DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 02/08/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed 06/24/2025, 11/15/2023, 05/30/2023 and 05/03/2023 have been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the conductive path connecting the plurality must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 10 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that US 2017/162854 (to Sugiura) does not teach or suggest the special technical feature of a deformation element in the current collector of a solid-state thin film battery This is not found persuasive because Sugiura discloses a fuse portion (16, para 30) which is interpreted as a deformation element.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims Status.
This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed on 10/10/2025. Claims 10-16 have been withdrawn from examination as being drawn to non-elected invention Claims 1-16 are now pending. Claims 1-9 are presented for examination. Applicant's arguments have been considered.
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.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. In claim 9 it is not clear what structural limitation is actually claimed. Moreover limitation” a current collector” lucks of antecedent basis.
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, 7, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by US 2017/0162854 to Sugiura (Sugiura).
Regarding claim 1, Sugiura discloses a solid state (Abstract) thin film (para 56) battery comprising a plurality of solid state cells (Fig, 1) and a termination region (16, para 30 Fig. 1) each cell being connected to the termination region by a current collector (15, para 30); and wherein each current collector comprises a deformation element, the deformation element (16a) which can be thinner in width thickness or made from the different material than anode’s or cathode’s current collectors. Therefore, the deformation element of Sugiura is substantially similar t the deformation element of the instant Application as claimed (see instant claim 5) and, as such inherently fully capable to be to deform under a lower load than the rest of the current collector. MPEP 2112 V states that "once a reference teaching product appearing to be substantially identical is made the basis of a rejection, and the Examiner presents evidence or reasoning tending to show inherency, the burden shifts to the Applicant to show an unobvious difference."
Regarding claim 7, Sugiura discloses wherein he deformation element is located between the solid state cell and the termination region (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 8, Sugiura discloses wherein the termination region comprises a conductive path connecting the plurality of current collectors (Fig. 5, below)
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Regarding claim 9, since Sugiura discloses a current collector used as the current collector in the solid film battery, limitations of claim 9 considered anticipated.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 2017/0162854 to Sugiura (Sugiura) in view of US 2015255827 to Matsushita (Matsushita)
Regarding claim 2, Sugiura discloses the invention as discussed above as applied to claim 1 and incorporated therein. Sugiura does not expressly disclose wherein the current collector comprises a current collecting layer on a substrate, the deformation element comprising a portion of the current collecting layer and a portion of the substrate.
Matsushita teaches all-solid-state thin-film battery (para 31) which includes a plurality of unit batteries arranged in stacking direction (Abstract), comprising a plurality of correct collectors with connection portions (121 b1 and 121 b2, Fig.1A, 1B), wherein the current collectors comprising a substrate and current collector film coated n the substrate. Therefore, a structural design comprising a ta current collector layer on the substrate is well known in the art. It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the current collector of Sugiura with the current collector layer on the substrate as taught by Matsushita, in order to increase volume energy density.
Regarding claim 6, modified Sugiura discloses a layer of insulating material is located on each current collector between the solid state cell and the termination region to separate the current collector from an adjacent current collector (Matsushita, protective film 15, para 51,54).
Claims 3-5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 2017/0162854 to Sugiura (Sugiura).
Regarding claim 3 and 4, modified Sugiura disclosed the invention as discussed above as applied to claim 2 and incorporated therein. Regarding limitations” wherein the deformation element comprises a plurality of through-holes formed in a region of the current collector” and “wherein the deformation element comprises a plurality of recesses formed in a region of the current collector” :Since the criticality of positioning recesses or through holes on the deformation element - a position claimed by Applicant is not supported by any showing of criticality of such placement in the instant specification, nor did Applicant stated that such placement serves any specific purpose or performs any specific function other that the function disclosed in modified Sugiura, it would have been obvious top those skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to place recesses or through holes on the deformation element as an obvious design choice, and as such it does not impact the patentability of claims 3 and 4.
Regarding claim 5, modified Sugiura discloses wherein the cross-sectional area of the deformation element is less than the cross- sectional area of the rest of the current collector ( para 30, Fig. 1A, 1B).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER USYATINSKY whose telephone number is (571)270-7703. The examiner can normally be reached IFP.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at (571) 270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Alexander Usyatinsky/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751