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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 16, 2026, has been entered.
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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 20190105765 A to Joon (US 2020/0331187 A1 is provided as a translation) in view of US 5,901,599 to Sato.
Regarding claim 1, Joon teaches an apparatus for manufacturing a pouch of a secondary battery (Abstract, Figs. 1-2 and 6), the apparatus comprising:
a lower die 110, wherein an accommodation groove 112 for molding a cup part of the pouch is formed in a base surface, wherein the base surface is configured to support thereupon the pouch (Figs. 1-2 and 6; Para. [0040]), wherein the accommodation groove 112 comprises a left accommodation groove 112a, a right accommodation groove 112a, and the base surface comprises a bridge part 111 configured to connect the right and left accommodation grooves 112a to each other is formed between the left accommodation groove and the right accommodation groove (Figs. 1-2; Para. [0040]), wherein a first portion of the base surface comprising the left accommodation groove 112a, a second portion of the base surface comprising the right accommodation groove 112a, and the bridge part 111 defines a V-shaped cross-section with the bridge part forming an apex of the V-shaped cross-section (Figs. 1-3; the claim language does not require any specific surfaces to form the V-shaped cross-section, and therefore the inclined surfaces of the grooves are interpreted as forming the V-shaped cross-section with the base of the bridge part forming the apex, or nadir, of the V);
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a punch 120 configured to be inserted into the accommodation groove 112 of the lower die 110 to mold the cup part of the pouch (Figs. 1-2 and 6; Paras. [0040]-[0041]); and
a stripper 130 configured to press a peripheral portion of the pouch (Figs. 1-2 and 6; Para. [0052]),
wherein the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 are configured to press and grip upper and lower portions of the peripheral portion of the pouch, respectively (Figs. 1-2; Paras. [0040] and [0052]),
wherein, in the state in which the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 grip the peripheral portion of the pouch, the punch 120 is configured to be inserted into the accommodation groove 112 to mold the cup part of the pouch such that the peripheral portion of the pouch extends outside the punch (Figs. 1-2; Paras. [0040]-[0041]).
Joon fails to explicitly teach wherein an anti-pushing groove is formed in any one of the lower die or the stripper configured to press the peripheral portion of the pouch.
Sato teaches an apparatus for forming a product with a cup shape and a peripheral portion of the workpiece positioned outside the punch during formation of the cup portion (Abstract; Figs. 1, 2 and 6), the apparatus includes a die 1, a punch 4 and a stripper 2 (Figs. 1-2 and 4; Col. 3, Lns. 42-64) and beads 3, 5 with corresponding grooves, i.e., anti-pushing grooves, formed on the die 1 and stripper 2 (Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 3, Lns. 42-64 and Col. 4, Lns. 21-28; it is noted that while Fig. 1 does not show the corresponding grooves, Fig. 2 shows a closeup of the bead arrangement that shows the beads are inserted into corresponding grooves on the other component).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the apparatus of Joon to include the beads and grooves on the periphery of the cup forming area as taught by Sato so that the formability of the workpiece before breakage is increased and wrinkling is prevented, thus allowing for more reliable forming with less chance of failure (Sato, Col. 5, Lns. 34-44 and Col. 6, Lns. 29-39).
Regarding claim 2, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the anti-pushing groove is formed in the base surface of the lower die 110 (Sato, Figs. 1-2; modified Joon includes the bead and groove configuration of Sato, which teaches the grooves being on the die 1 with the beads 3 on the stripper 2), and
wherein an anti-pushing protrusion 3 having a protruding shape, protruding from a position corresponding to the anti-pushing groove, and configured to be inserted into the anti-pushing groove is formed on the stripper 130 (Sato, Figs. 1-2; modified Joon includes the bead and groove configuration of Sato, which teaches the grooves being on the die 1 with the beads 3, i.e., the protrusions, on the stripper 2 and configured to be inserted into the grooves).
Regarding claim 3, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (Figs. 1-2), wherein the anti-pushing groove is formed in the stripper 130, and wherein an anti-pushing protrusion having a protruding shape, protruding from a position corresponding to the anti-pushing groove, and configured to be inserted into the anti-pushing groove is formed on a pressing surface of the lower die 110 (Sato, Figs. 1-2; Col. 3, Lns. 53-57 and Col. 4, Lns. 62-63; modified Joon includes the beads, i.e., protrusions, and corresponding grooves of Sato, which teaches that the beads may be formed on either the stripper or die with the corresponding groove on the other component).
