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 .
The Applicant amended claims 1 and 15. The pending claims are claims 1-2,6-8 and 15-16.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-2,6-8 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. “Planar” is not described in the application as filed.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 6-8, 15, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al., CN 203707194.
Regarding claim 1, Wu et al., teaches an electrochemical apparatus (0006; 0011), comprising: a housing (0008-0009) having a cavity (groove/recess; opening) (0008; 0013; 0015), and the housing comprises a wall (0008-0012);
wherein the wall is planar (planar relates to a geometric plane; a flat or level surface; having no elevations or depressions ) and is provided with a stress-weak zone (recess or groove 113; 0008-0013; 0040), wherein the wall has an outer end edge (side wall 111) and a first zone (Fig. 1-2), wherein the first zone has a first outer edge (side wall 111), the first outer edge coincides with the outer end edge (Fig. 1-2), and the stress-weak zone is arranged in the first zone (groove 113; Fig. 1-2).
Wu et al., does not teach a ratio of an area of the first zone to an area of the wall ranges from 30% to 50%; and one of the following conditions is satisfied:
Wu teaches (1) wherein the first zone is an annular structure (0009; 0015), the first zone has a first inner edge (0035; side wall 111), and the first inner edge is a circle formed by connecting line segments (0035; side wall 111), wherein the line segments are formed by extension of points on the first outer edge toward the inside of the wall (Fig. 1-2) by a same first distance L1 in a direction perpendicular (“A” in Fig. 1) to the first outer edge (Fig. 1-2).
Regarding claim 2, Wu et al., teaches wherein the electrochemical apparatus (0006; 0011) satisfies at least one of the following conditions:
(a)the stress-weak zone (groove 113; Fig. 1-2) is a continuous structure or a discontinuous structure (groove 113; Fig. 1-2).
Regarding claim 6, Wu et al., does not teach wherein the electrochemical apparatus satisfies one of the following conditions: (a) 0.1<L1/L2<0.4, L2 is a second distance between the outer end edge and a geometric center of the wall.
However, "[W]here 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).
Regarding claim 7, Wu et al., teaches wherein the wall is circular (Fig. 1-2), and the first zone is annular (Fig. 1-2); and the first zone has an inner radius of R1 (Fig. 1-2) and an outer radius of R (Fig. 1-2).
Wu does not teach the value of R.
Although the prior art of record comprises an inner radius and an outer radius of the circular wall, the measurement of the inner radius and the outer radius would be dependent on the ideal measurement because: "[W]here 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." See In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105
USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). The discovery of an optimum value of a known result effective variable, without producing any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of a person of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Boesch, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980) (see MPEP § 2144.05, II.).
Regarding claim 8, Wu et al., teaches wherein the electrochemical apparatus (0006; 0011) satisfies at least one of the following conditions:
(a) the wall (side wall 111) is in an asymmetrical shape (Fig. 3-4), and the first zone is an asymmetric ring (groove 113) (Fig. 1-2).
Regarding claim 15, Wu et al., teaches electronic device (0004; 0034), comprising an electrochemical apparatus (0034), wherein the electrochemical apparatus (0034-0036) comprises: a housing having a cavity (0016; 0036), and the housing comprises a wall (0008; 0010) wherein the wall is planar (planar relates to a geometric plane; a flat or level surface; having no elevations or depressions ) and is provided with a stress-weak zone (0008; 0020; 0035).
wherein the wall has an outer end edge and a first zone (0015; “opening edge of the outer shell”), wherein the first zone has a first outer edge (0015; “opening edge of the outer shell”), the first outer edge coincides with the outer end edge (0035; “opening edge of the outer casing”), and the stress-weak zone is arranged in the first zone (recess or groove 113; 0008-0013; 0040); and does not teach a ratio of an area of the first zone to an area of the wall ranges from 30% to 50%.
However, "[W]here 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).
Additionally, (1) wherein the first zone is an annular structure (0009; 0015), the first zone has a first inner edge (side wall 111), and the first inner edge is a circle formed by connecting line segments (0035; side wall 111), wherein the line segments are formed by extension of points on the first outer edge toward the inside of the wall (0035; side wall 111) by a same first distance L1 in a direction perpendicular to the first outer edge (Fig. 1, 5, 9; “A”, “B”. “C”).
Regarding claim 16, Wu et al., teaches wherein the electrochemical apparatus (0006; 0011), satisfies at least one of the following conditions: (a) the stress-weak zone is a continuous structure or a discontinuous structure (Fig. 1-2; groove 113); (f) the wall is a wall with the largest area of the housing (wall 111; Fig. 1-2).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant amended the independent claims 1 and 15 to recite that the wall is planar. The Applicant argues that “a cylinder as disclosed by Wu is not planar.”
However, planar relates to a geometric plane; a flat or level surface; having no elevations or depressions. Therefore, Wu et al., teaches a planar wall, as Wu teaches a “plate-shaped body.” (0018); wherein “plate-shaped body” is synonymous with “planar.”
Conclusion
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ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
