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 .
Status of Application
Claims 1-18 are currently pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 5, 7-8, the recitation within the parentheses, in particular, “(L1)”, “(L2)”, “(L3)”, “(L4)”, “(L5)”, “(L6)”, and “(L7)”, render the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations within the parentheses are part of the claimed invention. For examining purposes, Examiner will not consider L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6, and L7 as part of the claims and use broadest reasonable interpretation for the welding region, excess region, compressed section, transition region, flat region, flat welding region, flat excess region.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 10, 12, 14, 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaami (US20210111398A1), in view of Lu (CN215911557, translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Tanaami discloses a method for preparing a negative electrode plate, comprising:
connecting a metal foil (tab lead [0175]) to a foamed metal current collector (foam copper current collector [0166]) by ultrasonic welding [0175], so as to form the negative electrode plate,
wherein the metal foil forms a tab of the negative electrode plate, and
the foamed metal current collector comprises a foamed metal layer of a porosity 95%, which falls within the claimed range of “60% to 99%”.
However, Tanaami does not explicitly disclose wherein the ultrasonic welding is a “roll welding.”
In this regard, Lu teaches wherein an electrode tab is welded to a current collector by ultrasonic welding such as roll welding [0050]. As such, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have used ultrasonic roll welding with a reasonable expectation to form a hermetical seal between the tab lead and the current collector.
Regarding claim 10, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the foamed metal current collector is a foamed metal layer (i.e., foamed copper), a thickness of the foamed metal layer is 1mm (i.e., 1000 μm) [Tanaami 0166], which falls within the claimed range of 10 μm to 1000 μm.
Regarding claim 12, Tanaami discloses a negative electrode plate, comprising a tab and a foamed metal current collector [Tanaami 0175, 0166]; wherein the tab is formed of a metal foil [Tanaami 0175], and the foamed metal current collector comprises a foamed metal layer of a porosity of 95% [0166], which is between the claimed range of 60% to 99%; and the metal foil is connected to the foamed metal current collector by welding to form the negative electrode plate [Tanaami 0175]. Examiner notes that the instant claim is directed to a negative electrode plate, and the limitation “the metal foil is connected to the foamed metal current collector by roll welding to form the negative electrolyte plate” is a process claim that does not appear to impart additional structure to the negative electrode plate absent persuasive evidence. Since Tanaami discloses wherein the current collector and the tab are welded, thus connected, Tanaami appears to meet the structural limitation. Assuming, arguendo, that Applicant is able to persuasively show by means of evidence that the roll welding does impart an additional structure to the negative electrode plate, Lu teaches wherein an electrode tab is welded to a current collector by ultrasonic welding such as roll welding [Lu 0050]. It therefore would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have used ultrasonic roll welding with a reasonable expectation to form a hermetical seal between the tab lead and the current collector.
Regarding claims 14, modified Tanaami discloses the negative electrode plate according to claim 12, comprising a current collector having porosity of 60-99% welded to a nickel contact tab by ultrasonic roller welding (modified by Lu). Tanaami does not explicitly disclose a tensile force of the negative electrode plate, wherein the tensile force is measured by fixing one end of the foamed metal current collector of the negative electrode plate and stretching the tab at the opposite end [0103]. However, a skilled artisan would recognize that since the negative electrode plate of Tanaami is made by substantially similar material (i.e., foamed current collector and tab) wherein the tab and the current collector are welded using a similar method (i.e., ultrasonic roll welding as modified by Lu), the negative electrode plate would inherently have a tensile force between 10 to 20N (MPEP 2112.01 I), absent evidence otherwise.
Regarding claim 16, modified Tanaami discloses the negative electrode plate according to claim 12, wherein the negative electrode plate is prepared by the method according to claim 1 [0166, 0175].
Regarding claim 17, modified Tanaami discloses a secondary battery, comprising the negative electrode plate according to claim 12 [0176].
Regarding claim 18, modified Tanaami discloses an electrical device (e.g., electric vehicle in [0003] Lu), comprising the negative electrode plate according to claim 12.
Claim(s) 2-4, 13, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaami (US20210111398A1), in view of Lu (CN215911557, translation attached) and Wu (US20190283171).
