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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 27, 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.
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.
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 1-2, 4, and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (WO 2019-174012 A1, see also the EPO machine generated English translation provided with the Office Action dated July 17, 2025), and further in view of Zimmerman et al. (US PGPub 2018/0151910 A1), Kato (US PGPub 2015/0147659 A1), and Ishikura et al. (JPH 07142039 A, see also the EPO machine generated English translation provided with the Office Action dated July 17, 2025).
Regarding Claim 1, Yu discloses in Fig. 7 a battery comprising:
an electrode assembly (103), the electrode assembly (103) including at least unit cell portion, an anode current collector portion (1032), and a cathode current collector portion (1031) (Fig. 1, [0038]); and
a case (101, 102) accommodating the electrode assembly (103), the case (101, 102) including a first case (102) and a second case (101) insulated from each other, the anode current collector portion (1032) contacting the first case (102), and the cathode current collector portion (1031) contacting the second case (101) ([0048]-[0049], [0038]).
However, Yu does not disclose wherein the battery is an all solid secondary battery
Zimmerman teaches an all solid secondary battery that has increased energy, decreased impedance, improved safety, and voltage flexibility ([0163], [0166]).
Specifically, Zimmerman teaches in Fig. 1 the all solid state battery comprising an electrode assembly (10) including at least one unit cell portion (30a, 20a, 40a, 50b, 30b, 20b, 40b), an anode current collector portion (60b, 30d, 50b), and a cathode current collector portion (60a, 40c, 50c) ([0165], see annotated Fig. 1 provided below).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the electrode assembly taught by Zimmerman as the electrode assembly of Yu in order to form an all solid secondary battery that has increased energy, decreased impedance, improved safety, and voltage flexibility.
Modified Yu further discloses:
wherein the anode current collector portion (60b, 30d, 50b of Zimmerman) includes an anode current collector (60b of Zimmerman), an anode layer (30d of Zimmerman), and a first electrolyte film (50b of Zimmerman) that are sequentially stacked ([0166] and Fig. 1 of Zimmerman provided above), the anode current collector (60b of Zimmerman, corresponding to 1032 of Yu) being in direct contact with the first case (102 of Yu) (Figs. 1, 7 and [0048]-[0049], [0038] of Yu),
wherein the cathode current collector portion (60a, 40c, 50c of Zimmerman) includes a cathode current collector (60a of Zimmerman), a cathode layer (40c of Zimmerman), and a second electrolyte film (50c of Zimmerman) that are sequentially stacked ([0166] and Fig. 1 of Zimmerman provided above), the cathode current collector (60a of Zimmerman, corresponding to 1031 of Yu) being in direct contact with the second case (101 of Yu) (Figs. 1, 7 and [0048]-[0049], [0038] of Yu),
However, modified Yu does not disclose third electrolytes film between the at least one unit cell portion and each of the cathode and anode current collector portions.
Kato teaches in Fig. 1 an all solid secondary battery comprising an electrolyte film (3) comprising a first solid electrolyte layer (3a) and a second solid electrolyte layer (3b) ([0068], [0031]-[0033]). With this configuration, even if a pinhole is supposedly formed to each of the first solid electrolyte layer (3a) and the second solid electrolyte layer (3b), there is very little possibility that the pinholes are connected in the thickness direction of the electrolyte film (3), thereby inhibiting a short circuit ([0034]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form third electrolyte films on the first and second electrolyte films of modified Yu, as taught by Kato, such that the third electrolyte films are between the at least one unit cell portion of modified Yu and each of the cathode and anode current collector portions of modified Yu, in order to inhibit a short circuit.
Modified Yu further discloses wherein sidewalls of the case (101, 102 of Yu) are flat along entire lengths thereof (Fig. 7 of Yu).
However, modified Yu does not disclose wherein an additional case accommodating an additional electrode assembly is electrically connected to the case, the additional case and the additional electrode assembly having same structures as the case and the electrode assembly, respectively, facing sidewalls of the case and the additional case being flat along entire lengths thereof, and the facing sidewalls being in direct contact with each other along entire lengths thereof.
