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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/02/25 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Applicant’s amendment and arguments, filed 12/02/2025, have been fully considered. Claim(s) 1 is/are amended; claim(s) 4–13 and 16–24 stand(s) as originally or previously presented; and claim(s) 2, 3, 14, 15 has/have been canceled; no new matter has been added. Examiner affirms that the original disclosure provides adequate support for the amendment.
Upon considering said amendment and arguments, the previous 35 U.S.C. 112(d) and 103 rejections, set forth in the Office Action mailed 09/16/2025, have been withdrawn. Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new grounds of rejection below.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claims 4–12 be found allowable, claims 16–24, respectively, will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other(s) as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP 608.01(m).
Claim 13 is further objected to for the following informality: in lines 1–3, “the first cap plate of the negative electrode-side cap assembly and the second cap plate of the positive electrode-side cap assembly each have a stepped structure” is suggested to read “the first cap plate of the negative electrode-side cap assembly and the second cap plate of the positive electrode-side cap assembly each have [[a]] the stepped structure” to denote proper antecedence from claim 1. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The text forming the basis for the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) may be found in a prior Office Action.
Claims 1, 4–13, and 16–24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites that the “first insulating member surrounds the lower portion and a portion of the side surface of the first terminal plate.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for “the lower portion” and “the side surface”. Specifically, as the instant disclosure envisages a seemingly hexahedral terminal plate (ref. 522, e.g., figs. 2–4), it is unclear which of the six surfaces “the side surface” references (or, even if only considering the lateral/peripheral ends in fig. 4A’s cross-section “side surfaces”, such would still constitute multiple side surfaces such that “the side surface” would still lack antecedent basis). By the same token, as no spatial relation between the terminal plate and cap plate or rest of the battery is specified, it is unclear which portion of the terminal plate would constitute “the lower portion”.
Similar to the above discussion, fig. 4A depicts a hexahedral terminal plate 522, where first insulator 526 surrounds the “lower” longitudinal surface of the terminal plate closer to the electrode assembly and surrounds a lateral, “side” surface extending perpendicular to the longitudinal surface. Thus, for this Office Action the claim will be interpreted to require a “lower portion” as any portion of the terminal plate’s longitudinal surface closer to the cap plate and separated by the first insulator, as well as a “portion of the side surface” as any portion of at least one of the terminal plate’s two lateral end surfaces when viewed cross-sectionally, as suggested by fig. 4A.
The dependent claims fail to correct these deficiencies and are rejected likewise. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text forming the basis for the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 may be found in a prior Office Action.
Claim(s) 1, 4–6, 13, and 16–18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 20210359365 A1, EFD 04/09/20; see 05/13/25 PTO-892) (Chen).
Regarding claims 1 and 13, Chen discloses a secondary battery (e.g., ¶ 0005, figs.) comprising (per annot. fig. 6 below) an electrode assembly (4) comprising a negative electrode tab at one end (negative polar ear 40, fig. 4 and ¶ 0136) and a positive electrode tab at another end (positive polar ear, Id.); a case (1) accommodating the electrode assembly and having open ends opposite each other (per below and ¶ 0136);
and a pair of cap assemblies (2/3) coupled to respective ones of the open ends of the case (per below), wherein the cap assemblies comprise: a negative electrode-side cap assembly (3, denoted NECA) comprising a first cap plate (upper 513) coupled to one end of the case and a negative electrode terminal (52/522a) on the first cap plate and electrically connected to the negative electrode tab (implied in ¶ 0136); and a positive electrode-side cap assembly (2, denoted PECA) comprising a second cap plate (lower 513) coupled to another end of the case and a positive electrode terminal (lower 522a/52) on the second cap plate and electrically connected to the positive electrode tab (implied in ¶ 0136),
wherein a plate surface opposite to the electrode assembly of each of the cap plates of the negative electrode-side cap assembly and the positive electrode-side cap assembly has a stepped structure (formed by flow channels 54), and wherein the negative electrode terminal comprises a first terminal plate (upper 522a) to be electrically connected to an external terminal (necessarily configured as such for external output as the terminal), a first current collector electrically connected to the negative electrode tab (upper switching piece 517 (denoted NECC), ¶ 0157), a first terminal pin (52) coupled to the first current collector and the first terminal plate (per below) and electrically connecting the first current collector and the first terminal plate (necessarily for external output, as in ¶ 0144), and a first insulating member comprising an insulating material interposed between the first cap plate and the first terminal plate (insulator 514).
