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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP-2022-111145, filed on July 11, 2022.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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) 1, 2, 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Mutsuki JP 2010055992 A.
Regarding Claim 1, 2, and 3, Mutsuki discloses, according to all the features of claim 1, a battery comprising:
an electrode body (Fig. 1, Object 3) including respective electrodes of positive (5) and negative electrodes (6) ([0012], “an electrode assembly in which…a positive electrode…and…a negative electrode”);
a battery case (2) including an opening, and for accommodating the electrode body ([0012], “sealing plate block that closes an…opening of the battery case”, “includes a battery case…electrode assembly”);
a sealing plate (7, 8) including a terminal mounting hole (10), and for sealing the opening ([0010], “sealing plate…which seals an opening…through hole provided”); and
a fitting part (16) for fitting the opening and the sealing plate thereon ([0016], “sealing plate block is joined by laser welding to seal the opening”), wherein the sealing plate includes:
an electrode terminal (12) electrically joined at one end thereof with any electrode of the positive and negative electrodes inside the battery case ([0014], “electrode terminal of the positive electrode…negative electrode from each other”), the electrode terminal inserted at the other end thereof through the terminal mounting hole to be exposed to outside the sealing plate ([0015], through-hole…of the electrode terminal…to extend from the inside to the outside of the case.”); and
an insulating member (15) for establishing an insulation between an outer surface of a surface of the sealing, the outer surface being exposed outside the battery case with the opening sealed (7, 8, 9), and the electrode terminal (Claim 1, insulating member covering an outer… peripheral edge portion…of the sealing plate, wherein a…portion...is closed by a thin film portion.” wherein
the insulating member includes an exposed part (12) exposed to the outer surface where in comparison between the fitting part (16) and the exposed part (12) indicates that a height of the fitting part from a bottom wall of the battery case is equal to or higher than a height of the exposed part from the bottom wall of the battery case .
Regarding claim 2, the battery according to claim 1, wherein the sealing plate is bent in a thickness direction of the sealing plate (8, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, the battery according to claim 1, wherein the electrode terminal and the insulating member are integrally molded ([0010], “insulating member…molded integrally with…the electrode terminal”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EVAN M ABELSON whose telephone number is (571)272-9302. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM U.S. EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Allison Bourke can be reached at (303) 297-4684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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EVAN ABELSON
Examiner
Art Unit 1721
/EVAN M ABELSON/Examiner, Art Unit 1721
/ALLISON BOURKE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1721