DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restriction
2. Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
I. Claims 1-12, drawn to spacer for mounting a battery cell, classified in H01M50/264.
II. Claims 13-16, drawn to a tray used to receive the mounted battery for processing, classified in H01M10/049.
The inventions are independent or distinct, each from the other because:
3. Inventions I and II are related as mutually exclusive species in an intermediate-final product relationship. Distinctness is proven for claims in this relationship if the intermediate product is useful to make other than the final product, and the species are patentably distinct (MPEP § 806.05(j)). In the instant case, the intermediate product is deemed to be useful as the spacer disclosed in Invention I can alternatively be used within a battery module instead of on the tray disclosed in Invention II with the spacer being able to support and cushion batteries and protect from impacts against the battery module, additionally the inventions are deemed patentably distinct because there is nothing of record to show them to be obvious variants.
4. Restriction for examination purposes as indicated is proper because all the inventions listed in this action are independent or distinct for the reasons given above and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply:
Restriction for examination purposes as indicated is proper because all the inventions listed in this action are independent or distinct for the reasons given above and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply:
-the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classification
-the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art due to their recognized divergent subject matter; and/or
-the inventions require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries).
During a telephone conversation with Jiang Li on 15 May 2026, a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of Group 1, claims 1-12. Affirmation of this election must be made by application in replying to this Office Action. Claims 13-16 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.42(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
The election of an invention may be made with or without traverse. To reserve a right to petition, the election must be made with traverse. If the reply does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election shall be treated as an election without traverse. Traversal must be presented at the time of election in order to be considered timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are added after the election, applicant must indicate which of these claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
5. Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-4, 6, 7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Miyawaki et al. (US-20140287286-A1).
As to claim 1, Miyawaki discloses a spacer for mounting a battery cell (figure 5, spacer 5), the spacer comprising:
a plate body (figure 5, spacer body 50), wherein the plate body has a first surface (figure 5, spacer body 50); and
a restraint member (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53), connected to the plate body (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53) and extending along a direction leaving the first surface (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53), wherein the restraint member is configured to limit a position on an outer side of the battery cell, to block the battery cell from moving along the direction leaving the first surface (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53, [0045]).
As to claim 2, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according claim 1, and further discloses wherein the restraint member comprises: a connecting section (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53), connected to the plate body (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53) and extending along the direction leaving the first surface (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53); and a restraint section (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53, [0045]), connected to an end of the connecting section that is away from the first surface (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53, [0045]), and at an included angle with the connecting section (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53, [0045]), wherein the restraint section is provided with a restraint surface (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53, [0045]), a mounting position for mounting the battery cell is formed between the restraint surface and the first surface (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53, [0045]), and the restraint surface is configured to block the battery cell from moving along the direction leaving the first surface (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53, [0045]).
As to claim 3, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 2, and further discloses wherein the restraint member is one of two restraint members of the spacer (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53), and the two restraint members are spaced apart from each other (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53); and restraint sections of the two restraint members separately extend along directions facing each other (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53).
As to claim 4, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 3, and further discloses wherein the two restraint members are spaced apart along a first direction (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53), the plate body has a first end and a second end that are provided opposite to each other in a second direction (figure 5, spacer body 50), the restraint member has a first end provided in the second direction (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53), and the first end of the restraint member is located on a same side of the spacer as the first end of the plate body (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53); and the first end of the plate body extends beyond the first end of the restraint member along the second direction, wherein the second direction intersects with the first direction (figure 5, spacer body 50).
As to claim 6, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 3, and further discloses wherein the two restraint members are spaced apart along a first direction (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53); the spacer further comprising: a support member (figure 5, corner holding portions 52), connected to the plate body (figure 5, corner holding portions 52), wherein the support member is provided on a side of the plate body in a second direction (figure 5, corner holding portions 52), and an included angle is formed between the second direction and the first direction (figure 5, corner holding portions 52).
As claim 7, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 2, and further discloses wherein the restraint surface is parallel to the first surface (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53, [0045]).
As claim 9, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the restraint member is integrated with the plate body (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. 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.
9. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miyawaki et al. (US-20140287286-A1) as applied to claim 4 above.
As to claim 5, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 4, and further discloses wherein a distance between the first end and the second end of the plate body is L1 (figure 5, spacer body 50), and a distance between the first end of the restraint member and the first end of the plate body is L2 (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53). However, Miyawaki does not disclose wherein 0.2L1 ≤ L2 ≤ 0.3L1.