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Chen further discloses, in a separate embodiment of the end-cap assembly, that insulator 514 may be seated with the terminal plate in a groove on the upper surface of the cap plate, and the insulator may surround both the terminal plate’s lower surface as well as side surfaces (fig. 34), though Chen fails to explicitly disclose such in the dual-cap-assembly embodiment above.
Considering that Chen is analogous prior art to the claimed invention because they pertain to the same field of endeavor, namely battery cap assemblies, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to routinely adopt Chen’s embodiment from fig. 34 with the insulator and terminal plate seated in the groove, where the insulator surrounds the plate’s lower and side surfaces, in each of Chen’s cap assemblies as a routine engineering choice with the reasonable expectation of successfully sealing the battery and achieving a successful cover, as suggested by Chen (see, e.g., MPEP 2143 (B.)).
Regarding claims 4, 5, 16, and 17, Chen discloses the secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the negative electrode tab and the positive electrode tab are located at respective ends of the electrode assembly in a longitudinal direction of a winding shaft, and the case has both ends open in the longitudinal direction (necessarily from annot. fig. 6 above).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, Chen discloses the secondary battery of claims 5 and 17, wherein the positive electrode terminal comprises a second terminal plate (lower 522a, annot. fig. 6) configured to be electrically connected to an external terminal (necessarily configured as such for external output as the terminal), a second current collector electrically connected to the positive electrode tab (lower switching piece 517 (denoted PECC), Id.), and a second terminal pin (lower 52, Id.) coupled to the second current collector and the second terminal plate (Id.) and electrically connecting the second current collector and the second terminal plate (necessarily for external output, as in ¶ 0144).
Claim(s) 1, 4–6, 13, and 16–18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN 108428921 A, from 09/18/24 IDS; citations to English equivalent US 20210074963 A1, from same IDS) (Zhang) in view of Chen et al. (US 20210359365 A1) (Chen).
Regarding claims 1 and 13, Zhang discloses a secondary battery (Title) comprising (via annotated FIGS. 1 and 2 below): an electrode assembly (200) comprising a negative electrode tab at one end (210) and a positive electrode tab at another end (220); a case accommodating the electrode assembly (300; see fig. 6 and ¶ 0043) and having open ends opposite each other (per below and ¶ 0046); and a pair of cap assemblies (100) coupled to respective ones of the open ends of the case (per below), wherein the cap assemblies comprise
a negative electrode-side cap assembly (anode cap assembly (ACA)) comprising a first cap plate coupled to one end of the case (ACP) and a negative electrode terminal on the first cap plate (21) and electrically connected to the negative electrode tab (per below and ¶ 0049); and a positive electrode-side cap assembly (cathode cap assembly (CCA)) comprising a second cap plate coupled to another end of the case (CCP) and a positive electrode terminal on the second cap plate (41) and electrically connected to the positive electrode tab (per below and ¶ 0049), wherein a plate surface opposite to the electrode assembly of each of the cap plates of the negative electrode-side cap assembly and the positive electrode-side cap assembly has a stepped structure (grooves in each cap plate 10 in which sealing members 22/42 sit below; compare to substantially similar instant fig. 4A),
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wherein the negative electrode terminal comprises a first terminal plate (ATPlate above) to be electrically connected to an external terminal (¶ 0049), a first current collector electrically connected to the negative electrode tab (ACC above; see also ¶ 0071), and a first terminal pin coupled to the first current collector (ATPin above) and electrically connecting the first current collector and the first terminal plate (e.g., ¶ 0051 and 0071).
