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
Claims 47-53 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/10/2026.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 01/22/2024 and 05/22/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 27-46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2018/0301771 to Jennrich et al. (hereafter Jennrich 1) in view of US Patent Application Publication 2019/0288247 to Jennrich et al. (hereafter Jennrich 2).
With respect to claim 27, Jennrich 1 teaches a drive battery for a motor vehicle, comprising: a drive battery housing which has a cover wall 10 and a base wall 20; a battery cell layer 1 having a multiplicity of battery cells 1, which are arranged vertically and next to one another; and a support layer 23a, wherein the support layer 23a and the battery cell layer 1 are disposed in the drive battery housing (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
Jennrich 1 does not specifically teach the battery cell layer is adhesively bonded across a large area, to the cover wall via an upper adhesive layer and to the support layer via a lower adhesive layer, and the support layer is further adhesively bonded to the base wall via a further adhesive layer.
However, Jennrich 2 teaches a battery pack comprising a semi-finished product or epoxy resin based material (an adhesive layer) forming between a battery layer and a fixing plate 2 (Jennrich 2: Sections [0087]-[0089]). With the semi-finished product or epoxy resin based material from Jennrich 2, Jennrich 1 teach the battery cell layer 1 is adhesively bonded across a large area, to the cover wall 10 via an upper adhesive layer and to the support layer 23a via a lower adhesive layer, and the support layer 23a is further adhesively bonded to the base 20 wall via a further adhesive layer.
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Jennrich 1 with the teaching above from Jennrich 2 with the motivation of having a means such the semi-finished product or epoxy resin would hold the layers in place with respect to the batteries.
With respect to claim 28, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein each battery cell 1 is composed of a battery cell housing in which a jelly roll is received, an upper end side of the battery cell housing is in each case adhesively bonded to the cover wall 10, and a lower end side of the battery cell housing is in each case adhesively bonded to the support layer 23a (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 29, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein the battery cell layer 1 is formed from a multi-chamber structure having a multiplicity of vertical chambers in which, in each case, one or a plurality of jelly rolls are received, an upper end side of the multi-chamber structure is adhesively bonded to the cover wall 10, and a lower end side of the multi-chamber structure is adhesively bonded to the support layer 23a (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 30, Jennrich 1 in view of Jennrich 2 teach the drive battery, further comprising: a battery cell 1 contacting system 2 embedded in the upper adhesive layer 1 of Jennrich 2 (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 31, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein the battery cell contacting system, by way of both contacting terminals 2, is embedded in the upper adhesive layer 1 of Jennrich 2 (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 32, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein one degassing opening is formed in each battery cell 1 in a side which faces the support layer 23a (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 33, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein a clearance 21 is provided in the support layer 23a in each case in a region of the degassing openings of the battery cells 1, and adjacent clearances 21 are connected to one another by degassing ducts (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 34, Jennrich 1 further teaches the drive battery, wherein the support layer 23a is a spacer portion (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
Jennrich 1 discloses the claimed invention except for the support layer is formed from a foamed plastics material. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have the support layer is formed from a foamed plastics material, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 227 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960).
With respect to claim 35, Jennrich 1 does not teach the drive battery, wherein the cover wall is configured as a heat exchanger for temperature control of the battery cell layer.
However, Jennrich 1 teaches the base wall comprises a heat exchanger 50 for temperature control of the battery cell layer 1 (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 36, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein the support layer 23a comprises (is configured as) a heat exchanger 50 for temperature control of the battery cell layer 1 (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2)..
With respect to claim 37, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein heat-exchange devices 50 are provided on shell faces of the battery cells 1 (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 38, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein the cover wall 10 and the base wall 20 are connected to one another by side walls (a flange connection), and form a fluid-tight drive battery housing 30 (molding system) (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 39, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein the base wall 20 is provided on an inside thereof with a heat-protection layer 50 (Jennrich 1: Sections [0151]-[0154]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 40, Jennrich 1 in view of Jennrich 2 teach the drive battery, wherein the base wall 20 and/or the cover wall 10 are provided on an inside thereof with semi-finished product 1 (an electrical insulation layer) or Jennrich 2 (Jennrich 2: Sections [0087]-[0089]).
With respect to claim 41, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein the base wall 20 and/or the cover wall 10 are formed from metal (aluminum or from an aluminum alloy or a steel material) (Jennrich 1: Section [0142]; Fig. 2).
Jennrich 1 discloses the claimed invention except for the base wall 20 and/or the cover wall 10 are formed from aluminum or from an aluminum alloy or a steel material. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to the base wall 20 and/or the cover wall 10 are formed from aluminum or from an aluminum alloy or a steel material, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 227 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960).
With respect to claim 42, Jennrich 1 teaches the drive battery, wherein the drive battery with holding frame or holding plate is configured to be assembled on a floor pan of a body of the motor vehicle, wherein the floor pan has a left longitudinal member and a right longitudinal member, and the drive battery (Jennrich 1: Section [0180]; Fig. 27).
With respect to claim 43, Jennrich 1 teaches a motor vehicle, comprising: a body (not shown); and a drive battery (Jennrich 1: Section [0180]; Fig. 27).
With respect to claim 44, Jennrich 1 does not specifically teach the motor vehicle, wherein the body has a floor pan (not shown) having a left longitudinal member and a right longitudinal member, and the drive battery is assembled on the floor pan from below, wherein the assembled drive battery at least in portions forms a base of the floor pan.
However, the particular rearrangement of the drive battery was held to be an obvious matter of design choice. In In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950). With the motivation of having a means such the rearrangement could be modified due to the needs of the customer.
With respect to claim 45, Jennrich 1 teaches the same drive battery and floor pan, therefor, lacking of any clear distinction between the claimed drive battery and floor pan and those disclosed by Jennrich, it would have expected for the drive battery and floor pan of Jennrich to have a fluid-tight base of a passenger cabin of the motor vehicle, wherein a fluid-tightness of the passenger cabin is established only by an interaction between the drive battery and the floor pan as claimed lacking unexpected result showing otherwise.
With respect to claim 46, Jennrich 1 teaches the same drive battery and floor pan, therefor, lacking of any clear distinction between the claimed drive battery and floor pan and those disclosed by Jennrich, it would have expected for the drive battery and floor pan of Jennrich to have the drive battery increases a body stiffness for a driving operation of the motor vehicle and the drive battery increases a body strength for a load arising in an event of a collision of the motor vehicle as claimed lacking unexpected result showing otherwise.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINGWEN R ZENG whose telephone number is (571)272-6649. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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/LINGWEN R ZENG/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 9/19/2026
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