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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/13/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
Paragraph [0041] states FIG. 2 illustrates…a jelly roll 40. There is no 40 in Figure 2. Fig. 4 however illustrates the jelly roll 40.
Paragraph [0043] states FIG. 4 illustrates…the battery case 18. There is no 18 in Figure 4. Fig. 2 however illustrates the battery case 18.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered, and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The title of the invention is not fully descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. The claims broaden the scope of the invention to include polygonal shaped battery cells. The title is limited to hexagonally shaped batteries.
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 1-5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16,18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park (WO 2020050534).
Regarding claim 1, Park teaches a battery cell (Abstract) comprising a jelly roll having a separator layer sandwiched between a cathode and anode layer (Fig. 9, two electrode layers 12 and 13) with the separator (11), cathode, and anode layers wound together relative to a central axis (Fig. 9 & Fig. 3) and a hexagonally shaped case (20) surrounding a perimeter of the jelly roll, the hexagonally shaped case including six sides and six vertices, with each vertex occurring at adjacent pairs of the sides (Fig 2).
Regarding claim 2 and 4, Park discloses the battery cell including a cathode layer and an anode layer (a first and second electrode layer) that has a non-uniform, variable thickness, with a plurality of first cathode sections having a first thickness interspersed between a plurality of second cathode sections having a second thickness, the second thickness being greater than the first thickness (The electrode active material is discontinuously coated on one or two surfaces of the second electrode current collector 13 a to form a plurality of second electrode active material blocks 13b (C8/L6, Fig. 7 and 8).
Regarding claims 3 and 5, Figure 5 teaches the second cathode sections are spaced apart from each other along a length of the cathode layer such that each second cathode section aligns when wound with one of a plurality of a radii extending from the central axis to each one of the vertices. (Fig. 5 shows the aligning electrode active material layers and the wound structure.)
Regarding claim 8, Park teaches the battery cell wherein the separator (11) layer has a uniform continuous thickness (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 9, Park teaches the electrode assembly 10 has an approximately regular hexagonal shape (C5/L61-C6/L2).
Regarding claim 12, Park teaches a battery call wherein the jelly role is hexagonally shaped, and the central axis is hexagonally shaped (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 13, Park teaches a jelly roll having a separator layer sandwiched between a cathode layer and an anode layer, with the separator, cathode, and anode layers wound together relative to a central axis (Fig. 9); and a polygonally shaped case surrounding a perimeter of the jelly roll, the polygonally shaped case including a plurality of straight case sides and a plurality of case vertices, with each case vertex occurring at adjacent pairs of the straight case sides (Fig 2).
Regarding claim 14, Park teaches an anode layer that includes a plurality of first anode sections (electrode active material blocks) having a first thickness interspersed between a plurality of second cathode sections having a second thickness greater than the first thickness (Fig. 7 and 8), with the second anode sections spaced apart from each other along a length of the anode layer such that each second anode section aligns when wound with one of a plurality of a radii (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 16, Park teaches a polygonally shaped case that has a regular polygon configuration, with the straight case sides having equal lengths and the case vertices have equal angles (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 18, Park Figure 2 discloses a jelly roll that includes a plurality of straight roll sides, and a plurality of roll vertices concentrically arranged with a corresponding one of the case sides and case vertices.
Regarding claim 19, Park Figure 2 discloses that the straight roll sides and the roll vertices abut the corresponding one of the case sides and case vertices.
Claims 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kong (CN205944252U; hereinafter Kong). A machine translation is being used for the citations.
Regarding Claim 20, Kong discloses pack housing containing the battery cells in a side-by-side manner such that one of the straight case sides of each battery cell abuts no more than one of the straight case sides of each adjacent one of the battery cells (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 10, 11 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Shiu et al. (US 9,929,393 B2; hereinafter Shiu).
Regarding claim 10, 11 and 17, Parker teaches a hexagonally shaped battery cell as shown above in claims 1 and 13, respectively but fails to disclose an irregularly shaped hexagonally shaped battery cell and a circularly shaped battery cell. Shiu however in the same field of endeavor, namely battery cells, teaches a wounded jelly-roll battery (Abstract). The jelly-roll 102 may exhibit a spiral (or cylindrical) cross-section [0034], an elliptical cross-section, an oblong cross-section, or some other cross-section resulting from assembly of the jelly-roll battery cell 100 [0034]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date that the electrode assembly of Park could be routinely designed to have an elliptical or oblonged cross-section as suggested by Shiu. Accordingly, the skilled Artisan would understand that an oblong polygon would read on the recited an irregular polygon.
Claims 6, 7, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Kim et al. (US2005042507A1; hereinafter Kim).
Regarding claim 6,7 and 15, Park teaches the battery cell with a first and second electrode current collector as shown above in claims 1 and 13, respectively but fails to disclose the plurality of cathode current collector tabs spaced apart from each other along a length of the cathode layer such that each cathode current collector tab aligns when wound with one of the radii extending from the central axis to each one of the vertices; and similarly fails to disclose anode tabs that align when wound with one of the radii. Kim however discloses a wounded, polygonal shaped, secondary batter including a positive and negative electrode with corresponding electrode tabs (Abstract). Park and Kim are analogous prior Art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely Batteries. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the battery tabs as taught by Kim to the battery cells disclosed by Park and the motivation to do so would have been that the cells taught by Park and Kong are functional equivalents. The selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination in Ryco, Inc. v. Ag-Bag Corp., 857 F.2d 1418, 8 USPQ2d 1323 (Fed. Cir. 1988). See MPEP § 2144.07.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Buie-Hatcher can be reached at (571) 270-3879. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/S.L.H./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/NICOLE M. BUIE-HATCHER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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