CTNF 18/456,685 CTNF 100234 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 08/28/2023, 10/02/2024, and 12/31/2025 have been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15-aia AIA Claim(s) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Watanabe (US 20040253512 A1) . Regarding claim 1, Watanabe teaches all of the following elements: A power storage device comprising: (bipolar battery 1, figure 1) an electrode stack comprising: a plurality of bipolar electrodes stacked on top of one another; (“That is, the bipolar battery 1 is comprised of an electrode stack body (also referred to as a battery element 9 or a bipolar battery body) with a structure composed of a plurality of stacks including the bipolar electrodes 5” Watanabe [0035]) and a pair of outermost current collectors located outside of a set of the plurality of bipolar electrodes in a stacking direction of the plurality of bipolar electrodes; (Outermost current collectors 4, see figure 1) at least one inner voltage detection terminal connected to at least one of the plurality of bipolar electrodes; (Voltage detections tabs 4’B through 4’J all functions as inner voltage detection terminals, and are connected to the bipolar electrodes.) a housing supporting at least one of the at least one inner voltage detection terminal; (resin groups 10 function as a housing and resemble the housing in instant figure 1, and they support the bipolar electrodes as well as the current collectors/voltage detection tabs within the electrode stack. “With the bipolar battery of the presently filed embodiment set forth above, the presence of the battery element whose exterior is covered by the potting with at least one or more than one resin groups each of which provides a capability of exhibiting waterproof, heat resistant, gas-tightness and electrolyte-liquid resistance required for the outer sheath of the battery” Watanabe [0062]) and a pair of outer voltage detection terminals electrically connected respectively to the pair of outermost current collectors, (Voltage detection tabs 4’A and 4’K function as outer voltage detection terminals and are on the exterior of the bipolar electrode stack. “With the presently filed embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the respective current collectors 4 are used as the detection tabs, that is, the voltage detection tabs 4' (4'A to 4'K).” Watanabe [0043]) wherein each of the plurality of bipolar electrodes has: (“That is, the bipolar battery 1 is comprised of an electrode stack body (also referred to as a battery element 9 or a bipolar battery body) with a structure composed of a plurality of stacks including the bipolar electrodes 5” Watanabe [0035]) a current collector; a positive electrode active material layer provided on one side of the current collector; and a negative electrode active material layer provided on the other side of the current collector, (“the bipolar electrodes 5 each comprised of the positive electrode 2, formed one surface of the current collector 4, and the negative electrode layer 3 formed on the other surface of the current collector 4.” Watanabe [0035] and figure 1) the inner voltage detection terminal is electrically connected to the bipolar electrode, (“As shown in FIG. 1, with the presently filed embodiment, in order for the voltage detection tabs to be allocated to the two sides of the battery element to allow detection of the terminal voltages of all the unit cells, two pieces of voltage detection tabs are connected to the two opposing sides of the current collector centrally located in the battery element and extracted from these two opposing sides.” Watanabe [0048]) each of the pair of outer voltage detection terminals is thicker than the at least one inner voltage detection terminal, (As can be seen in Watanabe figure 1, the outer current collectors 4 are thicker than the inner ones. Since the current collectors function as the voltage detection tabs “the respective current collectors 4 are used as the detection tabs, that is, the voltage detection tabs 4' (4'A to 4'K).” Watanabe [0043], this limitation would be met.) the housing is located between the pair of outer voltage detection terminals in the stacking direction, (See Watanabe figure 1 for resin groups 10 being in between outer current collectors 4) and a dimension of the housing in the stacking direction is equal to or less than a distance between the pair of outer voltage detection terminals in the stacking direction. (As can be seen comparing Watanabe figure 1 to instant figure 1, the dimension of resin groups 10 is less than the distance between outer voltage detection terminals 4’A and 4’K, in the same manner as the instant figures.) PNG media_image1.png 655 969 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 953 953 media_image2.png Greyscale Regarding claim 2, Watanabe teaches all of the following elements: The power storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a sealing member that seals an inner space formed between a pair of the current collectors that are adjacent to each other in the stacking direction, (The resin groups 10 of Watanabe function as both the housing and the sealing portion, as their function is to seal the space between the current collectors “With the presently filed embodiment, since an exterior of the battery current collector is covered (sealed) with resin group that has a function of the insulation layer, no need arises for a particular insulation layer to be