DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is responsive to the July 4th, 2026 arguments and remarks (“Remarks”). The
text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior
Office 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 .
Response to Amendment
In response to the amendments received on July 4th, 2026:
Claims 1, 4, and 6-9 are pending in the current application. Claim 1 is amended. Claim 9 is newly added.
Support for applicant’s amendment to Claim 1 is not clearly found in the disclosure (see rejection below).
The new grounds of rejection are necessitated by amendment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed July 4th, 2026 have been fully considered as further described below:
Applicant presents arguments to Claim 1 as amended. Applicant argues that prior art reference Inoue does not disclose or suggest placing the grease (highly viscous fluid) on the upper surface of the holder 219 and rearranging the elements in a specific sequence of heat transfer member, intermediate member, and highly viscous fluid without requiring impermissible hindsight; applicant further argues a lack of motivation for arriving at said arrangement (see pgs. 6-7 of the “Remarks”).
“Obviousness can be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so. In re Kahn, 441 F.3d 977, 986, 78 USPQ2d 1329, 1335 (Fed. Cir. 2006)” (see MPEP 2143.01).
“Any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based on hindsight reasoning, but so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill in the art at the time the claimed invention was made and does not include knowledge gleaned only from applicant’s disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper.’ In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 1395, 170 USPQ 209, 212 (CCPA 1971)” (see MPEP 2145.X.A).
“Office personnel may also take into account ‘the inferences and creative steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ.’ Id. at 418, 82 USPQ2d at 1396” (see MPEP 2141.03, I).
In this case, Inoue et al. is relied upon for teaching a highly viscous fluid in contact with the secondary batteries and an intermediate member in contact with and holding the highly viscous fluid ([0145], Fig. 8). It is further deemed obvious to rearrange the highly viscous fluid and intermediate member of Inoue et al. between the secondary battery and heat transfer member at the indicated Surface A of annotated Fig. 4 of Hayashida et al. in view of the creative steps employed by a skilled artisan. Further, rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) (see MPEP 2144.01(VI)(A)). In this case, the rearrangement would provide expected results of further holding the highly viscous fluid beneath a bottom surface of the secondary battery in place. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification to reduce cooling variations of an electric power storage element, preventing deterioration and lifetime shortages caused by excessive heat, and providing high reliability (Inoue et al.; Abstract, [0003]).
Therefore, the rejection is based on the knowledge readily available in the field of endeavor and reasonable motivation. In this case, applicant’s arguments are deemed unpersuasive.
The new grounds of rejection are necessitated by amendment.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 4, and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Regarding Claim 1, the claim recites “wherein the heat transfer member, the intermediate member, and the highly viscous fluid are stacked in this order.” The term “stacked” implies a process step of stacking; however, said language does not provide support in the disclosure. Further, the stacking direction is not specified such as from a bottom surface of the battery or from a top surface of the heating/cooling unit. It appears that the applicant attempts to convey that the highly viscous fluid 440, the intermediate member 430, and the heat transfer member 420 is provided in that order in a direction starting from a bottom surface of the secondary battery toward the cooling and heating unit (finding support in Fig. 7 and [0034]); examiner recommends amending the claim language to correspond with the language of the disclosure.
Claims 4 and 6-9 are rejected as being dependent upon a rejected base claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1, 4, and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayashida et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 20150349394 A1) in view of Youngsik (K.R. Pat. No. 20160074230A), Inoue et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 20100015512 A1), Kawakami et al. (W.O. Pat. No. 2020166719 A1), Sano et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 20030113636 A1), and further in view of Yamamoto et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 20190372154 A1) as further [AltContent: textbox (Hayashida et al. (Fig. 4))]
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evidenced by Jung et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 20200365836 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Hayashida et al. teaches a battery module comprising a plurality of storage batteries (secondary batteries), a cooling structure (unit) configured to cool the secondary batteries (para. 8). A heat conduction gel 42 (heat transfer member) is disposed between the secondary batteries 12 and the heat sink 38 (cooling unit) (Fig. 4, para. 31).
Hayashida et al. does not teach a heating unit configured to heat the secondary batteries.
