DETAILED ACTION
Notice to Applicant
In the amendment dated 2026-08-12, the following has occurred: Claims 1 and 2 have been amended; Claims 11, 13, 14, and 19 have (previously) been canceled.
Claims 1-10, 12, and 15-18 are pending and are examined herein. This is a Final Rejection.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 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.
Claims 1-10, 12, and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) 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.
Independent claims 1 and 2 now require “when the first single cell generates heat, a greater quantity of heat is transferred in the surface direction than is transferred in the thickness direction.” That claim limitation, in its broadest reasonable interpretation, has a few features:
it is written in the form of a conditional
the conditional is unqualified
it implies positive structural features only insofar as the claimed battery must have positive structural features that enable a capacity for satisfying the conditional
That is, the claims are directed towards an “assembly battery” in which whenever a first cell generates heat, a greater quantity of heat is always transferred in the surface direction than is transferred in the thickness direction. This is not described in the specification. Instead, what is described appears to be a partition member with a chamber having a volatilizable substance, wherein once the substance reaches a certain temperature, it volatilizes along some portion of the partition member’s surface, reducing the heat transfer coefficient at that portion of the surface relative to the rest of the partition. So while at paragraph 0114, the instant specification says that “A greater quantity of heat moves in the surface direction than in the thickness direction, on account of the above heat transfer in the surface direction and through formation of the heat insulating layer” (US 2023/0231226), it does not say “when the first single cell generates heat, a greater quantity of heat is transferred in the surface direction than is transferred in the thickness direction.” That only occurs under much more limited conditions, when a great quantity of heat has already been transferred in the thickness direction, sufficient to volatilize the interior substance and change the heat coefficient. The claims are therefore rejected for new matter.
Claims 1-10, 12, and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Independent claims 1 and 2 now require “when the first single cell generates heat, a greater quantity of heat is transferred in the surface direction than is transferred in the thickness direction.” As discussed above, this implies that the partition transfers a greater quantity of heat in the surface direction than in the thickness direction whenever the first cell generates heat. This kind of structure does not appear to be enabled or described in the specification. It is unclear what positive structural features are implied, therefore, by the limitation. While it is possible to conceive of such a partition— such as a partition with a thermally insulative middle section and conductive outer sections—this does not appear to be contemplated in any embodiments in the instant specification, and appears to go against the design principles of the battery assemblies described therein. The claims are therefore rejected for being indefinite, relying on an apparently unqualified conditional statement about the assembly’s capacities, rather than unambiguously identifying the metes and bounds of the positive structural features.
Response to Arguments
The arguments submitted 2026-08-12 have been considered but do not place the application in condition for allowance. The claims are rejected for new matter and for being indefinite.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Michael Dignan, whose telephone number is (571) 272-6425. The examiner can normally be reached from Monday to Friday between 10 AM and 6:30 PM. If any attempt to reach the examiner by telephone is unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tiffany Legette, can be reached at (571)270-7078. Another resource that is available to applicants is the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR). Information regarding the status of an application can be obtained from the (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAX. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, please feel free to contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). Applicants are invited to contact the Office to schedule an in-person interview to discuss and resolve the issues set forth in this Office Action. Although an interview is not required, the Office believes that an interview can be of use to resolve any issues related to a patent application in an efficient and prompt manner.
/MICHAEL L DIGNAN/Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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