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 Arguments
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the rejection based upon Ahn (WO 20211149903 A1). Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
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.
Claim 4 is 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. Claim 4 incorporates the subject matter of Fig. 4 and Fig. 9 at the same time, which are alternate embodiments of where the adhesive member and heat conduction member are located. There is no support to have them at both locations at once.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2 and 5-7 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: In regards to claim(s) 1, prior art does not disclose, teach or suggest a battery pack wherein each of the battery cells includes a bottom surface having a rectangular shape with a short side extending in a stacking direction of the battery cells and a long side extending in a direction orthogonal to the stacking direction of the battery cells, the adhesive member is only disposed at each of both end portions of the bottom surface in the direction orthogonal to the stacking direction of the battery cells, and the heat conduction member is only disposed at a central portion of the bottom surface in the direction orthogonal to the stacking direction of the battery cells. Ahn does not disclose the above claimed limitation. Furthermore, Yamamoto (EP 3916832 A1) as submitted on Applicant's Information Disclosure Statement filed 13 March 2026, is also close prior art, see Fig. 5 below.
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Yamamoto’s Figure 5 is shown looking in the stack direction (X). Yamamoto’s Figure 4 is shown top-down in the Z direction. However, Yamamoto does not disclose that the heat conduction member that has an elastic modulus smaller than an elastic modulus of the adhesive member. While Yamamoto discloses that the layer (51) has higher compressibility than the frame (40) [0064], Yamamoto makes no comparison between the layer (51) and the adhesive (56). In fact, both the layer (51) is described as including silicone ([0062]) as well as the adhesive (56/37) being made of silicone ([0044]. Since Yamamoto discloses the idea of the same material for each layer, there is no teaching wherein the layer (51) is more compressible than the adhesive (56/37).
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 NICHOLAS A SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-8760. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-3:30pm.
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/NICHOLAS A SMITH/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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