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 .
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed on 9/3/2026. Claims 11-15 have been canceled. Claims 10, 16-31 are pending. Claims 18-20, 22, and 24-31are withdrawn from further consideration as being drawn to a non-elected invention, in accordance with 37 CFR 1.142(b). Applicant’s arguments have been considered and are persuasive. However, upon further consideration, the instant claims are rejected under new grounds of rejections. Claims 10, 16, 17, 21, 23 are non-finally rejected for reasons stated herein below.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Figures 10 and 11, claims 10-14, 16, 17, 21, 23 in the reply filed on 3/27/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 18-20, 22, and 24-31 are withdrawn from consideration.
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 10, 16, 17, 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (CN 2505692) in view of Stein (US 2010/0108688) and Xiong (CN 111584813).
Regarding claim 10, Fan discloses a rechargeable battery unit 10, wherein a rechargeable battery unit comprises a housing 9.
Regarding claim 10, wherein a rechargeable battery unit comprises a plurality of battery cells located within the housing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form the battery of Fan in the form of a plurality of battery cells for the benefit of providing an appropriate amount of power to the lamp of Fan.
Regarding claim 10, a method of installing a rechargeable battery unit, the method comprising: forming a hole in the ground and placing the battery unit in the hole, Fan discloses that the battery 10 is embedded underground (page 2 of translation). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form a hole in the ground and to place the battery in the hole for the benefit of embedding the battery of Fan underground. See figure 1.
wherein the housing is watertight (page 2 of translation).
Regarding claim 23, the housing of the rechargeable battery unit comprises a base unit 15 and a cover 13, the base unit being attached to the base unit to form a water-tight seal (page 2 of translation).
Regarding claim 10, the method further comprising, after placing the battery unit in the hole, placing drainage aggregate in the hole and then covering the aggregate with earth, Fan discloses that the battery is embedded underground (page 2 of translation). Stein teaches underground storage tanks ("USTs") are tanks designed to contain liquids such as petroleum products and are buried below the surface of the ground. A typical UST used in a gasoline filling station may contain 2,000 gallons or more of fuel. In a typical UST installation, the top of the tank is located thirty inches or more below a concrete driving surface. The UST is surrounded by sand, gravel or crushed stone, which provides even support to the tank and acts as a drainage medium to allow water to drain away from the area of the tank. As used in this application, the term `drainage medium` includes crushed stone, sand, gravel and any equivalent material [0006]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to surround the battery case by drainage aggregate after installing the battery underground, as taught by Stein, for the benefit of preventing accumulation of moisture or water around the battery.
Although Fan deals with underground battery and Stein deals with underground storage tanks, both deals with underground storage material, and hence both deal with the same field of endeavor of underground storage material.
Further, it has been held that combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results would have been within the skill of an ordinary artisan. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. ___, ___, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007). See MPEP 2143. Combining Stein’s drainage aggregates around the underground battery of Fan would drain any water surrounding the battery and keep the nearby area dry, and hence would yield predictable results.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to then cover the drainage aggregate with earth for the benefit of protecting the battery and the drainage aggregates from any outside atmosphere.
Regarding claim 10, Fan discloses placing the battery unit underground, but does not disclose forming a substantially cylindrical hole. Xiong teaches an underwater robot emergency module power supply having a cylindrical housing. It uses an electrode connecting strip to connect the electric core in series, parallel, or series-parallel connection mode according to the use requirement to form a plurality of output voltage, output current of the electric core group. The symmetry and sealing performance of the invention is good, meeting the use requirement of underwater robot. See Abstract. A supporting rod is provided between the first and second electric core group. The supporting rod prevents the electric core in the electric core groups from being pressed (page 5 of translation).
Regarding claim 10, Xiong teaches the housing has a substantially round or oval cross-section (see figure 1),
Regarding claim 10, Xiong teaches wherein the housing is substantially elongate and round-cylindrical in shape (see figure 1),
Regarding claim 10, Xiong teaches wherein the rechargeable battery unit comprises a skeleton having a plurality of elongate members 16 running a length of the housing, the elongate members being attached to one or more circumferential members (see figure 1).
Regarding claim 16, the housing is substantially elongate and round-cylindrical in
shape. See figure 1.
Regarding claim 17, the rechargeable battery unit comprises a skeleton having a plurality of elongate members 16 running a length of the housing, the elongate members being attached to one or more circumferential members. See figure 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to use the battery module of Xiong as the rechargeable battery and the protective box of Fan and therefore, forming a substantially cylindrical hole in the ground, for the benefit of having a battery and housing with good sealing that withstands underground pressure, and customized power supply sufficient for its power requirement.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (CN 01275416) in view of Xiong (CN 111584813) as applied to claim 10, further in view of Asano (JP 2003-229097).
Regarding claim 21, Fan modified by Xiong does not teach the rechargeable battery unit further comprises a port formed in the housing and a valve assembly connected to the port wherein the valve assembly comprises a pressure valve and a cover for covering the valve. Asano teaches a battery housing having a cap on one end. The cap part is provided with a gas exhaust port and a safety valve 12b and a cover 12a for coving the valve. See figure 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add a valve configuration of Asano to the battery of Lan modified by Xiong for the benefit of releasing internal pressure safely.
Response to Arguments
Arguments dated 9/3/2026 are moot in view of new grounds of rejections.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO WALLS whose telephone number is (571)272-8699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F until 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at 571-270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
