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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-6, 8-11, 15-18 and 20-21 in the reply filed on 06/17/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 7, 12-14 and 19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/17/2026.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-21 are currently pending in the application, of claims 7, 12-14 and 19 are withdrawn from consideration.
Claims 1-6, 8-11, 15-18 and 20-21 are being examined on the merits in this Office Action.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-6, 8-11, 15-18 and 20-21 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In the claims, it is suggested to amend “the battery cells” to - -the plurality of battery cells- - to conform to prior recitation.
In the claims, it is suggested to amend “the bus bars” to - -the plurality of bus bars- - to conform to prior recitation.
In claim 21, it is suggested to amend “the bonding wires” to - -the plurality of bonding wires- - to conform to prior recitation.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ahn et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0203028).
Regarding claim 1, Ahn teaches A rechargeable battery module (i.e., battery pack) (paragraph [0053]) comprising:
a plurality of battery cells (10) (paragraph [0054]);
a lower case (i.e., second holder) (140) accommodating lower ends of the battery cells (i.e., under the battery cells) (paragraph [0059]);
a holder case (i.e., frame) (130) coupled to the lower case and accommodating the battery cells (paragraph [0059]) (see figure 2);
a plurality of bus bars (i.e., first and second busbar) (161, 162) on the holder case (see figure 1) (paragraph [0053], [0057], [0097]); a plurality of bonding wires (20) connecting the battery cells to the bus bars (paragraph [0057]); and
an upper case (i.e., filling resin) (180) covering the bus bars and the bonding wires and coupled to the holder case (paragraph [0054], [0057]) (see figure 2).
Regarding claim 2, Ahn teaches the bus bars connect the battery cells through a plurality of serial connections and a plurality of parallel connections (paragraph [0097]).
Regarding claim 3, Ahn teaches the battery cells have a cylindrical shape (paragraph [0091]), and wherein three adjacent ones of the battery cells accommodated in the holder case form an isosceles triangular arrangement (as shown in figure 6 below).
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Regarding claim 5, Ahn teaches a second battery cell and a third battery cell from among the three adjacent ones of the battery cells face each other at a first angle at a side of a first battery cell from among the three adjacent ones of the battery cells and have a first gap therebetween (as shown in figure 6 below), wherein the first battery cell and the second battery cell have a second gap therebetween that is smaller than the first gap, and wherein the first battery cell and the third battery cell have the second gap therebetween (as shown in figure 6 below) (see also figure 5 and 7).
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Regarding claim 6, Ahn teaches the bus bars comprise: a first member between the first battery cell and the second battery cell and extending along a first direction (as shown in figures 2 and 9 below); and a second member between the first battery cell and the third battery cell and extending along the first direction (as shown in figures 2 and 9 below).
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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(s) 4 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0203028).
Regarding claim 4, Ahn teaches the battery as described above in claim 1 and 3. Further, as indicated above, Ahn teaches arranging the cylindrical battery cells in a clos-pack array (see figure 6 above) in which three adjacent battery cells form a triangular arrangement. Although Ahn does not expressly disclose the specific angles as recited, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the geometric arrangement of the cells, including relative angular relationships between adjacent cells, as a matter of routine engineering design. The precise angles are a result-effective variable influenced by factors such as cell spacing, holder configuration, packaging constraints, bus bar routing, and desired dimensions of the battery module for a particular application. Because Ahn contemplates batter modules for a variety of applications (paragraph [0003]-[0004]) and teaches the same general cell triangular arrangement (see figure 6), selecting particular angular relationships to accommodate a desired module size or packaging configuration would have amounted no more that the predictable use of prior-art elements according to their established functions. Absent evidence that the claimed angles produce unexpected results or are critical, optimization of these geometric values would have been within the ordinary skill of the art.
Regarding claim 21, Ahn teaches connecting groups of battery cells in both series and parallel to form battery modules ([0097]). Although Ahn does not expressly disclose the specific connection configurations recited in claim 21 (e.g., 28s12p, 56s6p, 112s3p, etc.), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select the particular numbers of serial and parallel connections according to the desired output voltage, capacity, current capability, and power requirements of the intended application. Ahn expressly contemplates battery modules for a variety of applications requiring different electrical outputs, and the selection of a particular series/parallel arrangement represents nothing more than routine optimization of known electrical design parameters to obtain predictable results. Absent evidence that the claimed numerical configurations achieve unexpected results or are critical, choosing a particular series/parallel combination would have been within the ordinary skill of the art.
Claim(s) 15-17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0203028), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Jeon et al (U.S. Patent 7,989,104).
Regarding claims 15, Ahn teaches the battery module as described above in claim 1, including the holder.
Ahn does not teach the holder case comprises a partition wall extending in a second direction crossing a first direction to divide the holder case into a plurality of sections in the first direction, and wherein at least two of the bus bars at opposite sides of the partition wall along the first direction are connected to each other by a bus bar bonding wire on the partition wall.
Jeong, also directed to a battery module (abstract), teaches a battery module having a holder (100) (paragraph [0119]) (see figure 14). Further, Kwag teaches the holder (i.e., case) (10) (C4:L55-63) comprising a partition wall (16) extending in a second direction crossing a first direction to divide the holder case into a plurality of sections in the first direction (see figure 1) (C4:L44-65). Jeong teaches the partition walls enhance an engaging force of the unit batteries within the holder (C1:L15-20).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to modify Ahn holder to include a partition walls as taught by Jeong, in order to enhance engaging force and stability of the battery cells. Adding the partition wall in the structure of Ahn will necessarily result in at least two of the bus bars at opposite sides of the partition wall along the first direction connected to each other by a bus bar bonding wire on the partition wall as such would separate the bus bars.
Regarding claim 16, Ahn as modified by Jeong, teaches the partition wall divides the battery cells into a first cell area and a second cell area along the first direction (see figure 6) (C6:L18-34). Further, Ahn teaches the bus bars each comprises a first area member connecting the battery cells in the first cell area to each other and a second area member connecting the battery cells in the second cell area to each other (see figures 2 and 9).
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Regarding claim 17, Ahn teaches the bus bar bonding wire wire bonds the first area member and the second area member (see figure 9) (paragraph [0096]-[0097]).
Regarding claim 20, Ahn teaches bus bar bonding wires (paragraph [0096[-[0097]). Further, Ahn, as modified by Jeong, teaches the holder case comprises three partition walls (16) extending in a second direction crossing a first direction to divide the holder case into four sections in the first direction, and wherein four of the bus bars are respectively in the four section at opposite sides of the three partition walls and are connected by bus bar bonding wires on the partition walls (C4:L44-65).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-11 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. In other words, claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form to incorporate either:
all the limitations of claim 1-6 and claim 8, or
all the limitations of claim 1, claims 15-16 and claim 18.
Applicant is encouraged to consider amending claim 1 accordingly to place the application in condition of allowance.
The prior art is silent with regards to the combination of features as recited in the above (1) or (2).
Pertinent Prior Art
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Kawakami et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0167453). Kawakami teaches bus bars (12) connected by bonding wires (12) (see figure 1) (paragraph [0051]).
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTIAN ROLDAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5098. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 9:00 am - 7:00 pm.
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/CHRISTIAN ROLDAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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