Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/267,059

SECONDARY BATTERY CAPABLE OF PREVENTING OVERCHARGE, AND CHARGING METHOD THEREOF

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jun 13, 2023
Examiner
PELTON, NATHANIEL R
Art Unit
2859
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
LG Energy Solution, Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allow Rate
546 granted / 729 resolved
+6.9% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+18.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
33 currently pending
Career history
762
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.1%
-38.9% vs TC avg
§103
53.5%
+13.5% vs TC avg
§102
23.5%
-16.5% vs TC avg
§112
13.0%
-27.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 729 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 06/13/2023 and 07/29/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. Response to Amendment Acknowledgement is made of the preliminary amendment filed on 06/13/2023 in which claims 1-2, 4-9, and 11 were amended. No claims were added or canceled, therefore claims 1-11 are pending for examination below. 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. Claim(s) 1 and 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Lim et al. [US 2016/0218533] . With respect to claim 1 , Lim discloses a secondary battery [ 10 ] comprising: an electrode assembly having a positive electrode lead and a negative electrode lead on opposite ends of the electrode assembly [ see items 11 ] ; a conducting wire having a first end electrically connected to the positive electrode lead [ 120 ] ; a voltage measurer being electrically connected to a middle of the conducting wire [ 160, par. 0079-0080 ] ; and a temperature-sensitive part at a second end of the conducting wire [ 140 ] , wherein the conducting wire electrically connects the positive electrode lead and the negative electrode lead according to temperature conditions [ par. 0069 ] . With respect to claim 5 , Lim further discloses wherein the voltage measurer measures the voltage between the positive electrode lead and the negative electrode lead when the conducting wire connects to the negative electrode lead due to the change in shape of the temperature-sensitive part [ par. 0079 ] . With respect to claim 6 , Lim further discloses wherein the secondary battery contains controller that is electrically connected to the voltage m easurer and receives voltage value measured by the voltage measurer [ par. 0078-0081 ] . With respect to claim 7 , Lim further discloses wherein the controller halts the charging of the secondary battery if the voltage value received from the voltage measurer greater than or equal to a predetermined value [ par. 0067-0072; i.e. the current path is interrupted ] . With respect to claim 8 , A charging method of a secondary battery comprising: charging a secondary battery according to claim 1 by supplying e lectric power [ see claim 1 ] ; measuring a voltage by the voltage measurer when the temperature- sensitive part of the conducting wire provided in the secondary battery electrically connects to the negative electrode lead and halting the charging of the secondary battery if the voltage value received from the voltage measurer is greater than or equal to the predetermined value [ par. 0069-0080 ] . 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. Claim(s) 2-4 and 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim et al. [US 2016/0218533] as applied above, and further in view of Hatta et al. [US 2017/0110760] and Wang et al. [US 2016/0036100] . With respect to claim s 2-4 and 9-11 , Lim fails to disclose the specific temperature range and materials of the temperature-sensitive part . However, it would have been obvious to select the claimed temperature range with the claimed materials since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material and discover optimum workable ranges. For example , temperature sensitive materials are known in the art as safety mechanisms for breaking down, see for example, Hatta in paragraphs [0356-0357] and Wang in paragraph [0041] . The benefit of designing the specified temperature range with the known materials provide s the benefit of having the interrupter break down at a temperature just before damage can occur to the battery and/or surrounding circuitry elements. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-1761 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 9am to 5pm . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Julian Huffman can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-2147 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /NATHANIEL R PELTON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 13, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+18.7%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 729 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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