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Claims 5 and 14-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species A2-A6 or B2-B3, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 20 March 2026.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Item 22c and item 50 are both referred to as “a positive electrode collecting unit”, for example in instant [0036] and [0027], respectively, among others, despite referring to separate objects in, for example, Fig.7 and Fig. 2, respectively.
Item 24c and item 60 are both referred to as “a negative electrode collecting unit”, for example in instant [0038] and [0027], respectively, among others, despite referring to separate objects in, for example, Fig.7 and Fig. 2, respectively.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-4 and 6-13 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1 and 9-11 refer to a “first electrode collecting unit”. Examiner expects that this is referring to the positive electrode first collecting unit 51 and the negative electrode first collecting unit 61. However, the presently labeled positive electrode collecting unit 50, positive electrode collecting unit 22c, negative electrode collecting unit 60, and negative electrode collecting unit 24c could also each be considered to be a “first electrode collecting unit”. Examiner suggests modifying the claims to instead read “first collecting unit” for consistency with the specification.
Claim 2 recites the limitation
“the battery according to claim 1, wherein
when a distance between the middle C1 and the middle C2 in the perpendicular direction is G1, and
a distance between the middle C3 and the middle C4 in the perpendicular direction is G2, and
the G1 and the G2 satisfy a relationship G1>G2.”
This sentence structure presents the limitations as three prerequisites without stating a final limitation. Examiner suggests removing the second “and” in order to produce the likely desired requirement that when G1 is present, and G2 is present, G1>G2.
Claims 3-4, 6-8, and 12-13 are objected to for being dependent on an objected base claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 6-13 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the winding axis direction" in line 7 and the limitation “the thickness direction” in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. Examiner further notes that these direction are not currently defined in the claims. For the purposes of this examination, and in light of the specification, the winding axis direction will be considered to be the Y direction [instant 0035] and the thickness direction will be considered to be the X direction [instant 0050].
Claim 4 recites the limitation “the middle C3 and the middle C4 are located closer to the sealing plate than to the winding axis.” However, Fig. 8A, as well as Figs. 14-19, though drawn to nonelected species, all seem to depict the middle C3 and the middle C4 being located closer to the winding axis than the sealing plate. It is unclear how this limitation is to be interpreted in a way that middle C3 and middle C4 would be located closer to the sealing plate at the top of the electrode body than the winding axis in the middle.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “wherein in the perpendicular direction, the first straight line and the second straight line do not lie on a straight line.” It is unclear what constitutes “lying on a straight line in the perpendicular direction”. Lying on a straight line could be interpreted to mean, for example, that the two lines are parallel, the two lines overlap partially, the two lines overlap fully, the two lines are two halves of one straight line bisected by the Z axis, or individually at least one of the lines is a straight line in the Z direction.
Claim 8 recites the limitation “the first straight line and the second straight line are inclined toward the same direction in the thickness direction.” It is unclear what options are present for “the same direction.” Examiner notes that Rr and F, as labeled in Fig. 8A, are the likely target directions for use. However, Examiner points out that more abstract directions, such as “towards the winding axis” and “away from the winding axis,” could also read on the limitation.
Claim 9 recites the limitation “the tabs are in connection with the first electrode collecting unit with being collected.” It is unclear what is meant by the tabs being in connection “with being collected”. Examiner presumes that the addition is superfluous.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “the tabs are in connection with the first electrode collecting unit with being curved.” It is unclear what is meant by the tabs being in connection “with being curved”. For the purposes of this examination the limitation will be considered to be met if a curve is present to connect the tabs to the collecting unit.
Claim 12 recites the limitation “each of end surfaces in pair of the wound electrode body.” For the purposes of this examination, Examiner interprets this to simply mean “each end of the wound electrode body.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-3, 6, 10, and 13 are rejected for being dependent on a rejected base claim.
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 1-2, 6-8, and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishimori et al. (JP-2018010713-A) in view of Soma et al. (JP-WO2016076109-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Nishimori teaches a battery 100 [0013] comprising:
a flat wound electrode body 40 including a first electrode 41, in this case a positive electrode, a second electrode 42 having a polarity different from the first electrode 41, in this case a negative electrode, and a separator 43, the first electrode 41 and the second electrode 42 being wound via the separator 43 [0028]; and
a battery case 10 housing the wound electrode body 40, wherein
multiple tabs 41e connected to the first electrode 41 protrude from one end of the wound electrode body in the winding axis direction (Fig. 3),
the tabs 41e are in connection with a first electrode collecting unit 20A (Fig. 2),
the wound electrode body 40 includes a first region on one side relative to a winding axis and a second region on the other side relative to the winding axis in the thickness direction of the wound electrode body (Fig. 4),
the tabs include a first tab, a second tab, a third tab, and a fourth tab, as labeled in Fig. 4 below for convenience,
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Tab 3)][AltContent: textbox (Tab 1)][AltContent: textbox (Tab 4)][AltContent: textbox (Tab 2)]
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among the tabs present in the first region, the first tab is located at a position closest to the winding axis D of the wound electrode body in the thickness direction of the wound electrode body,
among the tabs present in the second region, the second tab is located at a position closest to the winding axis D of the wound electrode body in the thickness direction of the wound electrode body 40,
among the tabs present in the first region, the third tab is located at a position farthest to the winding axis D of the wound electrode body in the thickness direction of the wound electrode body 40,
among the tabs present in the second region, the fourth tab is located at a position farthest to the winding axis D of the wound electrode body in the thickness direction of the wound electrode body 40, as seen in Fig. 4.
