CTNF 18/288,645 CTNF 97502 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/18/2025, 05/29/2025, 01/02/2025, and 10/27/2023 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15-aia AIA Claim(s) 1-20, and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (US 20050260487 A1) . Regarding Claim 1, Kim is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art of cylindrical batteries (Paragraph 0025, “In further detail, the case 20 may be fabricated out of a conductive metal such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, or nickel-plated steel, and may be shaped as a cylinder,”). Kim discloses an electrode assembly including a first electrode tab and a second electrode tab, and a battery housing configured to accommodate ethe electrode assembly through an open portion formed in one side (Paragraph 0024, “Referring to the accompanying drawings, exemplary embodiments of a secondary battery of the present invention include an electrode group 10 having both positive and negative electrodes 11, 12 and a separator 13 interposed therebetween, and a case 20 with an opening at one side in order to contain the electrode group 10.”). Additionally, Kim discloses a first current collecting plate 40 having a support portion disposed on one surface of the electrode assembly 10 shown in their figure 1 where the central parts of the current collecting plate are support portions disposed on a top surface of the electrode assembly, as well as having a tab coupling portion extending from the support portion coupled to the first electrode tab, that being the sections of the current collector 40 which contact the first electrode tabs 12a. Additionally, Kim’s invention comprises a first housing coupling portion which extends from the first support portion and which is coupled to an inner surface of the battery housing, this being the outermost portions of the first current collecting pate 40 which is in contact with the inner surface of the battery housing 20, where the first current collecting plate 40 is located within the battery housing 20. Additionally, Kim discloses a cap plate 32 configured to cover the open portion (Paragraph 0031, “The cap assembly 30 includes a cap plate 32”), a battery terminal electrically 32a connected to the second electrode tab (Paragraph 0031, “an external terminal 32a”), as well as a sealing spacer 31 configured to prevent movement of the electrode assembly, where the spacer, through holding together the battery can 20 and the cap 32, holds the battery internal components in place and prevents movement of the electrode assembly, as well as enhancing a sealing force of the battery housing (Paragraph 0024, “a cap assembly 30 equipped at the opening of a case 20 through a gasket 31 and sealing the case 20”). Regarding Claim 2, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure where the battery housing includes a beading portion formed at an end adjacent to the open portion, and press-fitted toward an inner side thereof, as shown in figure 1. Additionally, the first housing coupling portion is coupled to the beading portion through contact with the battery housing, where the battery housing comprises the beading portion. Regarding Claim 3, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure where the first housing coupling portion includes a first contact portion coupled to the inner surface of the battery housing, that being the outermost portions of the first current collector plate 40 which contacts the battery housing, and a first connection portion for connecting the support portion and the first contact portion, the first connection portion being the portion located between the support portion and first contact portion. Regarding Claim 4, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 3. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the first contact portion, which is the portion of the first housing coupling portion in direct contact with the battery housing 20, has a shape which at least a part of extends along an inner circumference of the battery housing, based on Kim’s figure 1 which depicts the placement of the connecting portion and housing, and figure 2 which shows the full shape of the current collector plate. Regarding Claim 5, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 3. Additionally, Kim discloses structure where the first connection portion includes first bending portions in which an extension direction thereof is changed, shown in figure 1, where the extension direction of the connection portion of the current collector 40 changes. Regarding Claim 6, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the first current collecting plate further includes a second housing coupling portion extending from an end of the tab coupling portion, shown in figure 2 as the portions of the first current collecting plate which are raised compared to the lowermost portions which comprise the tab connecting portion. Based on the placement shown in figure 1, these portions which contact the housing extend from an end of the tab coupling portion and are coupled to the inner surface of the battery housing. Regarding Claim 7, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 6. Additionally, as shown in figure 2, the second housing coupling portion includes a second contact portion coupled to the inner surface of the battery housing, this being the surface which contacts the inner surface of the battery housing, as well as a second connection portion for connecting the support portion and the second contact portion, those being inner portions of the second housing coupling portion which are in contact with the support portion and second contact portion, thereby being portions for connecting said components. Regarding Claim 8, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 7. Additionally, where the second contact portion is coupled to the inner surface of the battery housing, as shown in figure 2, it has a shape in which at least a part thereof extends along an inner circumference of the battery housing. Regarding Claim 9, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 7. