DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
1. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
3. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/8/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
4. In response to the amendment received on 4/8/2026:
Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application. Claim 1 has been amended.
Claims 6-7, 9-11, and 15-18 remain objected to for being allowable but dependent upon rejected base claims.
The cores of the previous prior art-based rejections have been maintained in light of the amendment and are reworded only to reflect new claim limitations. All changes made to the rejection are necessitated by the amendment.
Claim Interpretation
5. All “wherein” clauses are given patentable weight unless otherwise noted. Please see MPEP 2111.04 regarding optional claim language.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. Claims 1-5, 8, 12-14, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kruger US PG Publication 2018/0047959 in view of Rudorff US PG Publication 2009/0075158.
Regarding Claims 1, 2, and 19, Kruger discloses a battery (meeting Claim 19) comprising a plurality of battery cells comprising a pressure relief mechanism (para 0019) which is capable of being activated with an internal pressure or temperature of the battery reaches a threshold and relieves internal pressure and comprising a box of a battery (para 0022 states that an enclosure can house the stacked battery cells of battery module 100) comprising an enclosure (accommodation section) configured to accommodate (and accommodating) a plurality of battery cells (para 0022), a battery cell comprising a pressure relief mechanism (accumulation of gases in the battery cell pouch causes gas to be released from pouch into cell carrier 104 and then into the duct 123, para 0019) to relieve the internal pressure, a thermal management component (cooling plate) 114 configured to adjust the temperature of the battery cell (para 0016), and a collection chamber (exhaust duct 123 and space around it, inside 120), configured to collect emissions (within 123) when the pressure relief mechanism is actuated, the emission being discharged from the battery cell and passing through the thermal management component (para 0017, Fig. 2), wherein the electrical chamber and the collection chamber 123 (and space around it) are disposed on either side of the thermal management component (Figs 1-2), the thermal management component 114 is configured to separate the electric chamber and the collection chamber 123 (and space around it) (Fig 2, para 0017, the duct 123 is sealed to the top plate 114 by way of gasket 165, Fig. 2, and the lip on which the collection chamber 123 (and space around it) rests on the thermal management component 114 is evident in the Fig 2), the wall of slot 125 being a wall of the thermal management component that is shared by the electrical chamber and the collection chamber, meeting Claim 2), and wherein a wall of the collection chamber is provide with a first pressure relief zone (see annotated Fig below, and para 0017, one-way pressure relief valve 128 is provided in duct 123 which has walls, see also Figs 2-3) configured to relieve pressure from emissions in the collection chamber, and wherein the thermal management component is also provided with the first pressure relief zone since the “zone” is an area that itself is provided with the valve 128 (see annotated Fig below) (see entire disclosure and especially Figs 1-2; paras 0016-0019). Kruger fails to specifically disclose wherein the thermal management component comprises a first thermally conductive plate and a second thermally conductive plate, the first and second thermally conductive plates form flow channel, and the flow channel is configured to accommodate a liquid to adjust the temperature of the battery cell. However, in the same field of endeavor of battery module design where a cooling plate includes holes designed to allow battery-vented gases to be expelled therethrough, Rudorff discloses that a cooling plate in such a device (where battery off-gas is vented through a cooling plate) is ideally a liquid cooling plate having thermally conductive top and bottom plates and has an inlet and an outlet to circulate liquid cooling fluid because such a design is most suitable for high lost heat and simplistic design (compared with air or compressed gas cooling) (see entire disclosure and especially Fig 2A-2B; paras 0016, 0048-0049) and teaches a structure that . Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to use liquid coolant in the thermal management component of Kruger because Rudorff teaches that pure liquid coolant allows for simple design and greater heat absorption. The skilled artisan would recognize that the thermal management component of Kruger modified by Rudorff would separate the electrical chamber from the thermal management component since they would be on opposing sides of the thermal management component. The Office notes that physical separation does not require complete isolation from one another.