As seen above, the ATplate and ATpin appear to be one structure—so that the “pin” would not be coupled to the “plate”—though Zhang, in a separate embodiment, discloses that each TPlate and TPin may exist as separate, coupled members (column 213 riveted to connection plate 214, figs. 6–8 and ¶ 0076). Separately, Chen teaches a battery end cover including a terminal pin coupled to a terminal plate (e.g., fig. 34).
Chen and Zhang are analogous prior art to the claimed invention because they pertain to the same field of endeavor, namely battery end covers.
As each of Zhang and Chen recognizes utility with a separately coupled terminal pin and plate, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to routinely incorporate a terminal pin coupled to a terminal plate with the reasonable expectation of achieving a successful terminal structure for electrode output (see also MPEP 2144.04 (V.)(C.) for obviousness of making components separable).
Zhang further discloses that the stepped structure of the first cap plate is a groove in which the first terminal plate is seated (per above; compare to substantially similar instant fig. 4A).
As seen above, Zhang discloses that the first and second cap plates of the negative electrode-side and positive electrode-side cap assemblies, respectively, each comprises sealing members interposed between the first cap plate and the first terminal plate and seated in the groove (ref. 22/42 on each side of each terminal plate/pin in annotated fig. 2). Though these sealing members would very likely be insulating to prevent shorting, Zhang is silent to the sealing members’ material identity and, thus, fails to explicitly articulate a first insulating member comprising an insulating material in the first cap plate’s stepped structure.
Chen further teaches that the end cover includes insulator 514 between the terminal plate 521 and cap plate 513 (fig. 34, ¶ 0217).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the claimed invention's effective filing date, that Zhang's sealing members must necessarily be constructed of some material, and, as demonstrated by Chen, the skilled artisan would find it obvious to incorporate insulators as appropriate materials (see also MPEP 2144.07, where selecting a known material based on its suitability for its intended use is prima facie obvious).
Zhang further discloses that the shape of the sealing member is not particularly limited and may adopt other geometries such as rectangles, and groove 12 must be adapted to the sealing member’s shape (¶ 0066). As seen in figs. 1 and 2, the sealing member’s shape would determine its lateral extension and, thus, ability to surround at least one side surface of the terminal plate. Although Zhang, therefore, does not seem limited to fig. 1/2's embodied sealing-member structure, Zhang fails to embody that the first insulating member surrounds the lower portion and a portion of the side surface of the first terminal plate.
Chen further teaches that insulator 514, in helping seal the battery, may surround the terminal plate’s lower surface between the terminal and cap plates, as well as surround the terminal plate’s side surfaces (fig. 34).
As Zhang appears to afford no specific preference to the sealing member’s structure while Chen recognizes utility with an insulator surrounding both the terminal plate’s lower and side surfaces, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to adopt Chen’s insulator’s structure as Zhang’s sealing member as a routine engineering choice with the reasonable expectation of successfully sealing and insulating the battery, as suggested by Chen (see, e.g., MPEP 2143 (B.)).
Regarding claims 4, 5, 16, and 17, modified Zhang discloses the secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the negative electrode tab and the positive electrode tab are located at respective ends of the electrode assembly in a longitudinal direction of a winding shaft (note longitudinal direction of wound electrode assembly, i.e., winding shaft, in Zhang’s annotated FIGS. 1 and 2), wherein the case has both ends open in the longitudinal direction (necessitated by Zhang’s coupling cap assemblies at each longitudinal end in annotated FIGS. above).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, modified Zhang discloses the secondary battery of claims 5 and 17, wherein the positive electrode terminal comprises a second terminal plate (CTPlate in Zhang’s annotated fig. 2) configured to be electrically connected to an external terminal (Zhang, e.g., ¶ 0049), a second current collector (CCC in Zhang’s annotated fig. 2) electrically connected to the positive electrode tab (Zhang, e.g., ¶ 0071), and a second terminal pin (CTPin in Zhang’s annotated fig. 2) coupled to the second current collector and the second terminal plate (Zhang’s annotated fig. 2) and electrically connecting the second current collector and the second terminal plate (Zhang, e.g., ¶ 0051 and 0071).
