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 .
Status of the Claims
The amendment/remarks submitted 03/31/2026 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1-5 and 8-21 are pending. Claims 6-7 are cancelled. Claim 21 is new. Claims 2, 8-10, and 14-20 are withdrawn. Claims 1 and 12 are amended. Claims 1, 3-5, 11-13, and 21 are examined herein.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “highly oriented” in claim 13 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “highly oriented” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. For the purpose of this Office action, the limitations will be treated broadly.
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.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2018/0157635 A1 (“Miler”). Supporting evidence provided by ASM Specialty Handbook – Stainless Steels (“Davis”).
Regarding claim 21, Miler discloses a battery pack comprising a plurality of battery cells 102, 202. Longitudinal member 118, 218 is disposed between battery cells in a first direction and lateral member 124 is disposed between battery cells in a second direction (Figs. 1B, 2B). One of the longitudinal member and the lateral member corresponds to the claimed divider; the other of the longitudinal member and the lateral member corresponds to the claimed cooling plate which extends orthogonally from the divider. The battery cells have a steel can and the longitudinal member and lateral member are formed of steel. The steel may be any steel alloy, such as 304, 316, etc. ([0043]-[0044]). Steel is assumed to have an isotropic thermal conductivity and, as shown by Davis, 304 and 316 steel have a thermal conductivity of 14.6 W/m∙K (Table 6).
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.
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.
Claims 1, 3-4, and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE 10 2014 008 000 A1 (“Sander” – machine translation cited herein) in view of US 2002/0177035 A1 (“Oweis”).
Regarding claim 1, Sander discloses an accumulator device 10 (“battery subpack”) comprising a plurality of cells comprising a first cell (in a first set) and a second cell (in a second set) (Figs. 1, 5) and a fire protection element 16 or 16.1-16.4 (“divider”) that extends in a first plane and in a second plane different from the first plane, wherein at least a portion of the divider positioned between the first cell and the second cell (Figs. 1, 5).
The fire protection element 16 has a transverse thermal conductivity λQ of, for example, 50 Wm-1K-1 ([0011], [0055], [0057]).
Sander does not expressly disclose the divider defines a liquid channel.
Oweis discloses a thermal blanketing system used to manage the temperature of individual electrochemical cells within the modules of a single battery system (Abstract). A tube or blanket 13 is disposed between cells 12 (Figs. 1-5). The tube or blanket allows for flow of the thermally conductive liquid ([0025], [0030]). The tube or blanket may be manufactured from any material suitable for this purpose, i.e. metal ([0027]). The tube or blanket acts either as a heat sink absorbing heat from the cells to cool them, or as a heat source providing heat to the batteries as needed ([0009]-[0010]) and allows for more efficient and effective thermal management of the battery and cells ([0010]). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the tube or blanket having a liquid channel taught by Oweis into the divider of Sander for more efficient and effective thermal management of the battery and cells.
Regarding claim 3, modified Sander discloses the battery subpack of claim 1. As shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the accumulator device comprises a third battery cell.
Regarding claim 4, modified Sander discloses the battery subpack of claim 3. As shown in the annotated portion of Fig. 5 below, a first surface of fire protection element 16.4 faces the first cell in set 12.8 and is interposed between the first cell in set 12.8 and the second cell in set 12.4. A second surface of fire protection element 16.4 extends from the first surface and faces the first cell and is interposed between the first cell in set 12.8 and the third cell in set 12.7.
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Fig. 5, Sanders
Regarding claim 11, modified Sander discloses the battery subpack of claim 1. Sander further discloses battery cells are lithium-ion cells ([0009]).
Regarding claim 12, modified Sander discloses the battery subpack of claim 1. As shown in the annotated portion of Fig. 5 of Sanders below, Sanders discloses a plate from which the divider extends and positioned orthogonally from the divider.
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Fig. 5, Sanders
Regarding claim 13, modified Sander discloses the battery subpack of claim 1. Sander further discloses the fire protection element comprises fibers, a polymer, and a metal such as aluminum ([0017]-[0018], [0021]-[0022], [0024]-[0025], [0030], [0052]-[0053]).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE 10 2014 008 000 A1 (“Sander” – machine translation cited herein) in view of US 2002/0177035 A1 (“Oweis”) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of US 2018/0183119 A1 (“Ju”).
Regarding claim 5, modified Sander discloses the battery subpack of claim 4. Sander does not expressly disclose the first surface corresponds to a first divider, and the second surface corresponds to a second divider that is interlockingly coupled to the first divider.
Ju discloses a battery module having cooling plates 12 disposed between batter (Abstract). Ju teaches a means of attachment of cooling plates wherein convex portions 121 are disposed within concave portions 111 (Figs. 2, 4) and an alternative wherein the cooling plates are integrally formed (Fig. 3). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to interlock sections of the fire protection element of Sander because Ju shows it to be a known alternative to an integral configuration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see pg. 6, filed 03/31/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 13 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The amendment to claim 13 deleted “highly” from “highly conductive metal;” however, “highly oriented polyolefins” remains present. The rejection is maintained.
In view of the amendment to claim 12, the rejection of claim 12 under 35 USC 112(b) is withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pp. 6-7, filed 03/31/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3-4, and 11-13 under 35 USC 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US 2002/0177035 A1 (“Oweis”).
The Office disagrees with applicant's argument in regard to new claim 21. Sanders discloses a plate from which the divider extends and positioned orthogonally from the divider. See the annotated Fig. 5 of Sanders provided in the rejection of claim 12. Further, claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2018/0157635 A1 (“Miler”), of record.
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert Scott Carrico whose telephone number is (571)270-5504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:15AM-6PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at 571-272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Robert Scott Carrico
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/Robert S Carrico/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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