Regarding claim 2, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the roll welding is an ultrasonic welding (as modified above). However, Tanaami does not particularly disclose a welding parameter such as power density, thus does not disclose wherein the power density of the welding is 2.0 to 28 W/cm2, as claimed.
In this regard, Wu teaches an apparatus and method for continuous ultrasonic roll welding of a metal foil tab to a battery current collector using a welding head in contact with an anvil block, wherein the ultrasonic welding head 302 and anvil block 304 may be cylinders [0070]. Wu further teaches that the width of the welding head is 2-6mm, cylinder pressure is 0.2-0.5 MPa, line speed is 30-50 m/min, and vibration frequency is 20-40K [0059-0060 Wu]. In ultrasonic welding, power density is defined as the power applied per unit area of the active welding area (from [PG Pub 0070] of the instant application), which is a recognized result-effective variable that controls the rate of interfacial frictional heat generation, plastic deformation, and metallurgical joint strength (MPEP 2144.05 II), where a person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that exerting excessive power density across the contact area would generate excessive localized frictional heat energy leading to over melting, cracking, or tearing of the foamed collector, and exerting insufficient power density fails to induce adequate plastic deformation between the current collector and the tab, resulting in reduced metallurgical joint strength and contact, thereby resulting in increased electrical resistance. Thus, absent persuasive evidence that the claimed range produces unexpected results, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to optimize the power density to provide sufficient joint strength and contact such that the power density is in a workable range of 2-28 W/cm2, without undue experimentation and with a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 3, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the roll welding is an ultrasonic welding (as modified above). Tanaami does not explicitly disclose a pressure during welding, thus does not disclose wherein “a pressure during the welding is 0.1 MPa to 1.0 MPa” as claimed.
Wu teaches a welding pressure of 0.3 MPa or a general range of 0.2-0.5 MPa for welding the current collector and the tab [0059-0060], which falls within the claimed range of “0.1 MPa to 1.0 MPa.” It therefore would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the method of Tanaami such that the welding is performed at the encompassed welding pressure range, with a reasonable expectation to weld the current collector and the tab, absent persuasive evidence that the claimed range produces unexpected results.
Regarding claim 4, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the roll welding is an ultrasonic welding (as modified above), however Tanaami does not disclose an amplitude of a welding head, thus does not disclose wherein the amplitude of the welding head is 10 μm to 50 μm, as claimed.
In this regard, Wu teaches wherein the amplitude of the welding head is 16 μm to weld the current collector and the tab [0059], which falls within the claimed range of “10 μm to 50 μm.” It therefore would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the method of Tanaami such that it welds its current collector and the tab using the encompassed welding head amplitude with a reasonable expectation to weld the current collector and the tab, absent persuasive evidence that the claimed range produces unexpected results.
Regarding claim 13, modified Tanaami discloses the negative electrode plate according to claim 12, wherein the thickness of the foamed metal current collector is 1mm (i.e., 1000 μm) [0166], which is within the claimed range of “10 μm to 1000 μm”. However, Tanaami does not disclose wherein a thickness of the tab is 9 μm to 50 μm and a thickness ratio between the tab and the foamed metal current collector is 1:1 to 1:10. A skilled artisan would recognize that tab dimensions depend on battery size and configuration, as well as current conduction requirements, thus the tab dimensions are considered result effective variables that are obvious as a design choice (see MPEP § 2144.04). It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have controlled the thickness of the tab, as well as the ratio between the current collector and the tab, with a reasonable expectation to form a strong bonding between the current collector and the tab during the step of welding. Alternatively, Wu teaches wherein the tab thickness ranges from 6 μm to 10 μm and current collector thickness of 12μm [Wu 0060], wherein the ratio between the tab and the metal current collector is (6-10):12 (i.e., 1: 1.2-2), which falls within the claimed range of 1:1 to 1:10. It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have selected the overlapping tap thickness range and the tab to current collector thickness ratio, with a reasonable expectation to form a strong bonding between the current collector and the tab during the step of welding.
