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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-7 are currently pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3 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 the limitation "the end plate" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination, the cited passage is read as “an end plate of the pair of end plates” as this appears to be applicant’s intent.
Claims 2-3 are rejected as being dependent on claim 1.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hotta (US 2016/0372778 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hotta teaches an electrochemical device comprising: a cell stack including a separator (43+47) that houses an electrochemical cell in which an electrolyte membrane (37) is interposed between a hydrogen electrode (35) and an oxygen electrode (39) and an insulating sealing member (93/123/125) formed of an insulating material (figs. 7A-C; [0082], [0087]-[0088], [0107] & [0154]-[0158]), the separator and the insulating sealing member being alternately stacked in a stack direction in a manner that the insulating sealing members sandwich the separator (figs. 2); a pair of end plates (51, 51) disposed to sandwich the cell stack in the stack direction (fig. 2; [0091]); coupling members (11 and 19) for coupling between the pair or end plates (figs. 1A-B; [0085]); the insulating sealing member is formed using a material whose thickness is reduced when an operation of the electrochemical device is executed ([0110]); and the cell stack has a spacer (91/127) disposed to be arranged next to the insulating sealing member in a direction orthogonal to the stack direction (figs. 2 & 11; [0107]-[0108] & [0154]-[0158]); wherein: a plurality of the spacers are arranged in the stack direction between the pair of end plates, and each spacer is interposed between an end plate of the pair of end plates and the separator that is arranged adjacent to the end plate in the stack direction, or between a pair of separators adjacently arranged in the stack direction (fig. 2); before the execution of the operation of the electrochemical device, the thickness of the spacer is thinner than the thickness of the insulating sealing member; and the thickness of the spacer is configured to keep a state of being equal to or less than the thickness of the insulating sealing member when the operation of the electrochemical device is executed (figs. 8A-C & 11; [0020], [0133]-[0135] & [0154]-[0158]).
Regarding claim 2, Hotta teaches the coupling member having a bar shape (figs. 1B & 2) and the spacer having a through hole through which the coupling member penetrates (figs. 5 & 11; [0154]-[0158]).
Regarding claim 3, Hotta teaches the spacer being a frame body configured to surround the insulating sealing member (fig. 11; [0154]-[0158]).
Regarding claim 4, Hotta teaches an electrochemical device comprising: a cell stack including a separator (43+47) that houses, in an inside thereof, an electrochemical cell in which an electrolyte membrane (37) is interposed between a hydrogen electrode (35) and an oxygen electrode (39) and an insulating sealing member (93/123/125) formed of an insulating material (figs. 7A-C; [0082], [0087]-[0088], [0107] & [0154]-[0158]), the separator and the insulating sealing member being alternately stacked in a stack direction in a manner that the insulating sealing members sandwich the separator (figs. 2); a pair of end plates (51, 51) disposed to sandwich the cell stack in the stack direction (fig. 2; [0091]); coupling members (11 and 19) for coupling between the pair or end plates (figs. 1A-B; [0085]); the insulating sealing member is formed using a material whose thickness is reduced when an operation of the electrochemical device is executed ([0110]); and the cell stack has a spacer (91/127) arranged between the pair of end plates and disposed to be arranged next to the insulating sealing member in a direction orthogonal to the stack direction; wherein the spacer is formed of a material whose thickness reduction ratio when the operation of the device is executed is smaller than that of the insulating sealing member (figs. 2 & 11; [0107]-[0108], [0110], [0113] & [0154]-[0158]); and wherein before the execution of the operation of the electrochemical device, the thickness of the spacer is thinner than the thickness of the insulating sealing member; and the thickness of the spacer is configured to keep a state of being equal to or less than the thickness of the insulating sealing member when the operation of the electrochemical device is executed (figs. 8A-C & 11; [0020], [0133]-[0135] & [0154]-[0158]).
Regarding claim 5, Hotta teaches the coupling member having a bar shape (figs. 1B & 2) and the spacer having a through hole through which the coupling member penetrates (figs. 5 & 11; [0154]-[0158]).
Regarding claim 6, Hotta teaches the spacer being a bar-shaped body that extends in the stack direction (figs. 2, 5 & 11).
Regarding claim 7, Hotta teaches the spacer being a frame body configured to surround the insulating sealing member (fig. 11; [0154]-[0158]).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANAEL T ZEMUI whose telephone number is (571)272-4894. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm (EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, BARBARA GILLIAM can be reached at (571)272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATHANAEL T ZEMUI/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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