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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 5-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species or invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Applicant's election with traverse of Group 1 and species A in the reply filed on 12/01/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the grounds that examination of all species together in one application would not place a serious burden on the examiner and that the PCT application examiner examined all of claims 1-11. These arguments are unpersuasive because the search for species A is not required for the search for species B, C, or D demonstrating search burden. And, MPEP 1893.03(d) states “when making a lack of unity requirement, the examiner must (1) list the different group of claims and (2) explain why each group lacks unity with each other group (i.e., why there is no single general inventive concept) specifically describing the unique special technical feature in each group. The examiner may make a lack of unity requirement in a national stage application even if no such requirement was made by the ISA or IPEA.”
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN’401 (CN 207134401).
Regarding claim 1, FIG. 1 of CN’401 teaches a battery module comprising battery cells (20) and a cell frame (10). The battery cells are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval (“gaps”) (FIG. 2). CN’401 teaches foaming structural glue 30 fills gaps 14 so that the battery cells 20 and the frame are adhered and fixed together (pages 2, 4-5 of the machine translation).
Regarding claim 2, the claimed guide member reads on positioning structures 11 (FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5).
Regarding claim 3, see pages 2, 4-5 of the machine translation.
Regarding claim 4, each guide pin reads on a positioning structure 11 which extends across the cell frame 122.
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.
Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable CN’401 (CN 207134401) in view of Noh (US 2016/0226116).
Regarding claims 12-14, CN’401 is silent a plurality of guide pins extending from a guide plate wherein the plurality of guide pins arranged in a plurality of columns, each column of the plurality of columns having a least two pins of the plurality of pins (claim 12), a first column of the plurality of columns extends between two battery cells of the plurality of battery cells (claim 13), and outer surfaces of the at least two pins of the first column directly contacts the two battery cells (claim 14). However, providing the claimed arrangement of guide pins in columns required in claims 12-14 to the battery module of CN’401 would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention since FIG. 2 of Noh teaches a battery module comprising battery cells 10 with spacers 131 and 132 aligned between the neighboring battery cells to induce air flow ([0033]-[0043], FIG. 3).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENDRA LY whose telephone number is (571)270-7060. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Katelyn B Smith can be reached at 571-270-5545. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENDRA LY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749
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