Regarding claim 15, modified Tanaami discloses the negative electrode plate according to claim 12, comprising a current collector having porosity of 60-99% welded to a nickel contact tab by ultrasonic roller welding (as modified by Lu). Tanaami does not explicitly disclose wherein the negative electrode plate has a weld seam resistance of 1.0 to 1.8mΩ, as claimed. In this regard, Wu teaches an apparatus and method for continuous ultrasonic roll welding of a metal foil tab to a battery current collector using a welding head in contact with an anvil block, wherein the ultrasonic welding head 302 and anvil block 304 may be cylinders [0070]. Wu further teaches that the width of the welding head is 2-6mm, cylinder pressure is 0.2-0.5 MPa, line speed is 30-50 m/min, and vibration frequency is 20-40K [0059-0060 Wu], wherein Wu recognizes controlling parameters such as size of the welding head, pressure, line speed, vibration frequency influences the weld seam resistance across the tab-collector interface [0059 Wu]. Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have optimized the welding parameters (e.g., welding size, pressure, speed, frequency) of Tanaami to arrive at the weld seam resistance of 1.0 to 1.8mΩ by way of routine experimentation in order to minimize heat generation at the interface while providing adequate mechanical bonding between the tab and the current collector.
Claim(s) 5,7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaami (US20210111398A1), in view of Lu (CN215911557, translation attached) and Lilley (US20150056506A1).
Regarding claim 5, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the tab and the current collector are roll-welded to each other, but does not explicitly disclose the roll welding process includes: roll-welding the metal foil to one end, or roll-welding two metal foils to two opposite ends, of the foamed metal current collector along a length direction, wherein each metal foil overlaps at least a part of the foamed metal current collector and extends beyond the foamed metal current collector; and the at least a part that is overlapping forms a welding region, and an exceeding part of the extension forms an excess region; wherein, along a width direction of the foamed metal current collector, a dimension of the excess region by percentage falls within a range of 2.5% to 12.5%, and a dimension of the welding region by percentage falls within a range of 10% to 15%, based on a width of the foamed metal current collector; or wherein, along the width direction of the foamed metal current collector, a dimension of the excess region is 1 mm to 5 mm, and the dimension of the welding region is 4 mm to 6 mm.
In this regard, Lilley is also directed to methods for connecting contact leads to electrodes having low resistance and a mechanically strong electrical contact between the current collector and the tab, wherein the methods comprise roll-welding the metal foil to one end of the foamed metal current collector along a length direction (see Fig 3), wherein each metal foil (see contact lead 4 in Fig 3) overlaps at least a part of the foamed metal current collector (tabs 2) and extends beyond the foamed metal current collector; and the at least a part that is overlapping forms a welding region, and an exceeding part of the extension forms an excess region (see the annotated Fig 3 below) wherein the dimension of the welding region is 5mm [Lilley 0079], which falls within the claimed range of “4 mm to 6 mm.”
PNG
media_image1.png
425
699
media_image1.png
Greyscale
While Lilley does not explicitly disclose wherein the dimension of the excess region is 1 mm to 5 mm, Lilley discloses the contact lead (i.e., unwelded portion) is exposed outside the casing of the battery to form an electrical contact to the external electrical circuit [0005]. Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have optimized the length of the excess region to arrive at the claimed length of 1-5mm by way of routine experimentation to provide a contact lead that is long enough to be exposed outside the battery casing to form an electrical contact with the external circuit while also providing enough welding area to provide a mechanically strong bonding between the current collector and the tab. It further would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the method of Tanaami such that it includes roll-welding the current collector and the tab on one end, such that it forms an overlapping portion that forms a welding region, and an exceeding part forming an excess region, wherein the excess region has a dimension of 1mm to 5mm and the dimension of the welding region is 4-6mm, as taught by Lilley, with a reasonable expectation to form a negative electrode plate having low resistance and a mechanically strong electrical contact between the current collector and the tab, while also forming an electrical contact with an external electrical circuit [0005, 0076].
