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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-15 are currently pending;
Claims 1-6 are currently amended;
Claims 13-15 are new.
Status of Objections and Rejections Pending Since the Office Action of 08/26/2026
The 102(a)(1) rejections of claims 1-4 and the 103 rejections of claims 5-12 are withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment and argument and replaced with a new 103 rejection in view of Nakamoto in view of Song.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 11/25/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-12 under 102(a)(1) and 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Nakamoto in view of Song.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 includes the limitation “the electrode sheets or the separators have peripheral end portions arranged in a thickness direction to form peripheral facing surface that faces…” in lines 11-12 that should be corrected to “the electrode sheets or the separators have peripheral end portions arranged in a thickness direction to form a peripheral facing surface that faces…” or a similar alternative.
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 13 and 15 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 13 recites the limitation "the gas guiding portion" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the sake of examination, “the gas guiding portion” is being interpreted as the “gas guiding part” as introduced in claim 1, line 14.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the gas guiding portion" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the sake of examination, “the gas guiding portion” is being interpreted as the “gas guiding part” as introduced in claim 1, line 14.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamoto et al. (JP-5904203-B2), hereinafter Nakamoto, in view of Song et al. (US-20220336914-A1), hereinafter Song.
Regarding claim 1, Nakamoto teaches a power storage device comprising: an electrode body; a case accommodating the electrode body ([0020]; fig. 1 electrode body 10 in a battery case 2); and a safety valve provided to the case and configured to release gas generated in the case to outside the case ([0022]; fig. 1 safety valve 7 opens to release gas), wherein the case has a rectangular parallelepiped box shape (fig. 1), and includes: a top wall having a rectangular shape ([0019]; fig. 1 lid 5); a bottom wall having a rectangular shape and being opposed to the top wall (fig. 1; [0019] rectangular container); and a side wall joining the top wall and the bottom wall (fig. 1; [0019] rectangular container), the electrode body includes electrode sheets and separators ([0024]; [0020] electrode body 10 is formed from winding a stack of a separator between a positive electrode plate 11 and negative electrode plate 12), which overlap each other, in which the electrode sheets or the separators have peripheral end portions arranged in a thickness direction to form peripheral facing surface that faces the side wall of the case ([0024] end surfaces 13), the safety valve is placed on the top wall of the case ([0022]; fig. 1 safety valve 7), the power storage device further includes a gas guiding part for guiding the gas toward the safety valve when the gas spouts from the electrode body ([0029]; fig. 1; protective members 8 guides gas upward to the safety valve 7), the gas guiding part is placed between the side wall of the case and the peripheral facing surface of the electrode body and is configured to guide the gas toward the top wall when the gas spouts from the peripheral facing surface toward the short side wall ([0029] fig. 1 protective members 8 guides gas upward to the safety valve 7), spaced from the peripheral facing surface with a gap wider toward the top wall (figs. 2-4 and fig. 6).
Nakamoto fails to teach that the gas guiding part includes an inclined surface that forms an inclined surface.
Song is considered analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of gas guiding parts for batteries ([0008]). Song teaches that the gas guiding part includes an inclined surface with a gap wider toward where the gas is discharge from the battery casing (vent member 16 and/or extension 15; [0069]; fig. 3; figs. 5-13).
Therefore, it would be obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Nakamoto and replace the shape of the gas guiding members of Nakamoto with the inclined shape of Song as it is a known shape that easily facilitates gas venting in a specific direction and improves the safety of the battery (Song [0078]; [0008]).
Regarding claim 2, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Nakamoto also teaches that the gas guiding part is formed of a gas guiding member that is a separate body from the case (fig. 1 protective members 8 are separate from the case).
Regarding claim 3, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Nakamoto also teaches that the top wall ([0019]; fig. 1 lid 5) has a pair of long sides (fig. 1) and a pair of short sides ([0024]; fig. 1 side walls 4); the case includes, as the side wall, a pair of long side walls extending individually from the pair of long; and a pair of short side walls extending individually from the pair of short sides (fig. 1; [0019] rectangular container), the electrode body includes a pair of peripheral facing surfaces that face the pair of short side walls of the case ([0024] end surfaces 13), wherein the pair of peripheral facing surfaces includes the peripheral facing surface ([0024] end surfaces 13).