Ishikura teaches a battery module that connects a plurality of secondary batteries together in series in order to obtain a large voltage and/or in parallel in order to obtain a large current ([0001]-[0002], [0021]-[0022]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form a battery module comprising the battery of modified Yu and an additional battery, as taught by Ishikura, such that the additional battery comprise an additional case accommodating an additional electrode assembly that is electrically connected to the case, the additional case and the additional electrode assembly having the same structure as the case of modified Yu and the electrode assembly of modified Yu, in order to obtain a large voltage and/or a large current.
Ishikura further teaches in Figs. 1-5 the battery module comprising a plurality of secondary batteries (B, B) each comprising a cases (1) including a first case (2) and a second case (3) insulated from each other, wherein the first case (2) has a first polarity (e.g. positive terminals 141, 142, 153) and the second case (3) has a second polarity (e.g. negative terminals 151, 143, 152), and wherein facing sidewalls of the cases (1) are in direct contact with each other along entire lengths thereof in order to connect the plurality of secondary batteries (B, B) in series or parallel to form the battery module ([0014], [0016]-[0017], [0021]-[0022]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the battery module of modified Yu by directly contacting facing sidewalls of the case of modified Yu and the additional case of modified Yu along entire lengths thereof, as further taught by Ishikura, in order to connect the battery and the additional battery of modified Yu in series or parallel, as desired by modified Yu in order to obtain a large voltage and/or a large current.
Regarding Claim 2, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. Modified Yu further discloses an insulator (104 of Yu) between the first case (102 of Yu) and the second case (101 of Yu) (Fig. 7 and [0048] of Yu).
Regarding Claim 4, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. Modified Yu further discloses wherein the third electrolyte (e.g. 3a or 3b of Kato) is in direct contact with each of the first and second electrolyte films (50b or 50c of Zimmerman, corresponding to 3a or 3b of Kato) (Fig. 1 and [0031]-[0034] of Kato).
Regarding Claim 8, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. Modified Yu further discloses wherein the at least one unit cell portion (30a, 20a, 40a, 50b, 30b, 20b, 40b of Zimmerman) is arranged between the anode current collector portion (60b, 30d, 50b of Zimmerman) and the cathode current collector portion (60a, 40c, 50c of Zimmerman) ([0165], see annotated Fig. 1 of Zimmerman provided above).
Regarding Claim 9, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. Modified Yu further discloses wherein the at least one unit cell portion (30a, 20a, 40a, 50b, 30b, 20b, 40b of Zimmerman) includes:
a cathode layer (40a of Zimmerman) and an anode layer (30a of Zimmerman) respectively arranged on opposite sides of a bipolar plate (20a of Zimmerman), and
the third electrolyte films (3a or 3b of Kato) are respectively arranged on each of an outer side of the anode layer (30a of Zimmerman) of the at least one unit cell portion (30a, 20a, 40a, 50b, 30b, 20b, 40b of Zimmerman) and an outer side of the cathode layer (40a of Zimmerman) of the at least one unit cell portion (30a, 20a, 40a, 50b, 30b, 20b, 40b of Zimmerman) (Fig. 1 of Zimmerman and Fig. 1, [0031]-[0034] of Kato).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (WO 2019-174012 A1, see also the EPO machine generated English translation provided with the Office Action dated July 17, 2025) in view of Zimmerman et al. (US PGPub 2018/0151910 A1) and Kato (US PGPub 2015/0147659 A1), as applied to Claim 2 above, with evidence provided by Towler et al. (US PGPub 2007/0104999 A1).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. Modified Yu further discloses wherein the insulator (104 of Yu) includes an elastic material, such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE).
The Examiner notes that polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) are deformable, as evidenced by [0043] of Towler.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize polypropylene or polyethylene as the insulator of modified Yu, as disclosed by modified Yu, wherein the skilled artisan would have reasonable expectation that such would successfully form the insulator desired by modified Yu.
The Examiner notes that the limitation “the insulator being deformable in accordance with changes in volumes of the electrode assembly and the case” is intended use and therefore is not given patentable weight aside from the structure required to perform such function.
Thus, because modified Yu discloses wherein the insulator is deformable, as evidenced by [0043] of Towler, such reads on the limitation “the insulator being deformable in accordance with changes in volumes of the electrode assembly and the case”.