Regarding claim 7, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the foamed metal current collector and the tabs are roll welded (as modified above), however, Tanaami does not explicitly disclose wherein: one end or each of two opposite ends of the foamed metal current collector extending along a length direction comprises a compressed section, and the compressed section comprises a transition region and a flat region; the metal foil is roll-welded to the flat region at one end or two opposite ends of the foamed metal current collector, wherein each metal foil overlaps at least a part of the flat region and extends beyond the flat region; and the at least a part that is overlapping forms a flat welding region, and an exceeding part of the extension forms a flat excess region; wherein, along a width direction of the foamed metal current collector, a dimension of the flat welding region by percentage falls within a range of 7.5% to 12.5%, and a dimension of the flat excess region by percentage falls within a range of 2.5% to 24%, based on a width of the foamed metal current collector; or wherein, along the width direction of the foamed metal current collector, a dimension of the flat welding region is 3 mm to 5 mm, and the dimension of the flat excess region is 1 mm to 6 mm. In this regard, Lilley is also directed to methods for connecting contact leads to electrodes, wherein one end the foamed metal current collector (tabs 2) extending along a length direction comprises a compressed section (see annotated Fig 3 below; compressed by welding fixture 8), and the compressed section comprises a transition region (see the annotated Fig 3 below) and a flat region (see the annotated Fig 3; region that gets welded), wherein the metal foil (contact lead 4) is welded to the flat region at one end of the metal current collector (i.e., see Fig 3), wherein each metal foil overlaps at least a part of the flat region and extends beyond the flat region (e.g., portion of the contact lead 4 extending beyond the compressed section), wherein the at least a part that is overlapping forms a flat welding region (i.e., compressed/flat section being welded by weld fixtures 8 in Fig 3), and an exceeding part of the extension forms a flat excess region (see the annotated Fig 3), wherein, along the width direction of the foamed metal current collector, a dimension of the flat welding region is the 5mm meshed region [0079], which falls within the dimension range of “3 mm to 5 mm”.
PNG
media_image2.png
489
699
media_image2.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image3.png
489
699
media_image3.png
Greyscale
While Lilley does not explicitly disclose wherein the dimension of the excess region is 1 mm to 5 mm, Lilley discloses the contact lead is exposed outside the casing of the battery to form an electrical contact to the external electrical circuit [0005]. Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to adjust the length of the excess region to arrive at the claimed length of 1-6mm by way of routine experimentation to provide a contact lead that is long enough to be exposed outside the battery casing to form an electrical contact with the external circuit while providing sufficient welding area for the current collector and the tab. It further would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the method of Tanaami such that one end of the current collector comprises a compressed section, wherein the compressed section further includes a transition region and a flat region, wherein the metal foil is roll-welded to the flat region at one end of the metal current collector, wherein each metal foil overlaps at least a part of the flat region and extends beyond the flat region, and the at least a part that is overlapping forms a flat welding region and an exceeding part of the extension forms a flat excess region, wherein a dimension of the flat welding region is 3mm to 5mm and the dimension of the flat excess region is 1mm to 6mm, as taught by Lilley, with a reasonable expectation to form a negative electrode plate having low resistance and a mechanically strong electrical contact between the current collector and the tab, while also forming an electrical contact with an external electrical circuit [0005, 0076].
Claim(s) 6,8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaami (US20210111398A1), in view of Lu (CN215911557, translation attached), Lilley (US20150056506A1) and O’Connell (US20030111512A1).
Regarding claim 6, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 5. Tanaami discloses wherein the metal foil is roll-welded (modified by Lu) to the foamed metal current collector, but does not disclose wherein the metal foil is roll-welded to opposite surfaces of the foamed metal current collector at each end of the current collector along the length direction, and then the metal foils in two opposite excess regions located at a same end are connected together.
In this regard, O’Connell teaches a battery comprising tabs 28, 38 engaged with leads 48, wherein the leads cover both sides (i.e., upper and lower) surface of the tabs (see 48a, 48b in Fig 2,5) to provide maximum contacting surface between the tabs and the leads to improve the current transfer efficiency of the connection while also making the structure rigid by adding another layer [O’Connell 0032]. Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have added lead 4 on the opposite surface of the foamed metal current collector of Tanaami, with a reasonable expectation to increase contacting surface between the tabs and the leads, thereby improving the current transfer efficiency and rigidity of the structure [O’Connell 0032].
Regarding claim 8, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 7. However, Tanaami does not explicitly disclose the step of welding, thus does not disclose wherein the metal foil is roll-welded to opposite flat regions of the foamed metal current collector at each end of the current collector along the length direction, and then the metal foils in two opposite flat excess regions located at a same end are connected together.
