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 .
Priority
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 06/12/2023 and 06/12/2023 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
(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.
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 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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Inoue et al. (US20070253146A1).
Regarding claim 1, Inoue discloses a power storage module comprising:
a plurality of power storage devices each having a case having electrical conductivity (first capacitor 6A is completed when the end surface at the negative electrode side of capacitor element 14 inserted in metal case 15 is connected both mechanically and electrically to the inner bottom surface of metal case 15 by such means as laser welding. [Para. 0073]), and an electrode body housed in the case and including a positive current collector and a negative current collector (capacitor element 14 has a first electrode and a second electrode. One of the first electrode and the second electrode is a positive electrode, and the other is a negative electrode [0072]);
the power storage module comprising:
a power storage device pair (the capacitor device is characterized by a structure that a pair of the first capacitor and the second capacitor form a capacitor unit [Para. 0014]), having;
a first power storage device in which the case is a first case electrically connected to the negative current collector of the electrode body and held at a negative electrode potential (a model case, in which the first capacity 6A uses a metal case as a negative electrode [Para. 0066]); the first power storage device having a positive external terminal that is insulated from the first case and fixed to the first case; to be connected to the positive current collector of the electrode body in the first case (the positive electrode of capacitor element 14 is tapped through terminal 16a provided on terminal plate 16 and the negative electrode is tapped through metal case 15 [Para. 0075]); and
a second power storage device in which the case is a second case electrically connected to the positive current collector of the electrode body and held at a positive electrode potential (Second capacitor 6B uses a metal case as positive electrode [Para. 0066]); the second power storage device having a negative external terminal that is insulated from the second case and fixed to the second case, to be connected to the negative current collector of the electrode body in the second case (the positive electrode of capacitor element 14 is tapped through metal case 15 and the negative electrode is tapped through terminal 16a [Para. 0075]);
wherein the first case and the second case are electronically connected to each other, and the first power storage device and second power storage device are connected in series (capacitor device 100 comprises subunit 1 having a mutually connected plurality of capacitor units 6, each of which comprises two pieces of serially connected and coupled capacitors having opposite orientations to each other [Para. 0065]).
Regarding claim 2, Inoue further discloses the power storage device pair is configured such that the first case of the first power storage device and the second case of the second power storage device are welded together (metal plate 19 is provided to bridge between the bottom exterior surface of metal case 15 of first capacitor 6A and bottom exterior surface of metal case 15 of second capacitor 6B, and coupled to metal case 15 by laser welding [Para. 0076]).
Regarding claim 3-4, Inoue further discloses a plurality of the power storage device pairs is provided; the first power storage device and the second power storage device that form each of the power storage device pairs are superposed on each other in a stacking direction ; and the power storage device pairs are stacked in the stacking direction with an insulating member intervening between adjacent ones of the power storage device pairs (a pair of the capacitors are so constructed that their polar orientations are opposite each other, and they are connected electronically and mechanically with metal plate 19 to configure capacitor unit 6. A plurality of capacitor unit 6 are connected to compose subunit 1 and a plurality of subunit one further connected to compose main unit 2 [Para. 0080]. Figs. 2-3A show that the two pairs are superimposed on each other in the stacking direction {Figs. 2-3A]. Subunit 1 is held in position between upper holder 7 and lower holder 8, both made of an insulation material [0067]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 3-4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inoue.
Regarding claims 3-4, Inoue discloses the limitations of claims 1-2 as outlined above. Inoue further appears to disclose the limitations of claims 3-4 as outlined in the 102 rejection above including wherein the pairs are “superimposed on each other in a stacking direction”.
However, to the extent Inoue may not teach this feature, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to rearrange the orientation of the device pairs with no change to their respective functions. It has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art while the device having the claimed dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device [See MPEP 2144.04(VI)(C)].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CALEB UCHECHUKWU ORJI whose telephone number is (571)270-3370. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00am- 5:00pm ET Mon-Thur.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Allen, can be reached at telephone number 5712703176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CALEB U ORJI/Examiner, Art Unit 1713
/JOSHUA L ALLEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1713
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