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. Response to Preliminary Amendment The preliminary amendment filed August 31, 2023 is acknowledged. Action on the merits of claims 1-13 follows. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements filed August 31, 2023; December 13, 2024; February 25, 2025 and May 6, 2025 have been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits. With respect to foreign language references and foreign language patent office communications with no translation of the document: “If no translation is submitted, the examiner will consider the information in view of the concise explanation and insofar as it is understood on its face, e.g., drawings, chemical formulas, English language abstracts, in the same manner that non-English language information in Office search files is considered by examiner in conducting searches.” See MPEP §609.04(a)(II) (D) and 37 CFR 1.98(a)(3)(ii). Drawings The drawings received August 31, 2023 are acceptable for examination purposes. Specification The specification received August 31, 2023 has been reviewed for examination purposes. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis ( i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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 , 2, 4 and 12 -13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0252058) . As to claim 1, Kim discloses a battery pack comprising: at least one battery module 50 including at least one battery cell 10 ; a case tray 210 configured to support the at least one battery module 50 ; a case cover 220 coupled with the case tray 210 to cover the at least one battery module 50 ; a sealing gasket 230 disposed between the case tray 210 and the case cover 220 to prevent penetration of moisture or foreign substance into the at least one battery module 50 ; and a reinforcing unit 221/ 225 provided to the case cover 220 to be disposed close to adjacent to the sealing gasket 230 , and portion 225, in contact with and adjacent to the interior wall surface of the case 210 is sufficiently configured to prevent twisting of the case cover 220 when the case tray 210 and the case cover 220 are coupled (Fig. 4A and annotated Fig. 4B) . As to claim 2, the case tray 210 and case cover 220 are mutually coupled using fastening unit 20 wherein the fastening unit 20 penetrates the sealing gasket 230 when the case tray 210 and case cover 220 are coupled and wherein portions of the reinforcing unit 221/ 225 are disposed oppositely with the fastening unit 20 therebetween (Fig. 4B). As to claim 4 , the reinforcing unit 221/ 225 has a thickness corresponding to at least a thickness of the sealing gasket 230 (Fig. 4B). As to claim 12, the battery pack above is useful in electric vehicles (para. [0004]). As to claim 13, Kim teaches that the relative thicknesses of all elements therein are the same, thus the thickness of the reinforcing unit 221/ 225 is not greater than the thickness of the sealing gasket 230 (Fig. 4B). Claims 1, 3 , 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0106211) . As to claim 1, Lee discloses a battery pack comprising: at least one battery module 10 including at least one battery cell; a case tray 110 configured to support the at least one battery module 10 ; a case cover 120 coupled with the case tray 1 10 to cover the at least one battery module 1 0 ; a sealing gasket 150 disposed between the case tray 1 10 and the case cover 1 20 to prevent penetration of moisture or foreign substance into the at least one battery module 1 0 ; and a reinforcing unit 124 provided to the case cover 120 to be disposed close to adjacent to the sealing gasket 150 , and unit 124, provided in contact with and adjacent to portion 112 of the tray 110 is sufficiently configured to prevent twisting of the case cover 120 when the case tray 1 10 and the case cover 1 20 are coupled (F igs. 1, 2, 3A and annotated Fig. 3B ) . As to claim 3 , portions 125 and 122 of the reinforcing unit are disposed oppositely with the sealing gasket 150 interposed therebetween (Fig. 3B above). As to claim 4, the reinforcing unit 124 has a thickness corresponding to at least a thickness of the sealing gasket 150 (Fig. 3 B). As to claim 13, Lee teaches that the relative thicknesses of all elements therein are the same, thus the thickness of the reinforcing unit 124 is not greater than the thickness of the sealing gasket 150 (Fig. 3 B). Claims 1, 3, 4 and 12- 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Katayama et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0284125) . As to claim 1, Katayama discloses a battery pack comprising: at least one battery module including at least one battery cell 42 ; a case tray 38 configured to support the at least one battery module; a case cover 39 coupled with the case tray 38 to cover the at least one battery module; a sealing gasket 40 disposed between the case tray 38 and the case cover 39 to prevent penetration of moisture or foreign substance into the at least one battery module; and a reinforcing unit provided to the case cover 39 to be disposed close to adjacent to the sealing gasket 40 , and outer edge of the reinforcing unit bent over the edge of case tray 39 is sufficiently configured to prevent twisting of the case cover 39 when the case tray 38 and the case cover 39 are coupled ( see annotated Fig. 7 below ) . As to claim 3, portions and of the reinforcing unit are disposed oppositely with the sealing gasket 40 interposed therebetween ( annotated Fig. 7 below ). As to claim 4, the reinforcing unit has a thickness corresponding to at least a thickness of the sealing gasket 40 (Fig. 7 ). As to claim 12, Katayama teaches of a vehicle including the battery pack of claim 1 (Fig. 1 for example and corresponding disclosure). As to claim 13, Katayama teaches that the relative thicknesses of all elements therein are the same, thus the thickness of the reinforcing unit is not greater than the thickness of the sealing gasket 40 (Fig. 7 ). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to claims 5-11, none of the cited prior art of record, alone or in combination are held to reasonably teach, suggest or render obvious the battery pack of at least claim 5 wherein portions of the reinforcing unit include first and second reinforcing places provided in the manner recited in claim 5 with the sealing gasket disposed between the first and second reinforcing plates. Neither Kim, Lee nor Katayama reasonably teach, suggest or render obvious the features of claim 5 noted above and none of the remaining cited prior art of record, alone or in combination, remedy the deficiencies of Kim, Lee or Katayama with respect to the features of claim 5. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0221910 discloses a battery pack comprising a tray, cover, gasket and fasteners but no reinforcing unit. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT GREGG CANTELMO whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-1283 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Mon-Thurs 7am 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 Basia Ridley can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 272-1453 . 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. /GREGG CANTELMO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725