formed,” Watanabe [0141]. If applicant deems that the above teaching teaches away from an insulation layer being formed around the current collector, regarding other dependent claims, examiner also believes an argument can be made that the resin groups additionally function as an insulating layer, and thus would meet those limitations.) wherein the sealing member is located between the pair of outer voltage detection terminals, (See Watanabe figure 1 for the resin groups 10 being between outer voltage detection terminals 4’A and 4’K) and the dimension of the housing in the stacking direction is equal to or less than a length of the sealing member in the stacking direction. (The dimension of the housing and the sealing member are the same, as the resin groups 10 perform both functions simultaneously) Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim( s) 3, 5-6 i s/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over W atanabe in view of Ito (JP 2020061221A). R egarding claim 3, Watanabe teaches all of the elements of claim 1, as shown above. Watanabe teaches the following elements of claim 3: The power storage device according to claim 1, further comprising: an outer current collector plate located on an outside of the electrode stack in the stacking direction; (Watanabe figure 1 depicts current collectors 4 being outside of the electrode stack in the stacking direction, thus meeting the limitation. The outermost current collector 4 would function as the outer current collector plate.) Watanabe is silent on the following elements of claim 3: a first adhesive part that is electrically conductive and connects the outermost current collector with the outer current collector plate; and a second adhesive part that is electrically conductive and connects the outermost current collector with the outer voltage detection terminal, wherein the outer voltage detection terminal is electrically insulated from the outer current collector plate. However, Ito teaches all of the elements of claim 3 that are not found in Watanabe. Specifically, Ito teaches an adhesive part that connects the positive and negative current collectors with a voltage detection terminal, and provides reasoning for why. Thus, one skilled in the art would be capable of and have reason to modify the structure of Watanabe to include a conductive adhesive part between its outer current collector and its voltage detection terminal—which, in the case of Watanabe, would be the same as connecting multiple current collectors and/or a current collector and a current collector plate to each other, since the current collectors of Watanabe also function as the voltage detection members. a first adhesive part that is electrically conductive and connects the outermost current collector with the outer current collector plate; (Since the outermost current collector and voltage detection terminal of Watanabe are the same, by modifying Watanabe to include the adhesive member of Ito, which connects a current collector to a voltage detection terminal, it would be obvious to connect both the outermost current collector and the voltage detection terminal to the outer collector plate, since the collector and voltage detection members are the same.) and a second adhesive part that is electrically conductive and connects the outermost current collector with the outer voltage detection terminal, wherein the outer voltage detection terminal is electrically insulated from the outer current collector plate. (“the adhesive layer 80 of the present embodiment is disposed between the negative electrode current collector 31b and the voltage detection terminal 70 to bond the negative electrode current collector 31b to the voltage detection terminal 70.” Ito [0025] and “It only needs to be provided, and is composed of a conductive adhesive. The conductive adhesive is, for example, a conductive epoxy adhesive.” Ito [0026]) Ito and Watanabe are considered to be analogous because they are both within the same field of bipolar batteries containing voltage detection members. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Watanabe to include a conductive adhesive part between the current collectors and voltage detection terminals, in order to securely attach the parts together without hindering electrical conductivity and sacrifice performance (“As a material for forming the adhesive layer 80, a material that has an adhesive property between the negative electrode current collector 31b and the voltage detection terminal 70 and a conductivity that does not hinder the electrical conductivity between the negative electrode current collector 31b and the voltage detection terminal 70 is used. It only needs to be provided, and is composed of a conductive adhesive. The conductive adhesive is, for example, a conductive epoxy adhesive.”) By modifying Watanabe to include an adhesive member between its outer collecting plate and outermost interior collector, all of the limitations would be met, given that all of the collectors of Watanabe also function as voltage detection members. Regarding claim 5, modified Watanabe teaches all of the elements of claim 3, as shown above. Watanabe is silent on the following elements of claim 5: The power storage device according to claim 3, wherein the outer voltage detection terminal is spaced from the outer current collector plate. However, Ito teaches all of the elements of claim 5 that are not found in Watanabe: The power storage device according to claim 3, wherein