Youngsik teaches a battery temperature control system (heating unit) comprising a heat sink configured to receive a heat medium to heat a battery pack (para. 63).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the battery module of Hayashida et al. to provide the heat sink with capabilities of receiving a heat medium to heat the batteries as taught by Youngsik forming a heating unit. As described above, Hayashida et al. teaches the heat transfer member 42 disposed between the secondary batteries 12 and the heat sink 38 in which can also function as a heating unit when performing the described modification by Youngsik. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification by Youngsik to improve temperature control and regulation by providing both heating and cooling capabilities (Youngsik, para. 69-70).
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[AltContent: textbox (Inoue et al. (Fig. 8))]Hayashida et al. does not teach a highly viscous fluid in contact with the secondary batteries and an intermediate member in contact with and holding the highly viscous fluid arranged between the secondary batteries and the heat transfer member.
Inoue et al. teaches a grease layer 234 (a highly viscous fluid) ([0145]) in contact with the secondary battery 211 ([0142],[0003] teach an electric power storage element 211 in which can be a secondary battery) and a holder 219 (intermediate member) made of resin in contact with and holding the highly viscous fluid ([0145], Fig. 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the battery module of Hayashida et al. by Inoue et al. to include a highly viscous fluid in contact with the secondary battery housing and an intermediate member made of resin in contact with and holding the highly viscous fluid. As Inoue et al. teaches the highly viscous fluid in contact with the secondary battery and the resin intermediate member in contact with the highly viscous fluid, it would have been obvious to a skilled artisan to include the highly viscous fluid and intermediate member of Inoue et al. between the secondary batteries and heat transfer member of Hayashida et al. at indicated Surface A of annotated Fig. 4 of Hayashida et al., providing the highly viscous fluid, the intermediate member, and the heat transfer member arranged in that order in a direction starting from a bottom surface of the secondary battery. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification to reduce cooling variations of an electric power storage element, preventing deterioration and lifetime shortages caused by excessive heat, and providing high reliability (Inoue et al.; Abstract, [0003]).
Hayashida et al. does not teach the secondary batteries including a laminate in which a positive electrode layer, an electrolyte layer, and a negative electrode layer are stacked, and an exterior body wrapping the laminate, the exterior body includes a housing portion that houses the laminate, and the highly viscous fluid is in contact with the housing portion.
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Kawakami et al. teaches a laminated secondary battery including a positive electrode layer 21, a separator layer 23, a negative electrode layer 22 stacked, and an exterior member (body) 50 such as a laminate film wrapping the electrode assembly (laminate) 20 (Fig. 16, para. 70, 160-162). The exterior body includes a portion equivalent to a housing portion (see annotated Fig. 16) in which accommodates (houses) the electrode assembly (para. 160).
Sano et al. teaches a lithium secondary battery comprising an electrolyte layer stacked between a positive electrode layer and a negative electrode layer (para. 165).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secondary batteries of Hayashida et al. by Kawakami et al. to include a laminate in which a positive electrode layer and a negative electrode layer are stacked with an exterior body wrapping the laminate, and the exterior body including an equivalent housing portion in which houses the laminate, and to further modify by Sano et al. to include an electrolyte layer disposed within the electrode stack. As applied above, the battery module of Hayashida et al. is modified to include a highly viscous fluid in contact with the secondary battery housing as taught by Inoue et al. Therefore, when performing the modification described, it would have been obvious to a skilled artisan to include the highly viscous fluid in contact with the housing portion as further modified by Kawakami et al.
One of ordinary skill in the art would find the teachings of Kawakami et al. and Sano et al. useful to provide alternative structures of a secondary battery in which the teachings of Hayashida et al. can be applied; further, Hayashida et al. does not include a detailed manufacturing process or structure of the described secondary batteries. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would look to existing prior art for suitable secondary battery constructions. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification by Kawakami et al. to provide a secondary battery structure with an improved manufacturing process and productivity (Kawakami et al., para. 25). One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification by Sano et al. to provide an alternative secondary battery structure having improved characteristics including initial charge-discharge efficiency, cycle performance, and high safety at elevated temperatures (Sano et al., para. 320).
Hayashida et al. does not teach the exterior body formed by bending a material forming the exterior body at a bent portion, the housing portion including the bent portion as a part thereof, and the exterior body includes a peripheral edge portion around the housing portion, the peripheral edge portion including a sealing portion to which the material is bonded.
Kawakami et al. teaches the exterior body formed by surrounding a material (laminate film) forming the exterior body in which includes a housing portion (annotated Fig. 16, para. 111). Kawakami et al. further teaches the exterior body (laminate film 110) including sealing regions (portions) 201 on three sides formed on peripheral edge portions in which the laminate material is sealed or bonded (Fig. 12, para. 111, 155).
