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 statements (IDS) were submitted on 09/06/2023 and 04/28/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being 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.
Claims 9-13, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by KR102148997B1 to Huh et al. (Machine translation).
With respect to claim 9, Huh et al. teach an apparatus for manufacturing a battery cell, comprising: a support unit 510 and 520 configured to support a sealing portion 541 of a battery cell 540, wherein one side of the support unit 510 and 520 is configured to face a body portion in which an electrode assembly of the battery cell 540 is accommodated; and a folding unit 530 facing the other side opposite to the one side of the support unit 510 and 520 and configured to bend the sealing portion 541 of the battery cell 540, wherein the folding unit 530 is configured to be movable along the other side of the support unit 510 and 520 to bend the sealing portion 541 of the battery cell 540 (Huh et al.: Page 4, Line 28 – Page 5, Line 56; Figs. 5, 6 and 8).
With respect to claim 10, Huh et al. teach the apparatus, wherein the support unit 510 and 520 includes a first support member 510 and a second support member 520 configured to be movable in different directions, wherein the first support member 510 and the second support member 520 are configured such that the sealing portion 541 of the battery cell 540 can be fixed therebetween (Huh et al.: Page 4, Line 28 – Page 5, Line 56; Figs. 5, 6 and 8).
With respect to claim 11, Huh et al. teach the apparatus, wherein the first support member 510 and the second support member 520 are configured to support a boundary between the body portion and the sealing portion 541 (Huh et al.: Page 4, Line 28 – Page 5, Line 56; Figs. 5, 6 and 8).
With respect to claim 12, Huh et al. teach the apparatus, wherein the folding unit 530 includes a pressure roller 532 configured to be movable from a first position facing the first support member 510 to a second position facing the second support member 520, wherein the pressure roller 532 is configured to bend the sealing portion 541 so that the sealing portion 541 comes into contact with the second support member 520 (Huh et al.: Page 4, Line 28 – Page 5, Line 56; Figs. 5, 6 and 8).
With respect to claim 13, Huh et al. teach the apparatus, wherein the folding unit 530 further includes an auxiliary roller supporting the pressure roller 532, wherein the auxiliary roller 533 is configured to move together in contact with the pressure roller 532 (Huh et al.: Page 4, Line 28 – Page 5, Line 56; Figs. 5, 6 and 8).
With respect to claim 15, Huh et al. teach the apparatus, wherein the pressure roller 532 and the auxiliary roller 533 are respectively rotatable, and an axis of rotation of the auxiliary roller 533 is parallel to an axis of rotation of the pressure roller 532 (Huh et al.: Page 4, Line 28 – Page 5, Line 56; Figs. 5, 6 and 8).
With respect to claim 16, Huh et al. teach the apparatus, wherein the auxiliary roller 533 includes a first auxiliary roller 533 and a second auxiliary roller 533 in contact with different portions of the pressure roller 532, and wherein an angle between a virtual line connecting a center of rotation of the pressure roller 532 and a center of rotation of the first auxiliary roller 533 and a virtual line connecting the center of rotation of the pressure roller 532 and a center of rotation of the second auxiliary roller 533 is an acute angle (Huh et al.: Page 4, Line 28 – Page 5, Line 56; Figs. 5, 6 and 8).
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.
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.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR102148997B1 to Huh et al. (Machine translation).
With respect to claim 14, Huh et al. do not specifically teach the apparatus, wherein a diameter of the auxiliary roller is equal to or less than a diameter of the pressure roller.
However, changes in size and proportion of a known element have been held to be obvious since both the claim and the specification do not show the criticality of having a diameter of the auxiliary roller is equal to or less than a diameter of the pressure roller. See Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984) and In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINGWEN R ZENG whose telephone number is (571)272-6649. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tiffany Legette can be reached on (571) 270-7078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LINGWEN R ZENG/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 6/26/2026
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