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) submitted on 27 March 2024 and 28 August 2025 were considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The language “a surface of the second terminal portion opposite to the other surface thereof that faces the cell case” and “the recess extends from one end edge to the other end edge in a lateral direction” from claims 1 and 2 respectively was determined to be descriptions inherent to the structure of elements of the claimed invention, and therefore has sufficient antecedent basis within the claims.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2016/0372793 (Lee) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2014/0147729 (Moon).
Considering claim 1, Lee teaches a rechargeable battery including an electrode assembly, a case that accommodates the electrode assembly, and a sub terminal which has a portion being arranged at an outer surface of the case [ABS]. The sub terminal 22c has a portion 22cb that is arranged on one side of the case 15 and is integrally formed with another portion 22ca that is arranged on a cap plate 20 (separate surface of the case) [ABS, Fig 3]. The portion 22cb may be considered to be above the cell case when viewed from a particular direction and an annotated Lee Figure 3 has been produced for clarity. Lee is silent to explicitly teach the second terminal portion having a recess on a surface opposite the surface facing the case.
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In the same field of endeavor of power storage, Moon teaches a rechargeable battery that includes an electrode assembly, a case for the electrode assembly, and electrode terminals located in a side of the case [ABS]. Moon teaches a concave recess on the electrode terminals opened towards one side of the electrode terminals in a width direction, including that the concave recess may face away from the remainer of the cell [0053]. In this case, the surface opposite the surface with the recess would be facing the remainer of the cell. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the terminal structure of Lee to include a recess as taught by Moon in order to strengthen the fastening force between the electrode terminals and a bus bar [0056].
Considering claim 2, Moon teaches an embodiment of the invention where the concave recess 51 in the electrode terminal 22 extends from one end edge to the other end edge in a lateral direction when viewed from a direction in which the electrode terminal 22 and case 15 are in line [Fig 2]. A modified Moon Figure 2 has been produced for clarity.
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Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2016/0372793 (Lee) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2014/0147729 (Moon) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2014/0127544 (Min).
Considering claim 3, Moon teaches a rechargeable battery module that includes a plurality of unit cells connected by bus bars [0035]. The bus bar 200 is coupled to the concave recesses 51 and 41 of at least two adjoined unit cells 100 [0054, Fig 4]. Moon is silent to explicitly teach a band that surrounds the rechargeable battery module and the bus bar being disposed on a surface of the band that faces the unit cell.
In the same field of endeavor of power storage, Min teaches a rechargeable battery that includes a cabinet provided with two electrode terminals [ABS]. The electrode terminals 12a of adjoining cells 1 are connected via bus bar 42 which is connected to a pressing band [0049, Fig 8]. The pressing band is shown to surround the plurality of cells 1 with the bus bars 42 in between the cells 1 and the pressing band [Fig 8]. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the bus bars of Moon to be disposed on a band surrounding a plurality of cells as taught by Min in order to improve durability against vibration [0049].
Considering claim 4, Min teaches a pressing band that surrounds a module, used to improve durability against vibration for the module [0049, Fig 8]. The scope of the recited structural function of the “stretchable” band of the instant claim is to restrain two or more power storage cells by a contracting force. The pressing band taught by Min is interpreted to have the same structure and function as the band of the instant claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Elliott H Clark whose telephone number is (571)272-0154. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 7:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Humera Sheikh can be reached at (571)272-0604. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/E.H.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1784
/HUMERA N. SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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