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 .
Response to Amendment
In view of the amendment to claim 1 the rejection of claims 1 and 5 under U.S.C. 102 are withdrawn.
In view of the amendment to claim 1 the rejection of claims 4 and 6-7 under U.S.C. 103 are withdrawn.
In view of the cancellation of claims 2-3 the rejection under U.S.C. 103 are withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to 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.
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.
Claims 1 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US20230344064A1) in view of Yukun et. al. (CN209071471U, as cited in the IDS dated 12/21/23, reference made to English translation).
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a battery module(battery 10) comprising a casing (i.e. end plates 121/122 opposite each other and packing straps 13) and a cell assembly (i.e. battery cells 20) disposed in the casing (¶[0054], Fig. 3),
each of the side plates comprises a side plate body and a protruding rib portion(protruding structures 161) on an outer side surface of the side plate body and extends in a length direction of the side plate body(Fig. 6), the protruding rib portion comprises a protruding rib and a notch(see space in the length direction where ribs are disconnected from each other to form the notch and the notch is a part of the outer side surface of the side plate body) adjacent to each other in an extending direction of the protruding rib portion(Fig. 6), the notch is provided on at least one end of the protruding rib portion in the extending direction as well as in the middle of the protruding rib portion(see notches at ends as well as in central area, Fig. 6) and a plurality of the protruding rib portions arranged at intervals in a height direction of the side plate body(structures 162, 163) with corresponding notches in the height direction, but does not disclose and lifting lugs and the lifting lugs are disposed on the protruding ribs.
Yukun, related to battery modules, teaches a battery module with multiple mounting parts(i.e. lugs) attached to a rib shaped mounting portion disposed on the protruding rib at intervals in the extending direction of the protruding rib and on the protruding rib of the lowermost protruding rib portion (Fig. 1, ¶[0009]) in order to improve force distribution after mounting(¶[0007]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized placing lugs as taught by Yukun on the lowermost rib of the side plate of Yin in order to improve force distribution after mounting.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to have placed lugs as taught by Yukun on the lowermost rib of the side plate of Yin in order to improve force distribution after mounting.
Regarding claim 4, modified Lin discloses the battery module according to claim 3, Yukun further discloses wherein: each of the lifting lugs is provided with mounting holes (Fig. 1, ¶[0040]).
Regarding claim 5, modified Lin discloses the battery module according to claim 1, wherein: the casing further comprises two end plates opposite to each other, and the two side plates and the two end plates are connected at intervals to form the casing in a horizontal direction(Fig. 3, see side and end plates which are fixed together at intervals by packing straps 13).
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US20230344064A1) in view of Yukun et. al. (CN209071471U, as cited in the IDS dated 12/21/23, reference made to English translation) and further in view of Xianyu et. al. (CN214280062U, reference made to attached English translation).
Regarding claim 6, modified Lin discloses the battery module according to claim 5, but does not disclose a cover or cooling plate.
Xianyu, related to battery modules, teaches a battery housing 1 including a cover(second plate 112, Fig. 3) and a liquid cooling plate 11 as a base plate (¶[n0025]) wherein the cooling plate is fixedly connected via adhesive 4 where the cell assembly(i.e. battery module 2)(¶[0041]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized adding the cover and cooling plate of Xianyu to the battery module of modified Lin would have resulted in improved heat dissipation efficiency(¶[n0002]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to have added the cooling plate of Xianyu to the battery module of modified Yin to improve heat dissipation efficiency.
Regarding claim 7, modified Lin discloses the battery module according to claim 6, and Xianyu further discloses the liquid cooling plate and the end plates are fixedly connected(see all four sides are connected to cooling plate 11, Fig. 2).
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 KAREN J. ARMSTRONG whose telephone number is (703)756-1243. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10 am-6 pm EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Barton can be reached at (571) 272-1307. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/K.J.A./Examiner, Art Unit 1726 /RYAN S CANNON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726
Prosecution Insights