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 claims 1-9 in the reply, filed on 04/28/2026, is acknowledged. Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group of the invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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 non-obviousness.
Claim(s) 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (EP 3024084), see the attached English Translation, in view of Wang et al. (US 10,714,792).
As to claim 1, Kim et al. (EP ‘084) disclose a battery casing, comprising:
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (A housing cover 130)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (A housing bottom (140))][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (A 2nd side-edge (130, 330))][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (A 1st side-edge (120, 320))]
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[AltContent: textbox (Positioning structure (310))][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (A housing (120, 300))]
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- a housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051]; a prismatic body 200, ¶ [0054]; a prismatic body 300, ¶ [0055]), wherein the housing (a prismatic body 120, 200, 300) is a structure with two open ends (see figs. 2-4) and is configured to be formed by bending and welding of a sheet material (¶ [0044], ¶ [0054] - ¶ [0055]), the sheet material has a first side edge and a second side edge (end portions 220, 230 and 320, 330; ¶ [0054] - ¶ [0055]), and which are welded (¶ [0054] - ¶ [0055]), and the first side edge (end portions 220, 320) and the second side edge (end portions 230, 330) are provided with positioning structures (see metal plates 210 and 310, ¶ [0054] – ¶ [0055] and fig. 4);
- a housing bottom (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2), wherein the housing bottom is welded to a first end (fig. 2) of the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051]), and the housing bottom (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) is configured to seal and block the first end of the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2); and
- a housing cover (an upper portion sealing member 130, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2), wherein the housing cover (an upper portion sealing member 130, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) is welded to a second end of the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2), and the housing cover (an upper portion sealing member 130, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) is configured to seal and block the second end of the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) facing away from the housing bottom (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2).
However, Kim et al. (EP ‘084) fail to disclose the housing (a prismatic body 120, 200, 300) is tubular, as claimed in claim 1, and a positioning mechanism with a groove and a protrusion, as claimed in claims 2 - 4.
In the analogous art, Wang et al. (US ‘792) disclose an integrally-formed rechargeable battery comprising an integrally-formed metal sleeve (1) with an annular portion (11, col. 4, lines 13-17), a cell (2), a surface pad (10), and an outer film (20). See col. 3, lines 13-21.
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As to claim 1, Wang et al. (US ‘792) disclose a battery casing (Figs. 9f, 9g, 9h) a housing (integrally-formed metal sleeve 1) with open ends which is tubular structure (col. 4, lines 13-17 and Figs. 9f, 9g, 9h).
As to claim 2, Wang et al. (US ‘792) teach the positioning mechanisms comprise grooves (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47) disposed on the first side edge and protrusions (clamping protrusions 51, col. 9, lines 32-47) disposed on the second side edge, a width of a groove bottom of each groove (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47) is greater than a width of each groove opening of the grooves (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47), a shape of each groove (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47) is adapted to a shape of the respective protrusion (clamping protrusions 51, col. 9, lines 32-47), and the protrusions (clamping protrusions 51, col. 9, lines 32-47) are configured to be inserted into the grooves (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47) when the first side edge and the second side edge are brought into contact. See col. 9, lines 32-47.
As to claim 3, Wang et al. (US ‘792) disclose a position where the first side edge and the second side edge are connected is located on a side surface of the housing (integrally-formed metal sleeve 1, col. 4, lines 13-17 and fig. 11)
As to claim 4, Wang et al. (US ‘792) teach the positioning structure comprise a through holes (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47) and bumps (clamping protrusions 51, col. 9, lines 32-47), the through holes (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47) is disposed on the sheet material (the plate 50, col. 9, lines 32-47) and is adjacent to the first side edge, the bumps (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47) are disposed on the sheet material (the plate 50, col. 9, lines 32-47) and is adjacent to the second side edge, and the bumps (clamping protrusions 51, col. 9, lines 32-47) are configured to be inserted into the through holes (clamping grooves 52, col. 9, lines 32-47), the first side edge is welded to an outer side wall of the sheet material (the plate 50, col. 9, lines 32-47), and the second side edge is welded to an inner side wall of the sheet material (the plate 50, col. 9, lines 32-47).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the time of applicant’s invention, to modify a structure of the housing, as taught by Kim et al. (EP ‘084), to be in a tubular form having a positioning mechanism comprising of a groove disposed on the first side edge and a protrusion disposed on the second side edge in order to improve the workability of the battery casing so to have a high shape integration and reliable structure in operation, as suggested by Wang et al. (US ‘792): col. 1, lines 40-44.
As to claim 5, Kim et al. (EP ‘084) disclose the housing bottom (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) comprises a bottom plate (140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2), and a surrounding wall is formed by extending from an edge of the bottom plate (140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) toward the housing (a prismatic body 300, ¶ [0055]); and an outer side wall of the surrounding wall is connected to an inner side wall of the housing (a prismatic body 300, ¶ [0055]), or an inner side wall of the surrounding wall is connected to an outer side wall of the housing (a prismatic body 300, ¶ [0055]). See fig. 3.
As to claim 6, Kim et al. (EP ‘084) teach the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051]; a prismatic body 200, ¶ [0054]; a prismatic body 300, ¶ [0055]) comprises a first segment and a second segment (Figs. 2-4), a cross-sectional dimension of the second segment is less than a cross-sectional dimension of the first segment, the housing bottom (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) comprises a bottom plate (140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2), and a surrounding wall is formed by extending from an edge of the bottom plate (140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) toward the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051]), and an inner side wall of the surrounding wall is connected to an outer side wall of the second segment. (See Fig. 4)
As to claim 7, Kim et al. (EP ‘084) discloses the housing comprises a bottom plate (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2), and a peripheral portion of the bottom plate (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) is depressed to form a step surface, and the step surface is connected to the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051]).
As to claim 8, Kim et al. (EP ‘084) teach at least a first accommodation portion (and a second accommodation portion are arranged within the housing (a prismatic body 300, ¶ [0055]), the first accommodation portion (end portion 320, ¶ [0055]) communicates with the second accommodation portion (end portion 330, ¶ [0055]), and a thickness of the first accommodation portion (end portion 320, ¶ [0055]) is greater than a thickness of the second accommodation portion (end portion 330, ¶ [0055]).
As to claim 9, Kim et al. (EP ‘084) disclose the battery casing is designed by using at least one of following arrangement manners: a thickness of the housing bottom (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2) being not less than a thickness (¶ [0051], ¶ [0054] - ¶ [0055]) of the sheet material of the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051]); and a hardness of the sheet material of the housing (a prismatic body 120, ¶ [0051]) being greater than a hardness of the housing bottom (a portion sealing member 140, ¶ [0051], and fig. 2).
Correspondence Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEYED MASOUD MALEKZADEH whose telephone number is (571)272-6215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SUSAN D. LEONG can be reached at (571)270-1487. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SEYED MASOUD MALEKZADEH/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1754
06/13/2026
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