DETAILED ACTION Notice to Applicant Claims 1-17 are pending and are examined herein. This is the first action on the merits . 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 1-3, 11, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 FILLIN "Insert either \“(a)(1)\” or \“(a)(2)\” or both. If paragraph (a)(2) of 35 U.S.C. 102 is applicable, use form paragraph 7.15.01.aia, 7.15.02.aia or 7.15.03.aia where applicable." \d "[ 2 ]" (a)(1) as being anticipated by Masuda (US 2021/0167607 to Masuda et al.) . Regarding Claim 1 , Masuda teaches: a battery module comprising a battery cell, that can be arranged with a plurality of other battery cell stacks in what a person having ordinary skill in the art would have understood to be a “stack” within the broadest reasonable interpretation of that phrase (¶ 0016) a measuring circuit including a volume measurer 43 configured to determine a volume change of a battery cell among the plurality of battery cells and to transmit the determined volume change as a signal (¶ 0019-0022, Fig. 1) a controller 4 configured to receive the signal from the measuring circuit to create a time-volume profile representing a volume change over time based on the received signal and configured to determine degradation including excessive gas build up, which presents a risk of gas venting (Fig. 2, ¶ 0018, 0055) wherein the controller is further configured to determine a time when the volume change in the time-volume profile converts from a stagnant state to an increasing state as a gas venting risk point (see Fig. 2 showing stagnant period between t1 and t2, and a rise after t2—¶ 0027) Regarding Claim 2 , Masuda teaches: wherein the time-volume profile is divided into a first section in which a volume increases (t1), a second stagnation of volume, within the broadest reasonable interpretation of that phrase (between t1 and t2), and a third section in which the volume change increases following the second section (after t2), wherein the controller is configured to determine a starting point of the third section as the degradation/venting risk point (¶ 0027-0031) Regarding Claim 3 , Masuda teaches: wherein the time-volume profile and monitoring is performed at a given state of charge (¶ 0039-0046) Regarding Claim 11 , Masuda teaches: sensors for measuring temperature, voltage, and the like (¶ 0019, 0029, 0034 , etc.) Regarding Claim 13 , Masuda teaches: a battery pack comprising the assembled plurality of cells (¶ 0016) Regarding Claim 14 , Masuda teaches: a method of detecting volume change, or pressure increase, associated with gas production, and which therefore presents a “gas venting risk” objectively speaking (¶ 0016, 0055) a data collection process comprising measuring a volume change of a battery cell among the plurality of battery cells including state of charge (¶ 0019, 0028-0029, 0039-0046) creating a time-volume profile representing a volume change over time (Fig. 2, ¶ 0018, 0055) determining a time when the volume change in the time-volume profile converts from a stagnant state to an increasing state as a gas venting risk point (see Fig. 2 showing stagnant period between t1 and t2, and a rise after t2—¶ 0027) Regarding Claim 15 , Masuda teaches: measuring SOC and taking it into account when considering volume changes, wherein measuring the volume while knowing the SOC is the same as measuring volume data at a ‘set SOC’ within the meaning of the claim, and then creating a time-volume profile (¶ 0031-0039) 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 nonobviousness . Claims 4 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuda (US 2021/0167607 to Masuda et al.) in view of Willenberg ( Willenberg et al. “High-Precision Monitoring of Volume Change of Commercial Lithium-Ion Batteries by Using Strain Gauges.” Sustainability 2020, 12 , 557) . Regarding Claim 4 , Masuda teaches: monitoring temperature and incorporating it into measurements and inferences from sense data (¶ 0034) Masuda does not explicitly teach: correcting a measured volume at a given temperature with a standardized volume at a standard volume to create a time-volume profile based on a corrected volume Willenberg , however, from the same field of invention, regarding monitoring of volume changes of battery cells, teaches measuring volume change as a function of temperature separately (see Fig. 3 and associated discussion), in order to determine the volume change according to temperature, rather than , e.g., gas produced during cycling. Renormalizing data to a standardized reference frame is common in the electrochemical arts. Use of a known technique to improve similar devices, methods, or products in the same way, and applying a known technique to a known device, method, or product ready for improvement to yield predictable results has been found to be obvious. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. , 550 U.S. 398 (2007). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to correct for temperature-induced changes to more accurately assess volume change due to other factors, and renormalizing along a standard reference curve was a common technique in the art suitable for such purposes. Regarding Claim 16 , Masuda teaches: data collection including temperature, and the creation of the time-volume profile at a given temperature Masuda does not teach: correcting a measured volume at a given temperature with a standardized volume at a standard volume to create a time-volume profile based on a corrected volume Willenberg , however, from the same field of invention, regarding monitoring of volume changes of battery cells, teaches measuring volume change as a function of temperature separately (see Fig. 3 and associated discussion), in order to determine the volume change according to temperature, rather than, e.g., gas produced during cycling. Renormalizing data to a standardized reference frame is common in the electrochemical arts. Use of a known technique to improve similar devices, methods, or products in the same way, and applying a known technique to a known device, method, or product ready for improvement to yield predictable results has been found to be obvious. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. , 550 U.S. 398 (2007). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to correct for temperature-induced changes to more accurately assess volume change due to other factors, and renormalizing along a standard reference curve was a common technique in the art suitable for such purposes. Claims 5, 7, 8, 10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuda (US 2021/0167607 to Masuda et al.) in view of Riemer (US 2020/0076016 to Riemer et al.) . Regarding Claim 5 , Masuda teaches: a battery cell, known to have a cathode, anode, and separator, inside a battery case (Fig. 1, etc.) Masuda does not explicitly teach: a pouch cell with a pouch case sealed by heat fusion Pouch cells were a well-known cell housing architecture. Riemer, for example, teaches a pouch-type cell with predisposed sensors, wherein the cell is heat sealed (¶ 0023, 0030). Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results has been found to be obvious. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. , 550 U.S. 398 (2007). It would have been obvious to use a conventional, heat-sealed pouch cell housing since they were conventional substitutes in the art for the housing shown in Masuda. Regarding Claim 7 , Masuda teaches: a hexahedral cell, provided in a housing Cell housings were conventional and routine in the art. Hexahedral housings were perhaps the simplest housing shapes in the art. Where a prior art component has the same function as the instantly claimed component, motivation to alter the shape of the component to any other equally useful shape is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art absent evidence of new or unexpected results. See MPEP 2144.04 IV. In the instant case, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to alter the shape of the module case to any equally useful shape, such as the instantly claimed shape, as any shape would serve the same purpose. Regarding Claim 8 , Masuda teaches: a strain gauge (¶ 0028) Regarding Claim 10 , Masuda does not explicitly teach: a strain gauge being attached to a sealing part of the heat-fused portion of the battery case Riemer, however, teaches providing the strain gauge sensors in the battery pouch cell laminate, and such a laminate is attached to the sealing part that is heat-fused, leading to the strain gauge being attached to the sealing part(s) (¶ 0041-0043, etc.). It would have been obvious to position a strain gauge sensor in a pouch cell like that Riemer, with the motivation to measure volume change across the surface, and such positioning is going to inherently result in the strain gauge being attached to a sealing part of the pouch cell, which is just a sub-portion of the laminate film. Regarding Claim 17 , Masuda teaches: a cell with typical features, including cathode, anode, separator, and battery casing (Fig. 1) a strain gauge (¶ 0028) Masuda does not explicitly teach: a pouch-type battery cell sealed by heat fusion Claim s 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuda (US 2021/0167607 to Masuda et al.) in view of Riemer (US 2020/0076016 to Riemer et al.) , in further view of Robinson (Robinson et al. “Detection of Internal Defects in Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Lock-in Thermography.” ECS Electrochemistry Letters, 4 (9) A106-A109 (2015)) . Regarding Claim 6 , Masuda does not explicitly teach: wherein the volume measurer comprises a thermal imaging camera configured to perform a vision inspection on a sealing part in which the battery case is heat-fused Robinson, however, from the same field of invention, regarding a monitoring system for a battery cell, teaches use of thermal imaging to spot volume changes, including gas pockets formed in the cell (A109). For further evidence of ordinary skill in the art, see also Vergori et al. “Monitoring of Li-ion cells with distributed fibre optic sensors.” Procedia Structural Integrity 24 (2019) 233-239, which teaches use of 3D imaging to measure temperature and strain gradients in a Li-ion pouch cell (abstract). See also US 2019/0267677 to Kahn, which teaches high precision optical measurements for sensing strain/volume changes. Use of a known technique to improve similar devices, methods, or products in the same way, and applying a known technique to a known device, method, or product ready for improvement to yield predictable results has been found to be obvious. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. , 550 U.S. 398 (2007). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to use imaging sensors, including thermal imaging sensors to monitor the cell(s) for volume changes, such as the formation of gas pockets, since imaging was a known sensing method in the art with known engineering tradeoffs in comparison to more conventional sensors like strain gauges. Regarding Claim 9 , Masuda teaches: a calculator for estimating the signal received (¶ 0033-0037) Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuda (US 2021/0167607 to Masuda et al.) in view of Stefanopoulou (US Patent No. 11,623,526 to Stefanopoulou et al.). Regarding Claim 12 , Masuda does not teach: a warning signal from the controller based on a risk of gas venting, such as stopping operation, or a recognition signal Such signals are obvious and conventional in the art. Stefanopoulou , for example, from the same field of invention, regarding a monitoring system, including a monitoring system that senses changes in volume and/or pressure, teaches providing a warning to the user that can also stop operation of the battery pack (columns 5-6). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Dignan, whose telephone number is (571) 272-6425. The examiner can normally be reached from Monday to Friday between 10 AM and 6:30 PM. If any attempt to reach the examiner by telephone is unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tiffany Legette, can be reached at (571)270-7078. 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