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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR 10-2022-0040294, filed on 31 Mar 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 27 Mar 2023 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4-7, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park et al. (KR 101111074, Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Park teaches a secondary battery (see Page3:L30-33), comprising:
an electrode assembly (130, Fig. 3);
a pouch accommodating the electrode assembly (140, Fig. 3); and
an insulating element (150, Fig. 3) formed on an inner surface of the pouch (inner surface of pouch 140, Fig. 4),
wherein an inside of the pouch (space between 142 and 144, Fig. 4) comprises an accommodating portion (space inside of 140 where 130 is located, Fig. 4) for inserting the electrode assembly (130) and peripheral portions (peripheral portions, Annotated Fig. 4, below) around the accommodating portion (space inside of 140 where 130 is located),
at least one of the peripheral portions (peripheral portion, Annotated Fig. 4, below) has a sealing surface (180, Fig. 4, see Page5:L24-26) and a non-sealing surface (non-sealing surface, Annotated Fig. 4, below),
and the insulating element (150) is formed on the non-sealing surface (non-sealing surface) and is not formed on the sealing surface (180, see Page6:L3-13).
Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 4
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Examiner’s Note: It is the position of the Examiner that the embodiment of Park’s Fig. 3, referred to as Example 1, does not have the insulating element 150 formed on the sealing surface, as Park specifically notes the protrusion depicted in Fig. 5 as a contrasting feature of the embodiments referred to as Example 1 and 2 (see Page6:L3-13).
Regarding claim 2, Park teaches the insulating element (150, Fig. 4) formed within 10 mm from a boundary (edge of 180, Fig. 4) between the sealing surface (180, Fig. 4) and non-sealing surface (non-sealing surface, Annotated Fig. 4, above).
Examiner’s Note: It is the position of the Examiner that the insulating element 150 is formed at the boundary (see Page4:L27-29) between the sealing surface and the non-sealing surface, thereby teaching an insulating element formed within 10 mm (0 mm), from said boundary.
Regarding claim 4, Park teaches an electrode tab (132, Fig. 3) connected to the electrode assembly (130, Fig. 3) and drawn to the peripheral portion (peripheral portions, Annotated Fig. 3, below) of the pouch (140, Fig. 3),
wherein the peripheral portions (peripheral portions, Annotated Fig. 3, below) comprise a tab drawing portion (tab drawing portion, Annotated Fig. 3, below) through which the electrode tab (132) is drawn out and a side peripheral portion (side peripheral portion, Annotated Fig. 3c, below) from which the electrode tab (132) is not drawn out (see Annotated Fig. 3, below).
Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3
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Regarding claim 5, Park teaches the insulating element (150, Fig. 3) is formed on at least a portion of an inner surface (inner surface of pouch 140, Fig. 3) of the tab drawing portion (tab drawing portion, Annotated Fig 3, above) and an inner surface (inner surface of pouch 140) of the side peripheral portion (side peripheral portion, Annotated Fig. 3, above).
Regarding claim 6, Park teaches the tab drawing portion (tab drawing portion, Annotated Fig 3, above) is formed at upper (upper side of pouch 140, Fig. 3) and lower sides (lower side of pouch 140, Fig. 3) of the pouch (140), and the side peripheral portion (side peripheral portion, Annotated Fig. 3, above) is connected to the upper and lower sides.
Regarding claim 7, Park teaches the tab drawing portion (tab drawing portion, Annotated Fig. 3, above) is formed at an upper side (upper side of pouch 140, Fig. 3) or a lower side (lower side of pouch 140, Fig. 3) of the pouch (140), and the side peripheral portion (side peripheral portion, Annotated Fig. 3, above) is connected to the upper or the lower side.
Regarding claim 11, Park teaches the pouch has a laminated structure (see Page4:L1) including a sealant layer (heat-melt resin sealant layer) a metal layer (metal blocking layer) and a coating layer (resin outer layer, see Page4:L1-4).
Regarding claim 12, Park teaches the sealant layer (heat-melt resin sealant layer) includes a polyolefin-based resin (polypropylene film, see Page4:L9-12), the metal layer (metal blocking layer) includes aluminum (see Page4:L5-6), and the coating layer (resin outer layer) includes nylon (see Page4:L6-9).