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[AltContent: textbox (Yamamoto et al. (Fig. 1))][AltContent: textbox (Kawakami et al. (Fig. 12))]
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Yamamoto et al. teachings folding (bending) a laminate film 3 over an electrode group 2 at a folding portion (bent portion) 3d (para. 132, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the battery module of Hayashida et al. to include the exterior body formed by surrounding a material (laminate film) forming the exterior body, and the exterior body including sealing regions (portions) formed on peripheral edge portions around the housing portion in which the laminate material is sealed or bonded as taught by Kawakami et al.; and to further modify by Yamamoto et al. to include a bending portion at a location on a lower edge surface equivalent to bent portion 3d. As shown in annotated Fig. 12 of Kawakami et al., Kawakami et al. includes a surface equivalent to bent portion 3d of Yamamoto et al. When performing the described modification, the secondary battery of Hayashida et al. will be modified to include the exterior body of Kawakami et al. as applied above, and the exterior body is further modified by Yamamoto et al. to include a bent portion (see annotated Fig. 12 of Kawakami et al.). Therefore, the modification includes the exterior body formed by bending a material in which forms the exterior body at a bent portion, with the housing portion including the bent portion as a part thereof (Kawakami et al., Fig. 12, 14, 16).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification by Kawakami et al. to provide a secondary battery structure with an improved manufacturing process and productivity (Kawakami et al., para. 25). Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification as applied by Yamamoto et al. to improve the bonding strength as the housing portion (as modified by Kawakami et al.) will be integrally formed at the bend portion (as modified by Yamamoto et al.) rather than sealed as taught by Kawakami et al.
As modified by Inoue et al., the highly viscous fluid and the resin intermediate layer are provided at a bottom surface of the secondary battery. As modified by Kawakami et al. and Yamamoto et al., the bent portion is located at a bottom surface of the secondary battery with the sealing portion located at outer edges. It is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for the sealing portion to include a protrusion caused by a pressing force of the exterior material as further evident by Jung et al. in which teaches a bent portion C of a housing portion (the portion of an exterior material for accommodating a secondary battery) located between sealing portions S and the sealing portion protrudes from the bent portion at reference numeral A of the housing portion (para. 10-11, 19, Fig. 4). Therefore, the sealing portion will be provided on an outer edge of the battery surface surrounding the highly viscous layer and the intermediate member in which a sealing protrusion (formed by pressing) will protrude in a direction of the housing portion toward the cooling and heating unit with the highly viscous fluid and the intermediate member arranged between the sealing portions. Therefore, all limitations of Claim 1 are met [AltContent: textbox (Jung et al. (Fig. 4))]
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based on the modifications as applied above.
Regarding Claim 4, Hayashida et al. is modified by Youngsik, Inoue et al., Kawakami et al., Sano et al., and Yamamoto et al. as applied to Claim 1 above. The secondary battery of Hayashida et al. is modified to include the exterior body of Kawakami et al. as applied to Claim 1, and the exterior body is further modified by Yamamoto et al. to include a bent portion at a bottom surface (see annotated Fig. 12 of Kawakami et al.). As applied, the corresponding bent portion includes a flat surface at a bottom surface of the secondary battery (see annotated Figure 16 of Kawakami et al.). When performing the described modification, it would have been obvious to a skilled artisan to include the flat surface at annotated Surface A of Hayashida et al. Fig. 4, a bottom surface of the secondary battery, in which the highly viscous fluid (as modified by Inoue et al.) is in contact with the secondary battery. Therefore, the highly viscous fluid and the flat portion are in contact based on the modifications described above.
Regarding Claim 6, Hayashida et al. is modified by Youngsik, Inoue et al., Kawakami et al., Sano et al., and Yamamoto et al. as applied to Claim 1 above.
Hayashida et al. does not teach the secondary batteries including a terminal connected to the laminate, and the terminals arranged at both ends in a longitudinal direction of the secondary batteries.
