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 Species A and subspecies a in the reply filed on 8/17/2026 is acknowledged.
The Examiner notes that figure 7 in the Drawings is another species. Applicant affirmed the election of Species A on 9/16/2026.
Full consideration was given to claims 1-3, 6-9, 12, 13, 15-18.
Claims 4, 5, 10, 11, 14 are withdrawn from consideration as being drawn to non-elected inventions.
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 1/4/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
An Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) has not been filed as of the mailing of this Office Action.
Drawings
The drawings received 11/17/2026 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
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, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
In claim 1, there are two recitations of “one of the plurality of cell modules”, appearing in (lines 5 and 6 in claim 1). It is unclear if the second recitation refers to the first recitation or not.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 3, 15, 16, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Huang (CN 103050743).
Regarding claim 1, an energy storage device comprising:
a plurality of cell modules;
at least one intake/exhaust duct mounted among the plurality of cell modules,
wherein the at least one intake/exhaust duct comprises a first supply flow passage to supply air to one of the plurality of cell modules and a first discharge flow passage to discharge air discharged from one of the plurality of cell modules (it is noted that the multiple passages between each of Huang’s cell reads on Applicant’s intake/exhaust duct, one passage reads on Applicant’s first supply flow passage, another passage reads on Applicant’s first discharge flow passage),
an inlet duct 2-1 comprising a first inlet and at least one first outlet, each of which is connected to the first supply flow passage; and
an outlet duct 2-2 comprising a second outlet and at least one second inlet, each of which is connected to the first discharge flow passage.
Regarding claim 3, the inlet duct and the outlet duct are disposed at both lateral sides of the plurality of cell modules. Fig. 2
Regarding claim 15, the inlet duct 2-1 is formed to have a cross-section that becomes narrower at a downstream portion. Fig. 2
Regarding claim 16, the outlet duct 2-2 is formed to have a cross-section which becomes wider at a downstream portion. Fig. 2.
Regarding claim 18, the first inlet is formed at an end of the inlet duct, wherein the at least one first outlet is formed at a lateral side surface of the inlet duct to be connected to the first supply flow passage, wherein the second inlet is formed at a lateral side surface of the outlet duct to be connected to the first discharge flow passage, and wherein the second outlet is formed at an end of the outlet duct. Figure 2.
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.
Claims 12, 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (CN 103050743)
[AltContent: textbox (Fastening unit)]Regarding claim 12, the inlet duct and the outlet duct further comprise fastening units, Huang discloses the top cover fastened to the battery module with fastening units, see below:
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to use fastening units to fasten the inlet passage 2-1 and outlet passage 2-2 to the battery module also, for the benefit of securing the passages to the battery module.
Regarding claim 13, comprising a blower located at the first inlet or the second outlet and configured to discharge air introduced from the first inlet to the second outlet, Huang discloses that a fan tends to balance air distribution at each submodule [0027]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add a fan to the passage inlet 2-1 or the passage outlet 2-2 of Huang for the benefit of configuring even distribution of air to teach submodule.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 6-9, 17 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art is Huang (CN 103050743)
Regarding claim 2, Huang discloses the at least one intake/exhaust duct comprises: a first connection unit connecting to the at least one first outlet; a second connection unit connecting to the at least one second inlet, but does not disclose nor suggest:
a third connection unit extending from the first connection unit toward the second connection unit and comprising an opening connecting to one side of a cell module of the plurality of cell modules; and a fourth connection unit extending from the second connection unit toward the first connection unit and comprising an opening connecting to one side of another cell module of the plurality of cell modules.
Claims 6-9 and 17 depend from claim 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO WALLS whose telephone number is (571)272-8699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F until 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at 571-270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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