Claims 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (WO 2019-174012 A1, see also the EPO machine generated English translation provided with the Office Action dated July 17, 2025), and further in view of Zimmerman et al. (US PGPub 2018/0151910 A1) and Ishikura et al. (JPH 07142039 A, see also the EPO machine generated English translation provided with the Office Action dated July 17, 2025).
Regarding Claim 14, Yu discloses in Fig. 7 a battery module (battery pack) ([0012], [0056]) comprising,
a plurality of batteries, each of the plurality of batteries including an electrode assembly (103), the electrode assembly (103) including at least unit cell portion, an anode current collector portion (1032), and a cathode current collector portion (1031) (Fig. 1, [0012], [0038], [0056]); and
a plurality of cases (101, 102), each of the plurality of cases (101, 102) accommodating one of the plurality of batteries, each of the plurality of cases (101, 102) including a first case (102) and a second case (101) insulated from each other, the anode current collector portion (1032) of the one of the plurality of batteries contacting the first case (102), and the cathode current collector portion (1031) of the one of the plurality of batteries contacting the second case (101) ([0048]-[0049], [0038], [0056]).
However, Yu does not disclose wherein the batteries are all solid secondary batteries.
Zimmerman teaches an all solid secondary battery that has increased energy, decreased impedance, improved safety, and voltage flexibility ([0163], [0166]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the batteries of Yu to be all solid secondary batteries, as taught by Zimmerman, in order to form an all solid secondary battery module that has increased energy, decreased impedance, improved safety, and voltage flexibility.
Modified Yu further discloses wherein facing sidewalls of adjacent cases (101, 102 of Yu) in the plurality of cases (101, 102 of Yu) are flat along entire lengths thereof (Fig. 7 of Yu).
However, modified Yu does not disclose the facing sidewalls being in direct contact with each other along entire lengths thereof.
Ishikura teaches a battery module that connects a plurality of secondary batteries together in series in order to obtain a large voltage and/or in parallel in order to obtain a large current ([0001]-[0002], [0021]-[0022]).
Specifically, Ishikura teaches in Figs. 1-5 a battery module comprising a plurality of secondary batteries (B, B) and a plurality of cases (1), each of the cases (1) accommodating one of the plurality of secondary batteries (B, B) and including a first case (2) and a second case (3) insulated from each other, wherein the first case (2) has a first polarity (e.g. positive terminals 141, 142, 153) and the second case (3) has a second polarity (e.g. negative terminals 151, 143, 152), and wherein facing sidewalls of adjacent cases in the plurality of cases (1) are in direct contact with each other along entire lengths thereof in order to connect the plurality of secondary batteries (B, B) in series or parallel to form the battery module ([0014], [0016]-[0017], [0021]-[0022]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the all solid secondary battery module of modified Yu by directly contacting facing sidewalls of adjacent cases in the plurality of cases of modified Yu along entire lengths thereof, as taught by Ishikura, in order to connect the plurality of secondary batteries of modified Yu in series or parallel so as to achieve large voltage and/or a large current.
Regarding Claim 10, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. Modified Yu further discloses wherein a first case (102 of Yu, corresponding to 2 of Ishikura) of a first secondary battery of the plurality of secondary batteries is arranged to contact a second case (101 of Yu, corresponding to 3 of Ishikura) of a second secondary battery of the plurality of secondary batteries, the first case (102 of Yu, corresponding to 2 of Ishikura) and the second case (101 of Yu, corresponding to 3 of Ishikura) having different polarities (Fig. 4, [0014], [0016]-[0017], [0021], e.g. connected in series).
Regarding Claim 11, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. However, modified Yu does not disclose wherein an insulator is arranged on one side of the first case of the first secondary battery and another side of the second case of the second secondary battery.
Ishikura further teaches in an additional exemplary embodiment wherein an insulator (23) may be arranged on one side of the first case (102 of Yu, corresponding to 2 of Ishikura) of the first secondary battery and another side of the second case (101 of Yu, corresponding to 3 of Ishikura) of the second secondary battery in order to prevent short circuiting (Fig. 18, [0042] of Ishikura).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to arrange an insulator on one side of the first case of the first secondary battery of modified Yu and another side of the second case of the second secondary battery of modified Yu, as further taught by Ishikura, in order to prevent short circuiting.