Nishimori is silent as to the first tab and the third tab being arranged such that a middle C1 of a base width of the first tab and a middle C3 of a base width of the third tab are displaced from each other in a perpendicular direction to the thickness direction, and the second tab and the fourth tab being arranged such that a middle C2 of a base width of the second tab and a middle C4 of a base width of the fourth tab are displaced from each other in the perpendicular direction. However, Soma teaches a wound secondary battery 100 wherein the tabs 32c and 34c may be wrapped in a way that forms an isosceles trapezoid (Fig. 4) or a right trapezoid (Fig. 7), wherein the middle C1 and middle C3 are offset from each other perpendicularly and the middle C2 and middle C4 are offset from each other perpendicularly. Examiner acknowledges that the tabs 32c and 34c are taught to be connected to different electrodes. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect alternate tab shapes to function as expected whether the tab groups are attached to the same electrode or different electrodes.
Nishimori and Soma are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of flat wound secondary batteries. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the tab shape of Nishimori with the art recognized equivalent right trapezoidal shape of Soma. Substituting equivalents known for the same purpose has been held to be prima facie obvious. In re Ruff, 256 F.2d 590, 118 USPQ 340 (CCPA 1958). See MPEP 2144.06.II.
Regarding claim 2, Modified Nishimori teaches the battery according to claim 1. Soma further teaches when a distance between the middle C1 and the middle C2 in the perpendicular direction is G1, and a distance between the middle C3 and the middle C4 in the perpendicular direction is G2, the G1 and the G2 satisfy a relationship G1>G2, as seen in the annotated Fig. 7 below.
[AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (G2)][AltContent: textbox (G1)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (C3)][AltContent: textbox (C4)][AltContent: connector][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (C1)][AltContent: textbox (C2)][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: connector][AltContent: oval][AltContent: oval][AltContent: oval][AltContent: oval][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector]
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Regarding claim 6, Modified Nishimori teaches the battery according to claim 1. Soma further teaches a straight line passing through the middle C1 and the middle C3 is a first straight line, a straight line passing through the middle C2 and the middle C4 is a second straight line, and the first straight line and the second straight line are inclined to the thickness direction, as seen in the annotated Fig. 7 above.
Regarding claim 7, Modified Nishimori teaches the battery according to claim 6, wherein in the perpendicular direction, the first straight line and the second straight line do not lie on a straight line, as seen in the annotated Fig. 7 above.
Regarding claim 8, Modified Nishimori teaches the battery according to claim 6, wherein the first straight line and the second straight line are inclined toward a same direction in the thickness direction, as seen in the annotated Fig. 7 above.
Regarding claim 11, Modified Nishimori teaches the battery according to claim 1. Nishimori further teaches the tabs being in connection with the first electrode collecting unit 20A with being curved, in this case through the bar 30A that is curved to meet 31 that connects to 20A (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 12, Modified Nishimori teaches the battery according to claim 1. Nishimori further teaches each end of the wound electrode body having a flat portion 40a and a pair of curved portions 40b provided at both ends of the flat portion 40a, and a winding finish end 41E of the first electrode 41 is located near one of the curved portions 40b, as can been seen in Fig.3 where the winding finish end 41E occurs at the top of the final tab that is wrapped, near one of the curved portions 40b.
Regarding claim 13, Modified Nishimori teaches the battery according to claim 1. Nishimori further teaches multiple second electrode tabs 42e connected to the second electrode 42 protruding from the other end of the wound electrode body 40 in the winding axis direction (Fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 9-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, and objections set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, modified Nishimori teaches the middle C1 and the middle C2 being equidistant from the winding axis.
Regarding claim 9, modified Nishimori teaches the tabs being of equal length.
Regarding claim 10, modified Nishimori teaches the base width of the fourth tab being larger than the base width of the second tab.
No analogous prior art was found that would provide teaching, suggestion, or motivation to modify Nishimori in a way that would teach claims 3, 9, or 10.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUSTIN KENWOOD VAN KIRK whose telephone number is (703)756-4717. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST.
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/DUSTIN VAN KIRK/Examiner, Art Unit 1722
/NIKI BAKHTIARI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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