the outer voltage detection terminal is spaced from the outer current collector plate. ( “On the outer periphery of the battery element 11, a minute space is formed between the voltage detection terminal 70 and the positive electrode current collector 31a.” Ito [0073]) Watanabe and Ito are considered to be analogous for the reasons provided above. It would have been additionally obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the current collector/voltage detection terminal to have a space in between, as Ito teaches that this is a structure known within the art, and therefore it would be within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the structure in this way. Regarding claim 6, modified Watanabe teaches all of the elements of claim 3, as shown above. Watanabe teaches all of the additional elements of claim 6: The power storage device according to claim 3, wherein the distance between the pair of outer voltage detection terminals in the stacking direction is equal to or less than a distance between the pair of outermost current collectors in the stacking direction. (“the respective current collectors 4 are used as the detection tabs, that is, the voltage detection tabs 4' (4'A to 4'K).” Watanabe [0043]. Since the outer collectors 4 are the same as the voltage detection terminals, the distance between would be the same, thus meeting the above limitation.) 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe in view of Ito (JP 2020061221A) and further in view of Hisamitsu (JP 2005174844A) Regarding claim 4, modified Watanabe meets all of the limitations of claim 3, as shown above. Watanabe and Ito are silent on the following elements of claim 4: The power storage device according to claim 3, further comprising an insulating member interposed between the outer voltage detection terminal and the outer current collector plate. However, Hisamitsu teaches all of the elements of claim 4 that are not found by Watanabe. Specifically, Hisamitsu teaches covering the current collecting plates in an insulating layer, which, if combined with Watanabe, would meet all of the limitations of claim 4: The power storage device according to claim 3, further comprising an insulating member interposed between the outer voltage detection terminal and the outer current collector plate. (“At this time, the lead 41 and the current collecting lead 43 are also preferably covered with the insulating material 37 described above.” Hisamitsu [0102]. If one end of the outer collecting plate of Watanabe were coating in an insulating layer, all of the limitations of claim 4 would be met.) Hisamitsu and Watanabe are considered to be analogous because they are both within the same field of bipolar batteries containing multiple bipolar electrodes in a stack, and which contain voltage detection members. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the bipolar battery of Watanabe to include an insulating layer on the outermost current collector in order to provide additional safety in the case of leaks, damage, or contact with the wiring (“The tab 29 bonded to the outermost layer current collector 25 is preferably covered with an insulating material 37 such as a heat-shrinkable heat-shrinkable tube as shown in FIG. According to this, it is possible to prevent an adverse effect exerted on a product (for example, an automobile part, particularly an electronic device, etc.) when the tab contacts the peripheral device or the wiring and leaks.” Hisamitsu [0101]), as well as to reduce the risk of short circuits or other damage caused by contact between battery parts (“The insulating layer is provided for the purpose of preventing short-circuits caused by contact between adjacent current collectors in the battery or a slight unevenness at the end of the single battery (cell) in the laminate. By installing such an insulating layer, long-term reliability and safety can be ensured, and a high-quality bipolar battery can be provided.” Hisamitsu [0094]). Conclusion The following references were considered to be relevant to the claimed invention, but were not used in the above rejections: Hisamitsu (US 20040038123 A1) –teaches a similar stacked bipolar battery structure with voltage detection members deposited within the structure, and having a sandwiched structure with current collecting plates on either end, within a broader battery case. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN ELI KASS-MULLET whose telephone number is (571)272-0156. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-6pm except for the first Friday of bi-week. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, NICHOLAS SMITH can be reached at (571) 272-8760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /BENJAMIN ELI KASS-MULLET/Examiner, Art Unit 1752 /NICHOLAS A SMITH/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 2 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 3 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 4 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 5 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 6 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 7 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 8 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 9 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 10 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 11 Art Unit: 1752 Application/Control Number: 18/456,685 Page 12 Art Unit: 1752
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