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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on June 10, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1 and 2 are examined herein.
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2017152140. Regarding claim 1, the reference is directed to a battery comprising a tab structure comprising a charge collection terminal having a plate shape including a contact portion (15) that is disposed at a first direction of one end side of the battery, and a base portion (15, at 23a) contiguous with the contact portion at a side of the contact portion toward a first direction center portion of the battery (Fig. 1). A tab film (17) is formed with a projecting portion protruding out from a corner portion of the base portion provided at an end portion in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and to a thickness direction (Z direction) of the terminal, and that is disposed at a periphery of the base portion in a state of being welded to the base portion (the edge of 17 forms a projecting portion where it meets the angled portion of 17, Fig. 3). Regarding claim 2, the projection portion protrudes out from the corner portion in the second direction (X direction in Figure 3). Thus, the instant claims are anticipated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jonathan Crepeau whose telephone number is (571) 272-1299. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Nicole Buie-Hatcher, can be reached at (571) 270-3879. The phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 272-1700. Documents may be faxed to the central fax server at (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. 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, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/Jonathan Crepeau/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
July 22, 2026
Prosecution Insights