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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-8, in the reply filed on 8/13/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 9-10 and 12-21 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Yoon (JP 2011-210707).
With respect to claim 1, Yoon teaches a battery cell comprising an electrode assembly including a cathode, an anode and a separator, and a battery case that houses the electrode assembly. The battery case includes a sealing portion that seals the electrode assembly within the case. The sealing portion includes a first area, and a second area excluding the first area, wherein the first area has a crystallinity that is higher than that of a crystallinity of the second area. Yoon describes forming additional sealing parts 131a, 132a by further sealing parts of the outer parts of the first pouch sheet 120 and the second pouch sheet 130 in [0041] and Fig. 2e. Based on the description in [0063] and [0069] of the instant application, the additionally sealed parts of Yoon have a high degree of crystallinity due to the promotion of crystallization. The additional sealing parts 131a, 132a of Yoon correspond to the first region of the instant application, and the parts of the first side part 131 and the second side part 132 of the reference that have not been additionally sealed correspond to the second region of the instant application.
With respect to claim 2, Yoon teaches that the sealing portion includes a first sealing portion and a second sealing portion respectively located on both opposite sides of the battery case, and a third sealing portion that is one edge extending between the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion. The first side 121, 131 and the second side 122, 132 of D1 correspond to the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion of the instant application, and the third side 123, 133 or the fourth side 124, 134 of Yoon correspond to the third sealing portion of the instant application. See FIG. 2b of D1. With regard to claim 5, when pressure inside the battery cell is equal to or higher than a certain pressure, the weaker area will be torn.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Shimamura et al (JP 2005-116235).
With respect to claim 1, Shimamura teaches a battery cell comprising an electrode assembly including a cathode, an anode and a separator, and a battery case that houses the electrode assembly. The battery case includes a sealing portion that seals the electrode assembly within the case. The sealing portion includes a first area, and a second area excluding the first area, wherein the first area has a crystallinity that is higher than that of a crystallinity of the second area. Shimamura [0032] and FIG. 3 teach that by setting the heating temperature lower than that of other parts, the part heat-fused by the low-temperature part becomes a fragile part 53, and this fragile part 53 can function as a gas release mechanism 50. Based on the description in [0063] and [0069] of the instant application, the portion other than the weak portion 53, which is the portion heat-fused by the low-temperature portion of Shimamura, has a higher degree of crystallinity than the weak portion 53. In this case, the portion of Shimamura other than the weak portion 53 corresponds to the first region of the instant application, and the weak portion 53 of the reference corresponds to the second region of the instant application.
With respect to claim 2, Shimamura teaches that the sealing portion includes a first sealing portion and a second sealing portion respectively located on both opposite sides of the battery case, and a third sealing portion that is one edge extending between the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion. The right side 23b of the seal portion 23 of the reference corresponds to the first seal portion of the instant application. The left side 23d of the seal portion 23 corresponds to the second seal portion of the instant application, and the upper side 23a or lower side 23c of the seal portion 23 corresponds to the third seal portion of the instant application. (See FIG. 2.)
With respect to claims 3-4, Shimamura teaches that the first area comprises a partial area of the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion, or an entirety of the first sealing portion and a partial area of the second sealing portion and an entirety of the third sealing portion. Shimamura further that the second area is a partial area of the first sealing portion or a partial area of the second sealing portion. As noted above, the portion other than the weak portion 53 of Shimamura corresponds to the first region of the instant application, and the weak portion 53 of Shimamura corresponds to the second region of the instant application (See FIG. 3). In addition, the right side 23b of the seal portion 23 of Shimamura corresponds to the first sealed portion of the instant application, the left side 23d of the seal portion 23 corresponds to the second sealed portion of the instant application, and the upper side 23a or the lower side 23c of the seal portion 23 corresponds to the third sealed portion of the instant application (FIG. 2).
With respect to claim 5, Shimamura teaches when pressure inside the battery cell is equal to or higher than a certain pressure, the second area is configured to be torn. As described above, the portion other than the weak portion 53 of Shimamura corresponds to the first region of the instant application, and the weak portion 53 of Shimamura corresponds to the second region of the instant application (See FIG. 3). The reference states that when the gas pressure inside the battery reaches a predetermined pressure (e.g., about 1 kgf/cm2) during an abnormality, the portion of the gas release mechanism 50 that is set to have a weaker adhesive strength than the adhesive strength of the heat fusion at other portions breaks the heat fusion state and releases gas to the outside ([0033]).
With respect to claims 6-8, Shimamura teaches that the sealing portion includes a metal layer, an inner resin layer formed on an inner surface of the metal layer, and an outer resin layer formed on an outer surface of the metal layer, the inner resin layer includes a third area, and a fourth area excluding the third area, and the third area has a crystallinity that is higher than a crystallinity of the fourth area. Shimamura teaches that the crystallinity of the inner resin layer within the third area is higher than the crystallinity of the inner resin within the fourth area. Shimamura teaches that the first area includes the third area, and the second area includes the fourth area. Shimamura teaches that the laminate films 21, 22 are composite sheets consisting of two or more layers of sheets ([0014]). As shown in FIGS. 2(B) and (C), from the inside to the surface, they have a heat-sealed seal layer 24, a metal layer 25 such as an aluminum laminate film, and a resin layer 26 forming an exterior. The seal layer 24 of Shimamura corresponds to the inner resin layer of the instant application, the metal layer 25 corresponds to the metal layer of the instant application, and the resin layer 26 corresponds to the outer resin layer of the instant application.
Claims 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pill et al. (KR 2022-0032475).
With respect to claim 1, Pill teaches a battery cell comprising an electrode assembly including a cathode, an anode and a separator, and a battery case that houses the electrode assembly. The battery case includes a sealing portion that seals the electrode assembly within the case. The sealing portion includes a first area, and a second area excluding the first area, wherein the first area has a crystallinity that is higher than that of a crystallinity of the second area. Pill discloses that both ends of the pressing surface 32d and the raised surface 32e are formed in a straight line that is the same as the longitudinal direction of the electrode lead. That is, the compression surface 32d and the raised surface 32e have a rectangular shape in which both ends are straight lines with reference to FIG. 2. Accordingly, it is possible to have the same sealing force to both ends of the compression surface 32d and the raised surface 32e, and as a result, the sealing force of the sealing part located on the electrode lead can be increased. Pill further teaches that one end of the connection sealing region 32a may maintain a high degree of crystallinity, and the other end may maintain a high tensile strength (see paragraphs 17 and 28 following the heading describing the first embodiment of the present invention). With regard to claim 5, when pressure inside the battery cell is equal to or higher than a certain pressure, the weaker area will be torn.
Claims 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Muroi (US 2017/0005302).
With respect to claim 1, Muroi teaches a battery cell comprising an electrode assembly including a cathode, an anode and a separator, and a battery case that houses the electrode assembly. The battery case includes a sealing portion that seals the electrode assembly within the case. The sealing portion includes a first area, and a second area excluding the first area, wherein the first area has a crystallinity that is higher than that of a crystallinity of the second area ([0086]). With regard to claim 5, when pressure inside the battery cell is equal to or higher than a certain pressure, the weaker area will be torn.
Conclusion
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/MARK RUTHKOSKY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1785
