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. 2. Claims 1 5-28 are pending in this office action. Priority 3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f), which papers have been placed of record in the file. Information Disclosure Statement 4. Information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted October 5 , 2023, has been received and considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. 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. 8. Claim s 15-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leuthold (US 4,522,387) in view of (DE 102019205428 A1), using Bohm et al. (US 2022/0223919 A1) as an English equivalent . With regard to Claim 15 , Leuthold discloses in Figures 1 and 4, a n electrode stacking wheel , called a stacker, designed to receive and convey planar sheet elements, the electrode-stacking wheel comprising: a spindle , called a shaft (9), designed to rotate the electrode stacking wheel; a plurality of stacking fingers, called discs (5), which are radial to the spindle (9) and which are arranged circumferentially around the spindle (9) ; and a plurality of intermediate spaces, called spiral slots (12), each of which is formed between the stacking fingers (5) , wherein a respective intermediate space (12) is designed to receive at least one of the sheet elements (1) (column 3, lines 3-30) ; wherein a clamping element , called an elastic element or tongue (34), formed in each of the intermediate spaces (12) , wherein the clamping element (34) is designed, in the clamping state, to apply clamping force to a main surface of one of the sheet elements (1) and to press the respective sheet element (1) against the respective stacking finger (5) by means of the application of force (column 4, lines 25-57) . Leuthold does not specifically disclose electrode elements for the electrode stacking wheel. Bohm et al. discloses in Figure 1, an electrode stacking wheel (12) designed to receive and convey planar electrode elements, including anodes (6) and cathodes (8), the electrode-stacking wheel (12) comprising: a spindle , called an axis of rotation (D), designed to rotate the electrode stacking wheel (12) ; a plurality of stacking fingers, called arms or blades (16), which are radial to the spindle (D) and which are arranged circumferentially around the spindle (D) ; and a plurality of intermediate spaces, called receptacles (14), each of which is formed between the stacking fingers (16) , wherein a respective intermediate space (14) is designed to receive at least one of the electrode elements (6, 8) (paragraphs 0040-0046) . Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the stacking wheel of Leuthold to include electrode elements to form an electrode stacking wheel, because Bohm et al. teach that this configuration allows for quickly and efficiently producing an electrode stack (paragraphs 0003-0005). The recitations, “ designed to receive and convey planar electrode elements ” , “ designed to rotate the electrode stacking wheel ” ; “ designed to receive at least one of the electrode elements ” ; “ wherein the electrode clamping element is designed, in the clamping state, to apply clamping force to a main surface of one of the electrode elements and to press the respective electrode element against the respective stacking finger by means of the application of force ”, is considered functional language which imparts intended use to the structural features of the product. Therefore, while the claim language has been considered with regard to structure, the intended use language it is not given patentable weight because it is directed to a process and not directed to the structural features of the product. While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. See MPEP 2114. A claim containing a “recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus” if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. See MPEP 2113 . With regard to Claim 16 , Leuthold discloses in Figures 1 and 4, wherein the electrode clamping element (34) is spring-loaded, and a spring force can be applied to the modified electrode element (1) by the electrode clamping element (34) (column 5, lines 10-13) . With regard to Claim 1 7 , Leuthold discloses in Figures 1 and 4, wherein the electrode clamping element (34) is designed as part of the respective stacking finger (5) (column 4, lines 25-29) . With regard to Claim 1 8 , Leuthold discloses in Figures 1 and 4, wherein the electrode clamping element (34) is connected to the respective stacking finger (5) by a contact point at the distal end of the disc (5) (column 4, lines 25-29) . With regard to Claim 1 9 , Leuthold discloses in Figures 1 and 4, wherein the electrode clamping element (34) is made from the same material as the stacking finger (5) since it is a piece cut out from the disc (5) (column 4, lines 25-29) . With regard to Claim 20, Bohm et al. disclose in Figure 1, an electrode stacking device , called an apparatus (2), comprising at least one electrode stacking wheel (12) , as noted above (paragraph 0044) . With regard to Claim 21 , neither Leuthold nor Bohm et al. disclose wherein the electrode stacking