, Ha teaches the pouch-shaped case, wherein the pouch-shaped case 200 comprises a laminate sheet, and contact portions of the gas discharge portion 120 or 160 and the laminate sheet are coated with polypropylene (Ha: Section [0049]; Figs. 1-4).
With respect to claim 8, Ha teaches a secondary battery comprising: the pouch-shaped case 200; and an electrode assembly 100 (Ha: Section [0052]; Figs. 1-4).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 2-4 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2012/0231307 to Ha.
With respect to claims 2-4, Ha teaches the pouch-shaped case, wherein the gas discharge material comprises polyethylene (PE) (Ha: Section [0052]; Figs. 1-4).
Ha teaches the same gas discharge material, therefor, lacking of any clear structural or composition distinction between the claimed gas discharge material of the battery and those disclosed by Ha, it would have expected for the battery of Ha to have the gas discharge portion 120 or 160 is made of a gas discharge material having a higher gas permeability than a moisture permeability and an annual moisture permeability of 50 ppm or less as claimed lacking unexpected result showing otherwise.
With respect to claims 9 and 10, Ha teaches a secondary battery manufacturing method comprising: (S1) applying a gas discharge material 120 or 160 having a higher gas permeability than a moisture permeability to at least a part of a surface of an electrode lead 110 or 150 of an electrode assembly 100; and (S2) receiving the electrode assembly 100 in a receiving portion 225 formed in a pouch-shaped case 200 having a gas discharge portion 120 or 160 and then hermetically sealing the case 200 (Ha: Sections [0049] and [0052]; Figs. 1-4).
Ha teaches the same gas discharge material, therefor, lacking of any clear structural or composition distinction between the claimed gas discharge material of the battery and those disclosed by Ha, it would have expected for the battery of Ha to have a gas discharge material having a higher gas permeability than a moisture permeability as claimed lacking unexpected result showing otherwise.
With respect to claim 11, Ha teaches the secondary battery manufacturing method, wherein, in step S2, the gas discharge material 120 or 160 and the pouch-shaped case 200 are coupled to each other by using thermally adhesive synthetic resin (thermal fusion performed at least once to ten times) (Ha: Section [0049]; Figs. 1-4).
With respect to claim 12, Ha teaches the secondary battery manufacturing method, wherein the gas discharge portion 120 or 160 undergoes a surface reforming process by using thermally adhesive synthetic resin (Ha: Section [0049]; Figs. 1-4).
Claims 5 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2012/0231307 to Ha in view of US Patent Application Publication 2006/0216594 to You et al.
With respect to claim 5, Ha further teaches the pouch-shaped case, wherein the safety film 120 and 160 may have a thickness of approximately 20% to approximately 50% of that of the first or the second electrode tab (Ha: Section [0049]; Figs. 1-4).
Ha does not specifically teach the pouch-shaped case, wherein the gas discharge portion has a thickness of 100 μm to 600 μm.
You et al. teach a battery comprising electrode leads, wherein a thickness of the electrode leads is approximately 200 μm to 500 μm (You et al.: Section [0017]). With the teaching from You et al., the thickness of the safety film 120 and 160 would be 40 μm to 150 μm.
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Ha with the teaching above from You et al. with the motivation of having a means such the specific thickness of the electrode leads are very common in the art.
With respect to claim 13, Ha further teaches the secondary battery manufacturing method, wherein the safety film 120 and 160 may have a thickness of approximately 20% to approximately 50% of that of the first or the second electrode tab (Ha: Section [0049]; Figs. 1-4).
Ha does not specifically teach the pouch-shaped case, wherein the gas discharge portion has a thickness of 100 μm to 600 μm.
You et al. teach a battery comprising electrode leads, wherein a thickness of the electrode leads is approximately 200 μm to 500 μm (You et al.: Section [0017]). With the teaching from You et al., the thickness of the safety film 120 and 160 would be 40 μm to 150 μm.
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Ha with the teaching above from You et al. with the motivation of having a means such the specific thickness of the electrode leads are very common in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINGWEN R ZENG whose telephone number is (571)272-6649. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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/LINGWEN R ZENG/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 1/18/2026