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Regarding Claim 3, modified Kruger discloses wherein the box comprises a protective member (cap) 120 which is configured to protect the thermal management component 114 (necessarily so since it encases said component and the protective member and the thermal management component form the collection chamber 123 (and space around it) since 120 forms the space around 123 (e.g. see Fig. 2).
Regarding Claims 4 and 8, modified Kruger discloses wherein the protective member 120 comprises a top wall and a plurality of side walls to form a hollow structure with an opening at one end (i.e. the part of 120 that meets 114, Fig. 2), and the thermal management component 114 is configured to cover the opening to form the collection chamber (including 123) and a first through hole is disposed on the protective member and the first pressure relief zone 128 comprises said through hole since it is disposed in the through hole (see Figs 2/3, para 0017-0018).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Kruger discloses wherein the first pressure relief zone is disposed on the plurality of side walls of the protective member since it is provided in one of the side walls, see Fig. 3.
Regarding Claims 12-14, the box of modified Kruger further comprises a second pressure relief zone (e.g. the top of the slot) 125 which is disposed on the bottom of the thermal management component, opposite to the pressure relief zone which is disposed under the thermal management component, meeting Claim 13) so that when the pressure relief mechanism is actuated, the emissions discharged from the battery cell are configured to pass through the second pressure relief zone and be discharged to the collection chamber 123 (since emissions necessarily pass through the slot 125 into 123) and wherein the second pressure relief zone is a second through hole (slot 125) on the thermal management component 114 (meeting Claim 14). The Office notes that the use of “second” in “second through hole” is given broad interpretation as a through hole since there is no first through hole claimed in the claims of preceding dependency (first through hole is claimed in Claim 8. Because there are other through holes formed in 114, then 125 can be considered a second through hole.
Regarding Claim 20, Kruger fails to specifically disclose a power consumption device comprising the battery of Claim 19 which is configured to provide energy to the power consumption device. However, Rudorff discloses hybrid vehicles use battery modules having similar designs, e.g. having exhaust and cooling mechanisms (see e.g paras 0001-0003). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to include the battery of Kruger and Rudorff in a power consumption device such that it is configured to provide energy to that device since the combination of familiar elements is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. __,__, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143, A.).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 6-7, 9-11, and 15-18 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. Kruger’s structure would not be reasonably modified to include a plurality of pressure relief zones (Claim 6), and would not be reasonably modified to include weakened zones or include intentional damage to create pressure relief (Claim 9) or discharge liquid from a flow channel of the cooling plate (Claim 15). Claims 7, 10-11, and 16-18 depend on Claims 6, 9, 15.
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant's arguments with respect to the claims are based on the claims as amended. The amended claims have been addressed in the reworded rejection above. The Office further notes that while Applicant argues that Kruger does not teach the claimed structure, and in particular does not teach that the thermal management component is provided with the first pressure relief zone since e.g. the claimed pressure relief zone is provided on the thermal management component itself and that the claimed first pressure relief zone is intended to directly relieve emission from the collection chamber without passing through an intermediate duct and valve, i.e. directly relieves emissions, this argument is not commensurate in scope with the claim. The claim does not require the first pressure relief zone to be a singular or discrete structural element that directly relieves admissions from a part of the thermal management component. Annotated Fig 4 above of Kruger shows a boxed “first pressure relief zone” that contains the valve (which relieves pressure) and is an area including both the collection chamber and the thermal management component of Kruger, and so both of these elements are “provided with” the zone. Please also note that “provided with” does not even require the elements to contain said zone. “Provided with” can reasonably be interpreted as “provided in conjunction with”, for example.
Applicant also argues that Rudorff does not teach the features of Claim 1 and does not remedy the deficiencies of Kruger, and so the application is patentable over Kruger and Rudorff.
The Office has considered this argument and respectfully disagrees. The combination of Kruger in view of Rudorff teaches the claimed invention as laid out in the rejection above.
Accordingly, the argument is not found convincing and the rejection of record is maintained.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA S PARK whose telephone number is (571)270-3597. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:30a to 3p Eastern Time.
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/LISA S PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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