device has, axially offset from the electrode stacking wheel, at least one clamping element-free stacking wheel having the same spindle. Before the effective filing date of the invention i t would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include at least one clamping element-free stacking wheel having the same spindle and axially offset from the electrode stacking wheel , since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Harza , 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). See MPEP 2144.04(VI) . With regard to Claim 22 , Leuthold discloses in Figures 1 and 4, a method for producing an stack with planar sheet elements (1) , in which the following steps are performed: a) providing an sheet element (1) ; b) rotating a stacking wheel , called a stacker, about a spindle , called a shaft (9) ; c) introducing the provided sheet element (1) into an intermediate space , called a spiral slot (12), formed by stacking fingers , called discs (5), of the stacking wheel; d) moving the sheet element (1) thus introduced through the stacking wheel rotating about the spindle (9) ; e) removing the moving sheet element (1) from the intermediate space (12) with a pick-off element (11) ; and f) producing the sheet stack with the sheet element (1) removed from the intermediate space (12) and stacking it on a tray (4) , wherein a clamping force is applied to the sheet element (1) , during its movement through the stacking wheel, in a clamping position by means of a clamping element , called an elastic element or tongue (34) (column 3, lines 3-30 and column 4, lines 25-57) . Leuthold does not specifically disclose an electrode stack with electrode elements. Bohm et al. discloses in Figure 1, a method for producing an electrode stack (4) with planar electrode elements, including anode (6) and cathode (8), in which the following steps are performed: a) providing an electrode element , including anode (6) and cathode (8) ; b) rotating an electrode stacking wheel (12) about a spindle , called an axis of rotation (D) ; c) introducing the provided electrode element (6, 8) into an intermediate space , called a receptacle (14), formed by stacking fingers , called arms or blades (16), of the electrode stacking wheel (12) ; d) moving the electrode element (6, 8) thus introduced through the electrode stacking wheel (12) rotating about the spindle (D) ; e) removing the moving electrode element (6, 8) from the intermediate space (14) with a stripper arm (22) ; and f) producing the electrode stack (4) with the electrode element (6, 8) removed from the intermediate space (14) and arranging them in a stacking compartment (24) (paragraphs 0040-0048). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of producing the stack of Leuthold to include electrode elements forming an electrode stack, because Bohm et al. teach that this method allows for quickly and efficiently producing an electrode stack (paragraphs 0003-0005). With regard to Claim 23 , Leuthold discloses in Figure 1, wherein a passive stripping element , called a pick-off (11), which overcomes the clamping force of the tongue (34) is used to remove the modified electrode element (1) from the intermediate space (12) in step e) (column 3, lines 17-20) . With regard to Claim 2 4 , Leuthold discloses in Figure 1, wherein an active stripping element , called a pick-off (11), which overcomes the clamping force of the tongue (34) is used to remove the modified electrode element (1) from the intermediate space (12) in step e) (column 3, lines 17-20) . With regard to Claim 2 5 , Leuthold discloses in Figure 1, wherein the modified electrode element (1) is braked , or pressed into, by the electrode clamping element (34) in step c) (column 4, lines 25-34) . With regard to Claim 2 6 , Leuthold discloses in Figure 1, wherein the modified electrode element (1) is conveyed into the clamping position in a controlled manner by a feeding device , called a transport roller (10), in step a) (column 3, lines 3-8) . With regard to Claim 2 7 , Leuthold discloses in Figure 1, wherein from the time at which the modified electrode element (1) is located in the clamping position at the tongue (34) , the control over the modified electrode element (1) inherently passes from the feeding device (10) to the electrode stacking wheel , or stacker, at the spiral slot (12) (column 3, lines 3-25). With regard to Claim 2 8 , Leuthold discloses in Figure 1, wherein the modified electrode element (1) is introduced into the intermediate space (12) by a feed wheel , called a transport roller (10), with a raised contact attachment , called a conveyor belt (2), that extends circumferentially around only part of the feed wheel (10) (column 3, lines 3-20) . Conclusion 9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT KARIE O APICELLA whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-8614 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 5:00PM EST . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. 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For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /KARIE O'NEILL APICELLA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725