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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Japanese patent Publication No. 2020-075270 to Kumazawa, citing to the enclosed English translation (“Kumazawa”). Regarding claims 1-4 and 7, Kumazawa discloses a bus bar assembly for a battery system comprising an aluminum bus bar (1) laser welded to a plurality of nickel-plated copper terminal tabs (2), where the aluminum bus bar extends along a first plane, with the tabs pressed against the bus bar and extending upward perpendicular/normal to the main plane of the bus bar. Kumazawa at paragraphs [0031] and [0032] and Figures 1A and 1B. The aluminum bus bar is considered to correspond to the recited terminal collection plate with the tab terminals corresponding to the recited plurality of tabs making up the lattice portion.
Further regarding claims 5 and 6, the copper tabs are taught to have a thickness of 0.25mm with a nickel plating of 1 micron thickness. Id. at paragraph [0063]
Further regarding claims 8-14, Kamazawa discloses that a plurality of its bus bars can be used to weld together the battery cells/modules of an automobile into battery packs. Id. at paragraph [0278].
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/WYATT P MCCONNELL/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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