In this regard, O’Connell teaches a battery comprising tabs 28, 38 engaged with leads 48, wherein the leads cover both sides (i.e., upper and lower) surface of the tabs (see 48a, 48b in Fig 2,5) to provide maximum contacting surface between the tabs and the leads to improve the current transfer efficiency of the connection while also making the structure rigid by adding another layer [O’Connell 0032]. Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have added lead 4 on the opposite surface of the foamed metal current collector, with a reasonable expectation to increase contacting surface between the tabs and the leads, thereby improving the current transfer efficiency and rigidity of the structure [O’Connell 0032].
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaami (US20210111398A1), in view of Lu (CN215911557, translation attached) and Peng (CN216354304U, translation attached).
Regarding claim 9, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 1, comprising a tab, wherein the tab is welded to the current collector region of each electrode and the two sides of the current collector region of each electrode [0175, 0190]. Tanaami discloses that it is preferable to arrange the current collector tab in each electrode to maintain the distance from the current collector tab to be short to improve thermal conductivity and heat dissipation [0055-0056], wherein a skilled artisan would have been motivated to control the size of the collector tab to control the collector-to-electrode distance for improving thermal conductivity and heat dissipation. However, Tanaami does not explicitly provide details regarding the dimension of the tab (i.e., a thickness of the tab is 9 μm to 50 μm; a width of the tab is 6 mm to 9 mm; and a length of the tab is 2 mm to 15 mm).
In this regard, Peng teaches a battery electrode comprising a current collector and a tab welded in its welding area to electrically connect the tab with the current collector, wherein the tab has a thickness of 0.01mm to 0.5mm (i.e., 10μm to 500 μm), width of 1mm to 12mm, and length of 5mm to 50mm, wherein the thickness overlaps with the claimed range of 9 μm to 50 μm, the width encompasses the claimed range of 6 mm to 9 mm, and the length overlaps with the claimed range of 2 mm to 15 mm [0067]. Peng explicitly teaches the size of the tab is set to be relatively large to provide high tab conductivity [Peng 0067-0068]. It therefore would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have controlled the dimension of the collector tab of Tanaami, such that it has a thickness in the claimed range of 9 μm to 50 μm, a length of 9 μm to 50 μm, and a width of 6 mm to 9 mm, with a reasonable expectation to provide a current collector having good conductivity [Peng 0066-0067].
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaami (US20210111398A1), in view of Lu (CN215911557, translation attached), and Tang (CN106159277A).
Regarding claim 11, modified Tanaami discloses the method according to claim 1 comprising the foamed metal current collector having a thickness of 1000 μm. However, Tanaami does not disclose wherein the current collector is a composite formed by laminating a foamed metal layer, a metal foil layer, and a foamed metal layer sequentially, and further does not disclose wherein a thickness of the metal foil layer is 5 μm to 100 μm, wherein the metal foil layer is at least one selected from a copper foil layer, a nickel foil layer, an aluminum foil layer, or a silver foil layer.
In this regard, Tang teaches a battery current collector which comprises current collector layer 2 (i.e., a porous metal layer) formed on both sides of a current collector layer 1 (metal foil) ([Tang 0011, 0015]; see Fig 2). Tang further teaches wherein a thickness of the metal foam layer is 0.2 to 20 μm [Tang 0015], which overlaps with the claimed range of “10 μm to 1000 μm” and wherein a thickness of the metal foil layer is 5 to 25 μm [Tang 0013], which is within the claimed range of “5 μm to 100 μm”. Tang further teaches wherein the current collector 1 may be a metal foil wherein the metal is selected from the list comprising copper, nickel, aluminum, silver [Tang 0012]. Tang further teaches such current collector high contact area between the active materials and the current collector and provides better conductivity [Tang 0033].It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the foam metal current collector of Tanaami such that it has a foamed metal layer, a metal foil layer, and a foamed metal layer sequentially in the overlapping ranges of thicknesses, as taught by Tang, with a reasonable expectation to increase contact area thereby providing better conductivity [Tang 0033].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAEYOUNG SON whose telephone number is (703)756-1427. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at (571) 270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. 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.
/T.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 9/29/2026
Prosecution Insights