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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 10 & 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Peng (CN212434722U, see Machine Translation for citations) (Provided in Applicant’s IDS filed on July 30th, 2025).
Regarding Claim 1, Peng discloses a secondary battery (button cell battery, [009]) comprising:
An outer package member (shell/housing-10 acts as outer package member, [0053]) including a surface (sealing element-40 and conductive element-30 defines surface, Fig. 2, [0065], [0070]) and a through hole, the through hole extending in a first direction and having an inner peripheral surface intersecting the surface (injection port-301 and through hole-1021 form through hole extending in first direction, Fig. 2, [0056], [0063]);
A battery device contained in the outer package member (battery cell-20 in housing, [0055]);
An external terminal attached to the outer package member to close the through hole and electrical insulating from the outer package member, the external terminal including an opposed surface opposed to the surface of the outer package member in the first direction (conductive element-30 acts as external terminal, Fig. 2, [0070]);
A sealing part present in a gap between the outer package member and the external terminal (sealing ring-50 acts as sealing part, Fig. 2, [0056]), the sealing part including a first part and a third part, the first part being located between the outer package member and the opposed surface of the external terminal and having a first thickness in the first direction, the third part being provided to be in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the outer package member and having a third thickness in the first direction, the third thickness being greater than the first thickness (Fig. 3 shows sealing ring-50 with a first thickness from a first part that corresponds to the location between the outer package member and the opposed surface of the external terminal, and third thickness from a third part in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the outer package member, where the third part has a greater thickness than the first part, [0049], [0056], [0058]).
Regarding Claim 2, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng further discloses wherein the external terminal further includes an outer peripheral surface intersecting the opposed surface (conductive element-30 acts as has outer peripheral surface intersecting the opposed surface, Fig. 3, [0058]), and the sealing part further includes a second part provided to be in contact with the outer peripheral surface and having a second thickness in the first direction, the second thickness being greater than the first thickness (sealing part second part is center flat portion of sealing ring-50, Fig. 3, [0058]).
Regarding Claim 3, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng further discloses wherein the second part is within a gap between the external terminal and the outer package member (see annotated Fig. 3).
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Annotated Fig. 3
Regarding Claim 4, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng further discloses wherein the third part is continuous with the first part (see annotated Fig. 3 above).
Regarding Claim 5, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng further discloses wherein the second part is continuous with the first part (see annotated Fig. 3 above).
Regarding Claim 10, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng further discloses wherein the external terminal further includes a groove provided in the opposed surface (counterbore-302 act as groove, Fig. 2, [0065]).
Regarding Claim 11, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng further discloses wherein the third part has a length in a direction along the external terminal (see annotated 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.
Claim(s) 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peng (CN212434722U) (Provided in Applicant’s IDS filed on July 30th, 2025).
Regarding Claim 6, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng discloses wherein the outer peripheral surface includes an inclines face incline relative to the opposed surface (Peng discloses in Fig. 4 that the outer peripheral surface can have an inclined face relative to the opposed surface).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art using the disclosure of Peng to have wherein the outer peripheral surface includes an inclines face incline relative to the opposed surface
Regarding Claim 7, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng discloses wherein the outer peripheral surface includes a curved face (Peng discloses in Fig. 4 that the outer peripheral surface has a curved face).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art using the disclosure of Peng to have wherein the outer peripheral surface includes a curved face.
Regarding Claim 8, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng further discloses wherein the inner peripheral surface includes an inclined face relative to the surface (Peng discloses in Fig. 4 that the inner peripheral surface includes an inclined face relative to the surface).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art using the disclosure of Peng to have wherein the inner peripheral surface includes an inclined face relative to the surface.
Regarding Claim 9, Peng discloses the limitations as set forth above. Peng further discloses wherein the inner peripheral surface includes a curved face (Peng discloses wherein the inner peripheral surface includes a curved face).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art using the disclosure of Peng to have wherein the inner peripheral surface includes a curved face.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANKITH R SRIPATHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2370. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 7:30 am - 5:00pm.
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/ANKITH R SRIPATHI/ Examiner, Art Unit 1728
/MATTHEW T MARTIN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1728
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