Regarding claim 4, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 2. Nakamoto also teaches that the top wall ([0019]; fig. 1 lid 5) has a pair of long sides (fig. 1) and a pair of short sides ([0024]; fig. 1 side walls 4); the case includes, as the side wall, a pair of long side walls extending individually from the pair of long; and a pair of short side walls extending individually from the pair of short sides (fig. 1; [0019] rectangular container), the electrode body includes a pair of peripheral facing surfaces that face the pair of short side walls of the case ([0024] end surfaces 13), wherein the pair of peripheral facing surfaces includes the peripheral facing surface ([0024] end surfaces 13).
Regarding claim 5, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 3. Modified Nakamoto also teaches wherein the gas guiding part faces over a range of 50% or more of the peripheral facing surface in a top-bottom direction of joining the top wall and the bottom wall. (Nakamoto fig. 6; figs. 1-4; [0029]; since the gas guiding members/protective members 8 of Nakamoto already cover the entire peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction, the modified Nakamoto with an inclined shape would consequently also cover the entire peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction).
Regarding claim 6, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 4, Modified Nakamoto also teaches wherein the gas guiding part faces over a range of 50% or more of the peripheral facing surface in a top-bottom direction of joining the top wall and the bottom wall. (Nakamoto fig. 6; figs. 1-4; [0029]; since the gas guiding members/protective members 8 of Nakamoto already cover the entire peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction, the modified Nakamoto with an inclined shape would consequently also cover the entire peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction).
Regarding claim 7, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 5. Modified Nakamoto also teaches wherein the gas guiding part includes the inclined portion that forms the inclined surface facing over all the range of the peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction (Nakamoto fig. 6; figs. 1-4; [0029]; since the gas guiding members/protective members 8 of Nakamoto already cover the entire peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction, the modified Nakamoto with an inclined shape would consequently also cover the entire peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction).
Regarding claim 8, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 6. Modified Nakamoto also teaches wherein the gas guiding part includes the inclined portion that forms the inclined surface facing over all the range of the peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction (Nakamoto fig. 6; figs. 1-4; [0029]; since the gas guiding members/protective members 8 of Nakamoto already cover the entire peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction, the modified Nakamoto with an inclined shape would consequently also cover the entire peripheral facing surface in the top-bottom direction).
Regarding claims 9-12, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claims 5-8. Modified Nakamoto also teaches that the inclined surface has an inclination angle of 0.36° or more, the inclination angle being defined by an interior angle of a right triangle having an adjacent side corresponding to a height of the inclined portion and an opposite side corresponding to a difference between a bottom-end thickness of a bottom end portion of the inclined portion on a closest side to the bottom wall of the case and a top-end thickness of a top end portion of the inclined portion on a closest side to the top wall of the case (Song [0075]; 10 to 80 degrees inclination angle; alternatively fig. 1 and 7B given how broad the inclination angle of 0.36° or more is, it would be obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art that most inclined surfaces would fall within the claimed range of 0.36° or more). Alternatively, the angle may be optimized to minimize the amount of gas vented toward the side portion of the electrode lead (Song [0078]). In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990). "[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 13, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Modified Nakamoto also teaches wherein the inclined portion of the gas guiding portion increases the gap from the peripheral facing surface in a step-wise manner (Song figs. 5-7A and 12-13; alternatively, Nakamoto itself shows a stepwise manner in fig. 6 wherein it steps from 54 down to 55, opening towards the top of the case).
Regarding claim 14, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Modified Nakamoto also teaches wherein the inclined portion includes a curved portion (Song fig. 1; extension 15, in this case interpreted as the gas guiding member, is curved; [0066]; [0069]).
Regarding claim 15, modified Nakamoto teaches all of the limitations of claim 14. Modified Nakamoto also teaches wherein the gas guiding portion further comprises a constant thickness portion closer the top wall than the curved portion (Song fig. 1; extension 15, in this case interpreted as the gas guiding member, is curved; [0066]; [0069]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20220336898 A1 teaches a vent member for a secondary battery that allows for directional venting ([0002]; [0008])
US 20230411781 A1 teaches a venting unit for a battery module to discharge gases to the outside ([0056]-[0057]).
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/M.L.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1722
/NIKI BAKHTIARI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1722