Regarding claim 4, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the anti-pushing groove is formed in the base surface on an outer peripheral area of a molding area comprising the first portion of the base surface comprising the left accommodation groove, the second portion of the base surface comprising the right accommodation groove, and the bridge part (Sato, Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 4, Lns. 44-51; modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and Fig. 6 of Sato shows that the fixed beads 3 on the stripper are arranged as protrusions on the periphery of the cup forming area and thus the corresponding grooves on the die would be arranged on the periphery of the area for forming the cup of the pouch, i.e., the periphery of the accommodation grooves and bridge).
Regarding claim 5, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 4 (Figs. 1-2), wherein the anti-pushing groove comprises a first anti-pushing groove and a second anti-pushing groove (Sato, Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 4, Lns. 44-51; modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and Fig. 6 of Sato shows that four fixed beads 3 on the stripper are arranged as protrusions on the periphery of the cup forming area and thus the corresponding grooves on the die would be four grooves arranged on the periphery of the cup forming area, i.e., at least first and second grooves),
wherein, in a plan view of the lower die 110, the first anti-pushing groove is provided in a shape extending in left and right directions at a position spaced a predetermined distance upward from the bridge part 111, and the second anti-pushing groove is provided in a shape extending in the left and right directions at a position spaced a predetermined distance downward from the bridge part (Sato, Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 4, Lns. 44-51; modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and Fig. 6 of Sato shows that the fixed beads 3 on the stripper are arranged as four protrusions on the periphery of the cup forming area and thus four corresponding grooves on the die would be arranged on the periphery of the cup forming area which would include first and second grooves formed a predetermined distance above and below the bridge part).
Regarding claim 6, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 5 (Figs. 1-2), wherein the anti-pushing groove further comprises a third anti-pushing groove and a fourth anti-pushing groove (Sato, Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 4, Lns. 44-51; modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and Fig. 6 of Sato shows that four fixed beads 3 on the stripper are arranged as protrusions on the periphery of the cup forming area and thus four corresponding grooves on the die would be arranged on the periphery of the cup forming area for forming including third and fourth grooves),
wherein, in a plan view of the lower die 110, the third anti-pushing groove is provided in a shape extending in a vertical direction at a position spaced a predetermined distance from the left accommodation groove 112 to a left side, and the fourth anti-pushing groove is provided in a shape extending in the vertical direction at a position spaced a predetermined distance from the right accommodation groove 112 to a right side (Sato, Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 4, Lns. 44-51; modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and Fig. 6 of Sato shows that the fixed beads 3 on the stripper are arranged as four protrusions on the periphery of the cup forming area and thus four corresponding grooves on the die would be arranged on the periphery of the cup forming area which would include third and fourth grooves formed a predetermined distance to the right and left of the accommodation grooves).
Regarding claim 7, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 6 (Figs. 1-2), wherein, in the plan view of the lower die 110, each of the first anti-pushing groove, the second anti-pushing groove, the third anti-pushing groove, and the fourth anti-pushing groove is formed in a rectangular shape (Sato, Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 4, Lns. 44-51 and Col. 7, Lns. 32-44; modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and Fig. 6 of Sato shows that the fixed beads 3 on the stripper are arranged as four protrusions on the periphery of the cup forming area in a shape that is equal to the sides of the accommodation groove and thus four corresponding grooves on the die would be arranged on the periphery of the cup forming area in a shape corresponding to the accommodation groove, i.e., a rectangular shape as shown in Figs. 1-2 and 4 of Joon).
Regarding claim 8, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 6 (Figs. 1-2), each of the third anti-pushing groove and the fourth anti-pushing groove is formed to have a length equal to or greater than that of the left or right accommodation groove in a longitudinal direction (Sato, Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 4, Lns. 44-51 and Col. 7, Lns. 32-44; modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and Fig. 6 of Sato shows that the fixed beads 3 on the stripper are arranged as four protrusions on the periphery of the cup forming area in a shape that is equal to the sides of the accommodation groove and thus four corresponding grooves on the die would be arranged on the periphery of the cup forming area in a shape corresponding to the accommodation groove with a length equal to the shape of the accommodation groove, i.e., the length of the third and fourth grooves would be equal to the length in the longitudinal direction).
