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 .
Election/Restrictions
2. Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I (Claims 1-11) in the reply filed on May 21, 2026, is acknowledged.
3. Claims 12-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species II and Species III, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 21, 2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. Information disclosure statements (IDS), submitted June 19, 2023; October 21, 2024; August 15, 2025; and, July 23, 2026, have been received and considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Meyer et al. (EP 4117089).
With regard to Claim 1, Meyer et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, a battery module (100), comprising: a front lid, called a first end plate (114), comprising a fluid inlet, called a port (118a-118b), for a fluid to flow into the battery module (100); and a battery case, called a housing (110), coupled to the front lid (114) and having an accommodation region for accommodating a plurality of battery cells (120) (paragraphs 0069-0075), the battery case (110) further comprising: a case frame, called a profile housing (113); one or more inlet channels, called second fluid channels (112), each receiving the fluid from the fluid inlet (118a-118b) and extending through the case frame (113) for the fluid to flow through the battery case (120), wherein each of the one or more inlet channels (112) comprises one or more inlet slits (holes-See Figure 4), such that the fluid flows into the accommodation region for cooling the plurality of battery cells (120); and one or more outlet channels (112), each extending through the case frame (113) for the fluid to flow through the battery case (110), wherein the accommodation region is coupled to the one or more outlet channels (118c-118d) for the fluid to flow out of a fluid outlet of the battery module (120) (paragraphs 0085-W0086; Figures 5, 8).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Claims 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meyer et al. (EP 4117089), as applied to Claim 1 above.
With regard to Claim 7, Meyer et al. disclose the battery module in paragraph 7 above, but do not specifically disclose wherein a flowing direction of the fluid flowing through the one or more inlet channels is perpendicular to a flowing direction of the fluid flowing through the one or more inlet slits. Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to form a flowing direction of the fluid flowing through the one or more inlet channels to be perpendicular to a flowing direction of the fluid flowing through the one or more inlet slits, since it has been held in the art that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04 (VI).
With regard to Claim 8, Meyer et al. disclose the battery module in paragraph 7 above, including wherein the one or more inlet slits (holes-See Figure 4) comprise at least one lateral slit, but do not specifically disclose wherein an angle between a lateral edge of the case frame and a flowing direction of the fluid flowing through the at least one lateral slit is an acute angle. Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to manufacture an angle between a lateral edge of the case frame and a flowing direction of the fluid flowing through the at least one lateral slit to be an acute angle, since such a modification would only involve a mere change in the size and/or shape of a component. A change in size and/or shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04(IV).
With regard to Claim 9, Meyer et al. further disclose in Figures 13-20 and 22-23, a cell holder (140) coupled to the case frame (113) and receiving the plurality of battery cells (120), wherein: the cell holder (140) comprises a plurality of extended columns, called half-shell shaped portions (141), and the plurality of extended columns (141) guides the fluid to flow along a lateral direction when the fluid flows through the at least one lateral slit (hole-See Figure 4) of the one or more inlet channels (112) (paragraphs 0091-0092).
With regard to Claim 10, Meyer et al. disclose in Figures 13-20 and 22-23, wherein a portion of the plurality of extended columns (141) neighbors the one or more inlet channels (112), and other portions of the plurality of extended columns (141) neighbor the one or more outlet channels (112) (paragraphs 0091-0100).
With regard to Claim 11, Meyer et al. further disclose in Figures 13-20 and 22-23, a cell support, called connection sheets (123a-123d), for supporting the plurality of battery cells (120) with the cell holder (140), wherein a distance between the cell support (123a-123d) and the plurality of extended columns (141) is shorter than a threshold distance to prevent the fluid from flowing through the plurality of extended columns (141) (paragraphs 0091-0100).
Allowable Subject Matter
12. Claims 2-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
13. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior art, Meyer et al. (EP4117089), do not teach or fairly suggest the battery module wherein: the front lid further comprises the fluid outlet, one or more lid inlets, and one or more lid outlets, each of the one or more inlet channels is coupled to a corresponding one of the one or more lid outlets for the fluid to flow from the front lid into the battery case, each of the one or more outlet channels comprises one or more outlet slits for the fluid to flow from the accommodation region into at least one corresponding outlet channel of the one or more outlet channels, and each of the one or more outlet channels is coupled to a corresponding one of the one or more lid inlets for the fluid to flow from the battery case back to the front lid; the battery module further comprising: a back lid comprising the fluid outlet and one or more lid inlets for the fluid to flow out of the battery module, wherein: each of the one or more outlet channels comprises one or more outlet slits for the fluid to flow from the accommodation region into at least one corresponding outlet channel of the one or more outlet channels, each of the one or more outlet channels is coupled to a corresponding one of the one or more lid inlets for the fluid to flow from the battery case to the back lid, and each of the one or more inlet channels is coupled to a corresponding one of one or more lid outlets on the front lid for the fluid to flow from the front lid into the battery case, wherein sizes of the one or more lid outlets are different from each other, wherein sizes of the one or more lid outlets are associated with distances between the fluid inlet and the one or more lid outlets, and wherein: the one or more outlet slits comprise at least one lateral slit, and an angle between a lateral edge of the case frame and a flowing direction of the fluid flowing through the at least one lateral slit is an acute angle.
Conclusion
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARIE O APICELLA whose telephone number is (571)272-8614. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 5:00PM EST.
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/KARIE O'NEILL APICELLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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