Claim(s) 7–12 and 19–24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN 108428921 A; citations to English equivalent US 20210074963 A1) (Zhang) in view of Chen et al. (US 20210359365 A1) (Chen), as applied to claims 6 and 18, further in view of Park et al. (US 20160099444 A1, from 03/01/22 IDS) (Park).
Regarding claims 7 and 19, modified Zhang discloses the secondary battery of claims 6 and 18, wherein each of the cap assemblies comprises a second insulating member comprising an insulating material and located between a corresponding one of the terminal pins and a corresponding one of the cap plates (Zhang’s other sealing member 22/42—which, per Chen, is an insulator—on the other side of the terminal pin/plate in annotated fig. 2, in also being located between the respective terminal pin and cap plate (i.e., the sealing member’s leg portion is positioned as recited), could be considered the second insulating member).
However, modified Zhang fails to explicitly disclose a third insulating member comprising an insulating material and located between the corresponding one of the cap plates and the electrode assembly, and a fourth insulating member comprising an insulating material and located between the third insulating member and the electrode assembly.
Park teaches a battery (Title) including insulating plate 20/21 between the electrode assembly and the cap plate, where uncoated regions 112, i.e., current collectors, adjoin lead 515 after passing through slits in the insulating plate (annotated figs. 3 and 7 below), wherein the insulating plate comprises vertical supports 211 between the insulating plate and the cap plate (per the figures). Park teaches that the insulating plate and the support together protect the electrode assembly from the cap plate in the case of being crushed along the z-axis (¶ 0077, 0102), preventing short-circuiting (¶ 0009).
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Park is analogous prior art to the claimed invention because they pertain to the same field of endeavor, namely battery end-cover insulation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate Park’s supports and insulating plate as third and fourth insulating members, respectively, between each of Zhang’s cap assemblies and Zhang’s electrode assembly with the reasonable expectation of preventing short-circuiting by protecting the electrode assembly from being crushed along the z-axis, as taught by Park.
Thus, modified Zhang would disclose that each of the cap assemblies includes a third insulating member made of an insulating material (Park’s supports), which is disposed between the cap plate and the electrode assembly (Park, annotated figs. 3 and 7), and a fourth insulating member made of an insulating material (Park’s insulating plate), which is disposed between the third insulating member and the electrode assembly (Park, annotated figs. 3 and 7).
Regarding claims 8, 9, 20, and 21, modified Zhang discloses the secondary battery of claims 7 and 19, wherein the fourth insulating member has a slit into which the negative electrode tab or the positive electrode tab is inserted (Park’s slit in annotated fig. 7), wherein the negative electrode tab or the positive electrode tab is electrically connected to a corresponding one of the current collectors between the third insulating member and the fourth insulating member (when viewing Zhang’s annotated fig. 2 in terms of Park’s annotated fig. 3 and 7 after incorporating Park’s supports and insulating plate–-i.e., third and fourth insulators, respectively–-it appears that Zhang’s tab 210/220 would electrically connect to collector 30 between the third and fourth insulators).
Regarding claims 10 and 22, modified Zhang discloses the secondary battery of claims 6 and 18, wherein each of the negative electrode-side and positive electrode-side cap assemblies comprises a second insulating member comprising an insulating material and located between a corresponding one of the terminal pins and a corresponding one of the cap plates (Zhang’s other sealing member 22/42—which, per Chen, is an insulator—on the other side of the terminal pin/plate in annotated fig. 2, in also being located between the respective terminal pin and cap plate (i.e., the sealing member’s leg portion is positioned as recited), could be considered the second insulating member).
