DETAILED ACTION
Summary
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is a first Office Action on the merits.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Claim Objections
Claim 1, 10, 12, and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, lines 3-4, please amend “arranged between two adjacent cells of the cells” to recite “arranged between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells”;
In claim 10, lines 4-5, please amend “arranged between two adjacent cells of the cells” to recite “arranged between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells”;
In claim 12, lines 2-3, the limitation “the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab are penetrated the housing to outside” is awkwardly phrased. The examiner suggests amending the limitation to recite “the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab penetrate through to an outside the housing”;
In claim 12, line 4, please amend “each measurement layer of the at least measurement layer” to recite “each measurement layer of the at least one measurement layer”;
In claim 19, lines 5-6, please amend “arranged between two adjacent cells of the cells” to recite “arranged between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells”;
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-20 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 “determine a minimum negative electrode potential from the negative electrode potentials of the cells” in lines 8-9. It is unclear whether “the cells” is referring to “the plurality of cells” or “the two adjacent cells”. For purposes of examination, “the cell” has been interpreted as “the two adjacent cells”.
Claim 10 recites the limitation “measure negative electrode potentials of the cells” in lines 5-6. It is unclear whether “the cells” is referring to “the plurality of cells” or “the two adjacent cells”. For purposes of examination, “the cell” has been interpreted as “the two adjacent cells”.
Claim 19 recites the limitation “configured to measure negative electrode potentials of the cells” in lines 6-7. It is unclear whether “the cells” is referring to “the plurality of cells” or “the two adjacent cells”. For purposes of examination, “the cell” has been interpreted as “the two adjacent cells”.
Claims 2-9, 11-18, and 20 are rejected by dependence.
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.
Claim(s) 10, 12, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DING, US 2014/0312911 in view of SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, CN 111279573.
Re claims 10 and 19:
DING teaches a battery, comprising:
A cell [Figure 2A];
At least one insulating measurement structure, each insulating measurement structure configured to measure negative electrode potentials of the cell (i.e., detecting apparatus 200 and conductive wire 300 are covered by insulating material [0016] [0021]); and
A housing, configured to cover the cell and the at least one insulating measurement structure (i.e., shell 900 [0024] [Figure 2A]);
DING does not teach the battery is a multi-cell battery comprising a plurality of cells connected in parallel or in series; however,
SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY teaches a multi-cell battery, comprising: a plurality of cells, connected in parallel or in series (i.e., the battery comprises at least one lithium battery cell, and figure 3 illustrates multiple battery cells connected to either other [0022] [0053]); At least one measurement structure, each measurement structure of the at least one measurement structure being configured to measure negative electrode potentials of the at least two cells (i.e., reference electrode joint [0053] [Figures 1 and 3]); and, a housing (110), configured to cover the plurality of cells and the at least one measurement structure [0041]-[0043] [Figure 1].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the teachings of SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY in the battery of DING such that the battery comprises a plurality of cells connected in parallel or in series. Modifying DING to include a plurality of cells in parallel or series would advantageously increase current capacity or increase voltage, producing a battery suitable for use in high-power, fast charging devices.
Re claim 12:
DING, in view of SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY, teaches the multi-cell battery as claimed in claim 10, wherein each cell comprises a positive electrode tab (600) and a negative electrode tab (400), and the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab penetrate the housing from inside the housing to outside the housing [Figure 2A];
The measurement layer of the at least measurement layer has a reference tab (201) [0017] [Figure 3]; and
A negative electrode potential of each cell is a potential difference between the negative electrode tab and the reference tab [0020] [0031].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 11, 13-18, and 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA A GUDORF whose telephone number is (571)270-7607. If the Examiner cannot be reached by telephone, she can be reached through the following e-mail address: laura.gudorf@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 6:00-4:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Pham, can be reached at telephone number (571)272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAURA A GUDORF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