Examiner’s Note: It is the position of the Examiner that polypropylene is a species of the genus of polyolefins, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art, so Park anticipates the inclusion of a polyolefin-based sealant layer by teaching a polypropylene-based layer.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (KR 101111074, Machine Translation attached), in view of Kim et al. (KR 2014/0137603, Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 8, Park teaches the accommodating portion (space inside of 140 where 130 is located, Fig. 4) comprises a first accommodating portion,
but does not teach a first accommodating portion and a second accommodating portion facing each other, and the peripheral portions further comprise a folding portion separating the first accommodating portion and the second accommodating portion.
However, Kim teaches the accommodating portion (140, Fig. 1) comprises a first accommodating portion (inside of 110b, Fig. 1) and a second accommodating portion (inside of 110a, Fig. 1) facing each other (see Fig. 1), and
the peripheral portions (120a/b, Fig. 1) further comprise a folding portion (portion of 120a/b between 110a and 110b, Fig. 1) separating the first accommodating portion and the second accommodating portion (see Fig. 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the accommodating portion of Park by forming a second accommodating portion connected by a folding portion to the first accommodating portion, as taught by Kim, to obtain a pouch requiring only three of the four sides to have a sealing surface/layer on the upper and lower sheets of pouch material (see [0019]).
Regarding claim 9, Park, in view of Kim, teaches the insulating element (150, Fig. 3) is not formed on an inner surface of the folding portion (folding portion formed between upper case 142 and lower case 144, as taught by Kim).
Examiner’s Note: It is the position of the Examiner that modifying the accommodating portion of Park to include a folding portion, as taught by Kim, would have the insulating element formed not on the folding portion, but elsewhere, since Kim teaches an insulating element formed around the electrode tabs (170a/b, Fig. 1) but not on the folding portion (see [0028]).
Claims 3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (KR 101111074, Machine Translation attached), in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Pub US 2008/0241680).
Regarding claim 3, Park teaches the insulating element (150, Fig. 4) is formed on the boundary (edge of 180, Fig. 4) between the sealing surface (180, Fig. 4) and the non-sealing surface (non-sealing surface, Annotated Fig. 4, under claim 1),
but does not teach wherein the insulating element is formed within 0.1 mm to 5 mm from said boundary.
However, Lee teaches the insulating element (140, Fig. 3) is formed within 0.1 mm to 5 mm (0.001 mm to 5 mm, see [0029 and 0033]) from a boundary (130/123 boundary, Fig. 3) between the sealing surface (inner surface of 123, Fig. 3) and the non-sealing surface (left wall of 130, Fig. 3).
Examiner’s Note: It is the position of the Examiner that “formed within 0.1 mm to 5 mm from a boundary” means that some portion of the insulating element occupies the defined region, since “formed within” does not necessarily exclude also being formed outside. Since Park teaches the insulating element 140 is formed at the boundary ([0029]) and has a thickness ranging from 0.001 mm to 5 mm ([0033]), there must be some portion of the insulating element 140 formed within a region 0.1 mm to 5 mm from the boundary.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the insulating element of Park to be formed within 0.1 to 5 mm from a boundary between the sealing and non-sealing surfaces, as taught by Lee, to ensure the insulating element is not melted during the sealing process (see [0030]).
Regarding claim 10, Park teaches an insulating element (150),
but does not teach the insulating element comprises an insulating tape including at least one selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polyacetylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, nylon, polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene and chlorinated polypropylene.
However, Lee teaches an insulating element (140, Fig. 3) comprising an insulating tape (see [0031]) including at least one selected from the group consisting of polyethylene (polyethylene), polyacetylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, nylon, polyimide (polyimide film), polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene (polypropylene) and chlorinated polypropylene (see [0032]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the insulating element of Park with an insulating tape comprising at least one of polyethylene, polyimide, and polypropylene, as taught by Lee, to prevent contact between the electrode leads and the battery case (see [0031]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Aidan L Papandria whose telephone number is (571)272-1831. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 ET.
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/AIDAN LACHLAN PAPANDRIA/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723