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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II (Claims 11-20) in the reply filed on 02-13-2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04-27-2023 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 § 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.
Claim(s) 11-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KR102037202B1 hereinafter Woo.
Regarding Claim 11, Woo teaches a battery pack (see figure 15), the battery pack comprising: a plurality of battery cells, each battery cell comprises a battery cell body and an electrode lead protruding forward from the battery cell body, the plurality of battery cells being disposed in a transverse direction; and a bus bar [100] coupled to the electrode leads, wherein the bus bar [100] comprises a bus bar body (plate), a plurality of bus bar coupling parts [111] respectively coupled to the electrode leads of the plurality of battery cells, a bus bar connection part [110] disposed between the bus bar coupling parts, and an elongated hole (rib) [113] formed on the bus bar connection part (see annotated figure 16 shown below).
PNG
media_image1.png
852
720
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Woo further teaches that the elongated hole (rib) [113] is formed on the bus bar connection part and protrudes from a surface the bus bar connection part (see figure 16 above and paragraphs 78, 110).
Regarding Claims 12-14, Woo teaches that the elongated hole (rib) [113] comprises a convex rib protruding from the front surface of the bus bar plate and transverse rib wing extending in the transverse direction (see figure 16 above and as evidence by the figure shown below for an elongated hole).
PNG
media_image2.png
348
584
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 15, Woo teaches that the electrode lead is coupled to the bus bar by welding (paragraphs 32-33).
Regarding Claim 16, Woo teaches that the electrode lead passes through a bus bar slit [112] formed in the bus bar coupling part [11] and protrudes from the bus bar slit, and wherein the electrode lead is coupled to the bus bar along the bus bar slit by welding (paragraph 86 teaches that any welding method can be employed and such includes wobble type welding).
Regarding Claims 17-18, Woo teaches that the bus bar comprises a reinforcement hole (elongated hole) [113] formed in the bus bar connection part, wherein the reinforcement hole passes through the bus bar plate in a thickness direction of the bus bar plate (see figure 16 above), and wherein the length of the hole is equal to a thickness of the bus bar plate (paragraphs 78, 110).
Regarding Claims 19-20, Woo teaches that the elongated hole (rib) [113] comprises a wing (protrusion or projection) that surrounds a body of the rib (see figure 16 above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OSEI K AMPONSAH whose telephone number is (571)270-3446. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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, NICHOLAS A SMITH can be reached at (571)272-8760. 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.
/OSEI K AMPONSAH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
Prosecution Insights