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Kawakami et al. teaches the secondary batteries including tab leads 40 that are electrode terminals connected to the electrode assembly (laminate) 20 in which the terminals are arranged at both ends in a longitudinal direction (X direction) of the secondary batteries (para. 111, 160, 171, Fig. 14, 16).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the battery module of Hayashida et al. to provide the secondary batteries with a terminal connected to the laminate, and the terminals arranged at both ends in a longitudinal direction of the secondary batteries as taught by Kawakami et al. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification to provide a secondary battery structure with an improved manufacturing process and productivity (Kawakami et al., para. 25). Further, Kawakami et al. teaches benefits of the electrode terminal structure such as facilitating connection with an external terminal (para. 172).
Regarding Claim 7, Hayashida et al. is modified by Youngsik, Inoue et al., Kawakami et al., Sano et al., and Yamamoto et al. as applied to Claim 1 above. Hayashida et al. teaches separators 14 having an insulation property alternately stacked with the secondary batteries 12 (para. 19-20, Fig. 4).
Regarding Claim 8, Hayashida et al. is modified by Youngsik, Inoue et al., Kawakami et al., Sano et al., and Yamamoto et al. as applied to Claim 6 above. As applied to Claim 1, the battery module of Hayashida et al. is modified to adopt a battery structure as taught by Kawakami et al. Specifically, the secondary batteries of Hayashida et al. are modified by Kawakami et al. to include a material (laminate film) surrounding an electrode assembly forming an exterior body comprising sealing regions (portions) formed on peripheral edge portions around the housing portion in which the laminate material is sealed or bonded. Hayashida et al. is further by Yamamoto et al. to include a bent portion 3d disposed along a longitudinal direction of the housing of Kawakami et al. in which the sealing portions are disposed at both ends of the exterior body in the longitudinal direction. As applied to Claim 6, the battery module of Hayashida et al. is further modified to include terminals arranged at both ends in a longitudinal direction of the secondary batteries as taught by Kawakami et al. Therefore, all claim limitations are met.
Regarding Claim 9, as applied to Claim 1, the battery module of Hayashida et al. is modified by Inoue et al. to include a highly viscous fluid in contact with the secondary battery housing and an intermediate member made of resin in contact with and holding the highly viscous fluid. As Inoue et al. teaches the highly viscous fluid in contact with the secondary battery and the resin intermediate member in contact with the highly viscous fluid for holding purposes, it is deemed obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to include the highly viscous fluid and intermediate member of Inoue et al. between the secondary batteries and heat transfer member of Hayashida et al. at indicated Surface A of annotated Fig. 4 of Hayashida et al. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to perform the described modification to reduce cooling variations of an electric power storage element, preventing deterioration and lifetime shortages caused by excessive heat, and providing high reliability (Inoue et al.; Abstract, [0003]). Therefore, the proposed modification provides a secondary battery wherein a highly viscous fluid, intermediate member, and heat transfer member, are arranged in that order from a bottom surface of the battery; and the highly viscous fluid has one surface facing and in contact with the secondary batteries, and an opposite surface opposite to the one surface, and the intermediate member holds and is in contact with the opposite surface.
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Hayashida et al. does not teach wherein the intermediate member is in contact with the opposite surface entirely.
Inoue further teaches wherein the highly viscous fluid 234 has one surface facing and in contact with the secondary batteries, and an opposite surface opposite to the one surface, and the intermediate member 219 holds and is in contact with the opposite surface entirely (see circled portion “A” of annotated Fig. 8 above, [0143]). Further Inoue teaches a configuration wherein a second intermediate member 119 ([0116]), structurally corresponding to intermediate member 219, extends from a side of the secondary battery to a bottom surface of the battery (see Fig. 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the battery module of Hayashida et al. wherein the highly viscous fluid 234 has one surface facing and in contact with the secondary batteries, and an opposite surface opposite to the one surface, and the intermediate member 219 holds and is in contact with the opposite surface entirely as taught by Inoue. As Inoue further teaches a configuration wherein the intermediate member extends from the side of the battery to beneath the battery to cover an entire bottom surface, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to apply the same configuration to a bottom surface of the battery in the area indicated by circled portion “B” of annotated Fig. 8. Doing so involves merely extending or providing the holding (intermediate member) of Inoue beneath the entire bottom surface of the highly viscous fluid layer 234 to provide expected results: further holding and securing the highly viscous fluid in place at said bottom surface. Further, rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) (see MPEP 2144.01(VI)(A)); and "applying a known technique to a known device (method or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results is likely to be obvious. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. __, __, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143, D.)."
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTINA RENEE DAULTON whose telephone number is (703)756-5413. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/C.R.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1729
/ULA C RUDDOCK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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