However, it has been held that where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device. In re Rose , 220 F.2d 459, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955); In re Rinehart, 531 F.2d 1048, 189 USPQ 143 (CCPA 1976); In Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984). Also see MPEP 2144. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the spacer as disclosed within Miyawaki to further include that the distance between the first end of the restraint member and first end of the plate body is greater than or equal to .2 times the distance between the first end and the second end of the plate body and less than or equal to .3 times the distance between the first end and the second end of the plate body.
10. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miyawaki et al. (US-20140287286-A1) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Tsuruta et al. (US-20160036028-A1).
As to claim 8, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 4, and further discloses wherein the plate body further has a second surface (figure 5 spacer body 50) and wherein the second surface is provided opposite to the first surface in a thickness direction of the plate body (figure 5 spacer body 50). However, Miyawaki does not disclose wherein the second surface is provided with an avoidance groove, and in a projection in the thickness direction, a projection of the restraint section falls within a projection of the avoidance groove.
Tsuruta discloses an energy storage apparatus having a series of spacers disposed between the various battery cells, wherein the spacers further comprise a second surface that is provided with an avoidance groove (figure 4, [0041-0042]), and in a projection in the thickness direction, a projection of the restraint section falls within a projection of the avoidance groove (figure 4, [0041-0042]) so that the spacers can be interconnected together when more than one spacer is present.
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the spacer as disclosed within Miyawaki to further include the limitation that the second surface of the spacer body has an avoidance groove that can receive a portion of the restraint section to that the spacers can be interconnected together as disclosed within Tsuruta.
11. Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miyawaki et al. (US-20140287286-A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liu et al. (CN-114620319-A, disclosed within IDS mailed on 25 November 2025, machine translation is used for rejection below).
As to claim 10, Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the plate body further has a second surface (figure 5, spacer body 50) and the second surface is provided opposite to the first surface in a thickness direction of the plate body (figure 5, spacer body 50). However, Miyawaki does not disclose wherein the spacer further comprises a cushion and wherein the first surface and/or the second surface is provided with the cushion.
Liu discloses a battery restraining tray having a series of spacers disposed between the various battery cells, wherein the spacers further comprise a cushion (figure 2, clapboard 22) and wherein the first surface and/or the second surface is provided with the cushion (figure 2, clapboard 22) for restraining a battery (page 3 lines 22-40).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the spacer as disclosed within Miyawaki to further include the limitation that the spacer further comprises a cushion on the first and/or second surface for further restraining a battery disclosed within Liu.
As to claim 11, modified Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 10, however, Miyawaki does not disclose wherein at least one edge part of the cushion is provided with a chamfer.
Liu discloses a battery restraining tray having a series of spacers disposed between the various battery cells, wherein the spacers have a cushion wherein at least one edge part of the cushion is provided with a chamfer (figure 2, clapboard 22) to assist in restraining a battery (page 3 lines 22-40).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the spacer as disclosed within Miyawaki to further include the limitation that the cushion positioned on the spacer has at least one edge part provided with a chamfer as disclosed within Liu.
As to claim 12, modified Miyawaki discloses the spacer according to claim 10, and further discloses wherein the restraint member is provided at an end of the plate body in a first direction (figure 5, inter-corner holding portions 53). However, Miyawaki does not disclose wherein the cushion has an inner surface facing the plate body and an outer surface facing away from the plate body, the cushion further has a first outer wall provided in a second direction, wherein the second direction intersects with the first direction; and the inner surface of the cushion is connected to the first outer wall, the chamfer is provided between the first outer wall and the outer surface of the cushion, and in a projection in the second direction, a length of a projection of the first outer wall is less than a length of a projection of the chamfer.
Liu discloses a battery restraining tray having a series of spacers disposed between the various battery cells, wherein a cushion on the spacer has an inner surface facing the plate body and an outer surface facing away from the plate body (figure 2, clapboard 22) to assist in restraining a battery (page 3 lines 22-40). However, Liu does not disclose wherein the cushion further has a first outer wall provided in a second direction, wherein the second direction intersects with the first direction; and the inner surface of the cushion is connected to the first outer wall, the chamfer is provided between the first outer wall and the outer surface of the cushion, and in a projection in the second direction, a length of a projection of the first outer wall is less than a length of a projection of the chamfer.
However, it has been held that the configuration or shape of a claimed device is a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration of the claimed device is significant. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the spacer as disclosed within Miyawaki to further include the limitation that the cushion has an inner surface facing the plate body and an outer surface facing away from the plate body as disclosed within Liu along with being able to change the configuration of the cushion itself to include an outer wall in the second direction that is connected to the rest of the cushion.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB JEROME SCHULER whose telephone number is (571)272-8487. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 7:30am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at 5712721330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1727
/BARBARA L GILLIAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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