However, modified Zhang fails to explicitly disclose that each cap assembly further comprises a third insulating member comprising an insulating material and located between the corresponding one of the cap plates and the electrode assembly, and a fourth insulating member comprising an insulating material and located between the third insulating member and the electrode assembly.
Park teaches a battery (Title) including insulating plate 20/21 between the electrode assembly and the cap plate, wherein uncoated regions 112, i.e., current collectors, adjoin lead 515 after passing through slits in the insulating plate (annotated FIGS. 3 and 7 above), wherein the insulating plate comprises vertical supports 211 between the insulating plate and the cap plate (per the figures). Park teaches that the insulating plate and the support together protect the electrode assembly from the cap plate in the case of being crushed along the z-axis (¶ 0077, 0102), preventing short-circuiting (¶ 0009).
Park is analogous prior art to the claimed invention because they pertain to the same field of endeavor, namely battery end-cover insulation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate Park’s supports and insulating plate as third and fourth insulating members, respectively, between each of Zhang’s cap assemblies and Zhang’s electrode assembly with the reasonable expectation of preventing short-circuiting by protecting the electrode assembly from being crushed along the z-axis, as taught by Park.
Thus, modified Zhang would disclose that each of the cap assemblies includes a third insulating member made of an insulating material (Park’s supports), which is disposed between the cap plate and the electrode assembly (Park, annotated fig. 3 and 7), and a fourth insulating member made of an insulating material (Park’s insulating plate), which is disposed between the third insulating member and the electrode assembly (Park, annotated fig. 3 and 7).
Regarding claims 11, 12, 23, and 24, modified Zhang discloses the secondary battery of claims 10 and 22, wherein each of the fourth insulating members has a slit into which the negative electrode tab or the positive electrode tab is inserted (Park’s slit, annotated fig. 7),
wherein the negative electrode tab is electrically connected to the first current collector between the third insulating member and the fourth insulating member, and the positive electrode tab is electrically connected to the second current collector between the another third insulating member and the another fourth insulating member (when viewing Zhang’s annotated fig. 2 in terms of Park’s annotated fig. 3 and 7 after incorporating Park’s supports and insulating plate–-i.e., third and fourth insulators, respectively–-it appears that Zhang’s tab 210/220 would electrically connect to the respective collector 30 between the respective third and fourth insulators).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered. Applicant’s amendment overcame the previous 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection—which, as noted above, has been withdrawn—and necessitated the new grounds of rejection citing separate embodiments from Chen, as established above. Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant’s remaining argument against Zhang as follows:
Applicant argues that there is no reason one skilled in the art would 1) make Zhang’s sealing member insulating or 2) extend the sealing member to be interposed between the terminal plate (base portion 211) and cap plate (top cover plate 10) because the cap plate is already insulating, and, thus, this modification “would not provide any apparent improvement to Zhang” (Remarks, p. 10). Regarding 1), Examiner respectfully submits that the skilled artisan would understand that Zhang’s sealing members must necessarily be formed of some material, and, as Chen demonstrates, the skilled artisan would have reasonably expected successful battery covering/sealing by making the sealing members insulating, regardless of Zhang’s cover plate’s material (see also, e.g., MPEP 2144.07).
Regarding 2), Examiner respectfully reiterates that Zhang does not appear limited to the embodied sealing member’s structure and allows other geometries as long as the receiving groove’s structure is made to correspond (¶ 0066). As Chen recognizes utility with an insulator extended to cover not only the lower portion but side surfaces of the terminal plate (fig. 34), the skilled artisan would have reasonably expected successful battery covering/sealing in adopting Chen’s insulator’s structure as Zhang’s sealing member’s geometry (see, e.g., MPEP 2143 (B.)). Examiner observes that the instant specification appears devoid of any secondary considerations arising from adopting this structure, and, thus, the prima facie case of obviousness appears proper.
Conclusion
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/J.S.M./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 2/12/2026