Joon is silent regarding in the plan view of the lower die, each of the first anti-pushing groove and the second anti-pushing groove has a length less than that of the left and right accommodation grooves in a width direction.
Modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and Fig. 6 of Sato shows that the fixed beads 3 on the stripper are arranged as four protrusions on the periphery of the cup forming area in a rectangular shape and thus four corresponding grooves on the die would be arranged on the sides of the accommodation groove with lengths that appear to be generally equal to the lengths approximately equal to the length of accommodation groove in the width and longitudinal directions (Fig. 6, Sato). In modified Joon, the accommodation groove includes first and second accommodation grooves 112 in which the workpiece is formed into a pouch, and thus it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide the beads and grooves only along each of the first and second accommodation grooves 112 as the beads and grooves are meant to prevent wrinkling and increase workability next to the areas being formed into the cup (Sato, Col. 5, Lns. 34-44). Thus, with the grooves formed only along the sides of each of the first and second accommodation grooves, the length of the first and second grooves would be less than the length of the accommodation groove in a width direction as the accommodation groove includes the length of from one end of the first accommodation groove to the end of the second accommodation groove, i.e., including the bridge part, and the length of the first and second anti-push grooves would not include the area where the bridge is positioned.
Regarding claim 9, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 8 (Figs. 1-2), wherein the first anti-pushing groove and the second anti-pushing groove are symmetrical with respect to a virtual line (L) extending from the bridge part (Sato, Figs. 1, 2 and 6; Col. 4, Lns. 44-51 and Col. 7, Lns. 32-44; modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, and in modified Joon the first and second anti-pushing grooves are each symmetrical with respect to a virtual line extending from the bridge part as each of these grooves include a gap and then grooves of the same length corresponding to the accommodation grooves 112 on either side of the bridge, and it is noted that this claim is interpreted as the first anti-pushing groove is symmetrical about the virtual line and the second anti-pushing is symmetrical about the line, i.e., each of the grooves are symmetrical relative to themselves about the line).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joon in view of Sato in further view of US 7,861,568 B2.
Regarding claim 10, modified Joon teaches the apparatus of claim 5 (Figs. 1-2).
Joon fails to explicitly teach wherein the first anti-pushing groove is formed at a position spaced a distance of 5 mm or more upward from an upper end of the bridge part, and the second anti-pushing groove is formed at a position spaced a distance of 5 mm or more downward from a lower end of the bridge part.
Modified Joon includes the bead and groove arrangement of Sato, which teaches providing the beads and grooves above and below the cup forming area (Figs. 1, 2 and 6) but is silent about the distance of the grooves from the cup forming area. Nakamura teaches that the distance of the beads from the forming area impacts the extent to which the beads can prevent wrinkling (Col. 1, Lns. 41-48), and as such the distance of the beads and grooves from the forming area of the device is disclosed to be a result effective variable in that changing the distance of the beads and grooves changes the prevention of wrinkles. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the device of modified Joon by making the distance of the grooves to be 5mm or more away from the bridge as a matter of routine optimization since it has been held that “where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's amendments and remarks dated January 16, 2025, regarding the rejections under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the Joon fails to teach the V-shaped cross-section because “the top surface of the die 110 includes the partition wall 111. Remarks, PP. 5-6. These arguments have been carefully considered and they are not persuasive. The arguments do not appear to be commensurate in scope with the claim language because there are no requirements in the claims for the surfaces that form the cross-section or the location of the cross-section, e.g., in the middle of the die where the accommodation grooves are formed or on the ends of the die where the top surface forms the cross-section. As discussed in the rejection above, the claim language permits for the cross-section to be any of the surfaces in first and second portions, accommodation grooves and bridge part of the lower die, and the Examiner Annotated Figure shows such a cross-section. If Applicant is trying to describe the V-shaped cross-section shown in Figs. 3-5 and 7, the location of the cross section, i.e., on the end of the die, and the surfaces that form the cross-section need to be recited with more specificity. Accordingly, this argument is not persuasive.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW STEPHENS whose telephone number is (571)272-6722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 930-630.
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/MATTHEW STEPHENS/Examiner, Art Unit 3725
/Christopher L Templeton/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3725