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 .
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it includes the following: “the center-facing portion has a shape curved to protrude in a direction away from the electrode assembly” and in view of Fig. 4, it is unclear what is meant by this terminology. The center-facing portion of the elastic member has no protrusion facing in a direction away from the electrode assembly. Rather, the shape of the open space between the elastic member and the electrode protrudes away from the electrode assembly (see the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) section below for examples of alternative language).
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: The terminology used in the abstract (as discussed above) is also used in the specification on page 2, lines 1-2 and page 10, lines 19-20 and it is recommended to amend the wording of these instances for clarity (see suggestions in the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) section below).
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.
Claim 1 is 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 center-facing portion has a shape curved to protrude in a direction away from the electrode assembly” and it is unclear what is meant by this limitation or it is unclear what structure it is referring to. As shown in Fig. 4, the elastic member 230 itself does not appear to have protrusions which protrude in a direction away from the electrode assembly. The claim could be amended as “the center-facing portion has a concave shape opening in a direction of the electrode assembly” or “the center-facing portion has a shape curved to form a space protruding in a direction away from the electrode assembly” or similar to improve clarity.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uchida (Applicant provided JP 2013211172A) in view of Tatsuto (Applicant provided JP 2015011919A), Seto et al. (attached translation of JP 2014010983A), Tominaga et al. (Applicant provided JP 2011096485A) and Kim et al. (US 20120107678).
Regarding claim 1, Uchida discloses a power storage cell shown below:
PNG
media_image1.png
979
1779
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Uchida discloses the power storage cell (electrical storage element 10) comprises an electrode assembly (electrode body 120); and a cell case (container 100) that accommodates the electrode assembly, wherein the cell case has a case main body that accommodates the electrode assembly (Fig. 5), the case main body being provided with an opening that opens upward (Fig. 3), a lid (lid plate 110) connected to the case main body so as to close the opening of the case main body (Fig. 3), and an elastic member (spacers 170 or 270 are elastic as indicated in Fig. 6a-b) disposed between the case main body and the electrode assembly (Fig. 6a-b), the elastic member has a center-facing portion facing a central portion of the electrode assembly (shown above, the upward facing side of spacer 170 shown in Fig. 7 or spacer 280 shown in Fig. 8 faces the center of the electrode), and the center-facing portion has a shape curved to protrude in a direction away from the electrode assembly (as shown above, embodiments of the elastic member [170 and 270] have a concave surface) or otherwise Tatsuto discloses a device which is analogous art at least because it is reasonably pertinent to the problem of expansion/swelling (para. [0039]) of battery cells (cells 12) and Tatsuto teaches the use of spacers (end spacer 16) made of a flexible material (such as nylon, para. [0035]) with a center-facing portion which has a shape curved to protrude in a direction away from the electrode assembly (electrode 50 within cell 12) as shown below:
PNG
media_image2.png
606
921
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Likewise, Seto et al. discloses a device which is analogous art at least because it is reasonably pertinent to the problem of expansion/swelling (Abstract) of battery cells (cell 1) and Seto et al. also teaches a spacer with a center-facing portion which has a shape curved to protrude in a direction away from the electrode assembly (within cell 1) as shown (circled) below:
PNG
media_image3.png
622
521
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of Uchida wherein the center-facing portion has a shape curved to protrude in a direction away from the electrode assembly.
The person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to use known shapes of spacer elements in order to facilitate electrode expansion.
Insomuch as the combined teaching of the above-cited references do not disclose an elastic element arranged along the side of the electrode between the case main body and the electrode; Tominaga et al. discloses a power storage cell comprising an electrode assembly, a cell case (case 10) with a cell case main body and a lid (battery lid 11) and Tominaga et al. teaches an elastic element (elastic member 21c , para. [0021], Fig. 8) arranged along the side of the electrode between the case main body and the electrode (Fig. 6).
Likewise, Kim et al. discloses a power storage cell (Fig. 2) comprising an electrode assembly (assembly 10), a cell case (case 15) with a cell case main body and a lid (cap plate 20) and Kim et al. teaches an elastic element (elastic member 71) arranged along the side of the electrode between the case main body and the electrode (Fig. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of Uchida wherein an elastic element is arranged along the side of the electrode between the case main body and the electrode.
The person of ordinary skill would have been motivated to place the elastic member along the side of the cell at least in order to also facilitate heat transfer (Tominaga et al., para. [0022]) or expansion (Kim et al., para, [0068]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Lee et al. (US 20230238657) discloses a retainer (retainer 200) having concave and convex surfaces.
Kamiyama et al. (US 20230352799) discloses a curved member between a cell casing and an electrode (pressing member 30).
Lee et al. (US 20190198908) discloses a member with a curved surface (grooves 30) between a cell casing and an electrode.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK M MCCARTY whose telephone number is (571)272-4398. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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, Claire Wang can be reached at 571-270-1051. 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.
/P.M.M./Examiner, Art Unit 1774
/CLAIRE X WANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1774
Prosecution Insights