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the second connection portion includes at least one second bending portion in which an extension direction thereof is changed, as shown in figure 2, where the innermost portion of the second connection portion include a portion which extends upwards, which is a differing extension direction. Regarding Claim 10, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 10. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the sealing spacer includes a movement prevention unit interposed between the first current collecting plate and the cap plate, where the movement prevention unit is the lowermost section of the gasket 31 as shown in figure 1, which is located between the first current collecting plate 40 and the cap plate 32, being positioned such that it would prevent movement of the battery components which contact it. Additionally, the sealing spacer comprises a sealing portion interposed between the battery housing 20 and the cap plate 32, and a connection portion configured to connect the movement prevention unit and the sealing portion. Regarding Claim 11, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 10. Additionally, Kim discloses structure where the movement prevention unit has a height corresponding to a distance between the first current collecting plate and the cap plate, where the height of the movement prevention unit is a subsection of the distance between the first current collecting plate and the cap plate, and therefore correspondence exists between the two heights. Regarding Claim 12, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 10. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the movement prevention unit is located at a center on one surface of the electrode assembly, being located above a center on a surface of the electrode regions 11a and 12a. Regarding Claim 13, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 10. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the movement prevention unit has a spacing hole formed at a position corresponding to a winding center hole of the electrode assembly, as depicted in their figure 1. Regarding Claim 14, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 10. Additionally, Kim discloses structure where the sealing portion of the sealing spacer has a shape extending along a periphery of an inner circumference of the battery housing, as shown in figure 1. Regarding Claim 15, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the connection portion includes a plurality of extension legs extending radially from the movement prevention unit, as shown in figure 1, where the connection portion which extends from the movement prevention unit, when viewed from a cross-sectional view, as shown in figure 1. Here, the cross sectional view depicts two legs, each connecting the movement prevention unit to the sealing portion, extending in a radial manner. Regarding Claim 16, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 15. Additionally, where the connection portion of Kim does not contact the first current collecting plate, the extension legs therefore are also configured to nor contact the first connecting plate. Regarding Claim 17, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 15. Additionally, where the connection portion of Kim does not contact the cap plate, the extension legs therefore are also configured to nor contact the cap plate. Regarding Claim 18 , Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 15. Additionally, where the connection portion is the portion which connects the movement prevention unit and the sealing portion and the first housing coupling portion is the portion of the first current collecting plate in direct contact with inner surfaces of the battery housing, based on the structure shown in Kim’s figure 1, the connection portion is positioned to not overlap with the first housing coupling portion along a height direction of the cylindrical battery. Regarding Claim 19 , Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein their cylindrical battery includes a second current collecting plate 50 coupled with the second electrode tab 12b as shown in figure 1, and an insulator interposed between a closed portion formed at an upper end of the battery housing, here the lower ends of the insulating gasket 31 (Paragraph 0031, “a gasket 31 insulating a case 20”) which are interposed between the closed portion which is the closed combination of the cap, upper gasket, and battery housing, and the second current collecting plate 50. Regarding Claim 20, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 19. Additionally, Kim discloses structure where the insulator has a height corresponding to a distance between the second current collecting plate and the closed portion, where the height of the insulator is a subsection of the distance between the second current collecting plate and the closed portion, and therefore correspondence exists between the two heights. Regarding Claim 28, Kim discloses a battery pack comprising the cylindrical battery according to claim 1 (Paragraph 0052, “Therefore, the secondary battery may be used as an energy source driving a motor for a machine requiring a high output such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV)”) where the battery being included in a vehicle is a singular battery being implemented in a usable form which is a pack. Regarding Claim 29, Kim discloses a vehicle comprising the battery pack according to claim 28 (Paragraph 0052, “Therefore, the secondary battery may be used as an energy source driving a motor for a machine requiring a high output such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV)”). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN W ESTES whose telephone number is (571)272-4820. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 - 5:30. 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, Basia Ridley can be reached at 5712721453. 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. /J.W.E./ Examiner, Art Unit 1725 /BASIA A RIDLEY/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,645 Page 2 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,645 Page 3 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,645 Page 4 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,645 Page 5 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,645 Page 6 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,645 Page 7 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,645 Page 8 Art Unit: 1725