Regarding Claim 12, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. Modified Yu further discloses wherein a first case (102 of Yu, corresponding to 2 of Ishikura) of a first secondary battery of the plurality of secondary batteries is arranged to contact a second case (101 of Yu, corresponding to 3 of Ishikura) of a second secondary battery of the plurality of secondary batteries, the first case (102 of Yu, corresponding to 2 of Ishikura) and the second case (101 of Yu, corresponding to 3 of Ishikura) having same polarities (Fig. 5, [0014], [0016]-[0017], [0022], e.g. connected in parallel).
Regarding Claim 13, modified Yu discloses all of the limitations as set forth above. Modified Yu further discloses wherein an insulator (104 of Yu) is arranged between the first case (102 of Yu) of the first secondary battery of the plurality of secondary batteries and a second case (101 of Yu) of the first secondary battery of the plurality of secondary batteries (Fig. 7 and [0048] of Yu).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended Claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed January 27, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding amended Claim 14, the Applicant argues that Fig. 3A of the instant specification illustrates where (i) facing sidewalls of the case and the additional case are flat along entire lengths thereof, and (ii) the flat facing sidewalls are in direct contact with each other along entire lengths thereof. This distinction is important because the secondary batteries are directly connected to each other along entire lengths thereof via a simplified structure (i.e., simple direct contact between flat sidewalls) without additional electrical connection portions between the secondary batteries (e.g. without using a bus bar or without requiring additional processing steps or alignment).
The Applicant further argues that while Ishikura may address adjacent cases in direct contact with each other via terminals, Applicant respectfully notes that the cases in Ishikura do not have facing sidewalls that are flat along entire lengths thereof and in direct contact with ach other along entire lengths thereof.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees and notes that Ishikura has not been relied to teach the limitation “having facing sidewalls that are flat along entire lengths thereof”.
As set forth in the rejection above, modified Yu discloses wherein facing sidewalls of adjacent cases (101, 102 of Yu) in the plurality of cases (101, 102 of Yu) are flat along entire lengths thereof (Fig. 7 of Yu).
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However, modified Yu does not disclose the facing sidewalls being in direct contact with each other along entire lengths thereof.
Ishikura teaches a battery module that connects a plurality of secondary batteries together in series in order to obtain a large voltage and/or in parallel in order to obtain a large current ([0001]-[0002], [0021]-[0022]).
Specifically, Ishikura teaches in Figs. 1-5 a battery module comprising a plurality of secondary batteries (B, B) and a plurality of cases (1), each of the cases (1) accommodating one of the plurality of secondary batteries (B, B) and including a first case (2) and a second case (3) insulated from each other, wherein the first case (2) has a first polarity (e.g. positive terminals 141, 142, 153) and the second case (3) has a second polarity (e.g. negative terminals 151, 143, 152), and wherein facing sidewalls of adjacent ones of the plurality of cases (1) are in direct contact with each other along entire lengths thereof in order to connect the plurality of secondary batteries (B, B) in series or parallel to form the battery module ([0014], [0016]-[0017], [0021]-[0022]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the all solid secondary battery module of modified Yu by directly contacting facing sidewalls of adjacent cases in the plurality of cases of modified Yu along entire lengths thereof, as taught by Ishikura, in order to connect the plurality of secondary batteries of modified Yu in series or parallel so as to achieve large voltage and/or a large current.
In other words, the Examiner notes that Yu has been relied on to disclose the plurality of cases (101, 102) having sidewalls that are flat along entire lengths thereof (e.g. see annotated Fig. 7 provided above) while Ishikura has been relied on to teach direct contact of sidewalls of adjacent cases along entire lengths thereof in order to connect a plurality of secondary batteries together in series and/or parallel in order to obtain a large voltage and/or a large current (Figs. 1-5, [0014], [0016]-[0017], [0021]-[0022]).
The Examiner further notes that while the cases of Ishikura are not flat along entire lengths thereof ([0001]-[0002], e.g. see protrusions and recesses that make the battery module highly vibration-resistant and less susceptible to poor contact), such is not required in order to connect the plurality of secondary batteries together in series or parallel to form a battery module and therefore the teaching of Ishikura can successfully be applied to the battery module of Yu.
Thus, the arguments are not found to be persuasive.
Conclusion
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/KIMBERLY WYLUDA/Examiner, Art Unit 1725