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.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 5/10/24 are accepted by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirota (JP 2003297429 A, machine translation) in view of Okuda et al (US 2021/0376391).
Regarding claims 1-5, 8, and 9, Hirota discloses a battery, comprising: a housing comprising a sealing plate (cover), a rectangular outer container (can), and an accommodating space formed by the sealing plate (cover) and the rectangular outer container (can) sealed and joined with each other; and an spiral electrode body (electric cell), the spiral electrode body being a winding formed by winding a laminated body, the laminated body comprising:
a positive electrode plate “10” (positive electrode sheet), being a positive electrode current collector “11” (positive electrode substrate), the positive electrode current collector having a positive electrode upper surface and a positive electrode lower surface opposite to the positive electrode upper surface, wherein at least one of the positive electrode upper surface and the positive electrode lower surface has a positive electrode active material layer “12” (positive electrode coating);
a negative electrode plate “20” (negative electrode sheet), being a negative electrode current collector (negative electrode substrate) having a negative electrode upper surface and a negative electrode lower surface opposite to the negative electrode upper surface, wherein at least one of the negative electrode upper surface and the negative electrode lower surface has a negative electrode active material layer “22” (negative electrode coating), the negative electrode upper surface “21” is not provided with the negative electrode active material layer between a winding starting end of the negative electrode plate and a predetermined length from the winding starting end, wherein a length of the negative electrode current collector (negative electrode sheet) is 320 mm and a predetermined length from the winding starting end is 20 mm which corresponds to a ratio of the predetermined length to a length of the negative electrode sheet ranges that 0.0625;
a separator “30” disposed between the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate;
a negative electrode current collector tab “23” (negative electrode tab), connected to the negative electrode upper surface;
a negative electrode terminal (not shown) connected to the negative electrode current collector tab;
wherein neither the negative electrode upper surface nor the negative electrode lower surface is provided with the negative electrode active material layer (negative electrode coating) between the winding starting end and the predetermined length from the winding starting end;
wherein at least one of the negative electrode upper surface and the negative electrode lower surface is not provided with a support member between the winding starting end and the predetermined length from the winding starting end;
wherein neither the negative electrode upper surface nor the negative electrode lower surface is provided with a support member between the winding starting end and the predetermined length from the winding starting end; and
an electrolyte disposed in the accommodating space ([0018]-[0024] and Fig. 2).
However, Hirota does not expressly teach a positive electrode tab connected to the positive electrode upper surface or the positive electrode lower surface (claim 1); a positive electrode terminal, buried in the cover; a negative electrode terminal, buried in the can; and the electric cell connected to the positive electrode terminal via the positive electrode tab and connected to the negative electrode terminal via the negative electrode tab (claim 9).
Okuda et al discloses battery comprising a positive electrode tab “4” connected to the positive electrode upper surface or the positive electrode lower surface; a positive electrode terminal “6” buried in the sealing assembly “5” (cover); an exposed portion “14b” (negative electrode terminal), buried in the case body “5” (can); and the electrode assembly “3” (electric cell) connected to the positive electrode terminal “6” via the positive electrode tab “4” and connected to the negative electrode terminal “5” via the negative electrode tab “14b” ([0014]-[0023] and Figs 1-4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Hirota battery to include a positive electrode tab connected to the positive electrode upper surface or the positive electrode lower surface; a positive electrode terminal, buried in the cover; a negative electrode terminal, buried in the can; and the electric cell connected to the positive electrode terminal via the positive electrode tab and connected to the negative electrode terminal via the negative electrode tab in order to provide a case negative battery configuration that prevents deterioration in charge-discharge cycle characteristic ([0007]).
Regarding claims 6 and 7, Hirota does not expressly teach a positive electrode tab comprising a first positive electrode tab and a second positive electrode tab, and both of the first positive electrode tab and the second positive electrode tab are connected to the positive electrode upper surface (claim 6); a negative electrode tab comprising a first negative electrode tab, a second negative electrode tab and a third negative electrode tab, and all of the first negative electrode tab, the second negative electrode tab and the third negative electrode tab are connected to the negative electrode upper surface (claim 7).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Hirota battery to include a first positive electrode tab and a second positive electrode tab, and both of the first positive electrode tab and the second positive electrode tab are connected to the positive electrode upper surface; a first negative electrode tab, a second negative electrode tab and a third negative electrode tab, and all of the first negative electrode tab, the second negative electrode tab and the third negative electrode tab are connected to the negative electrode upper surface because duplication of parts was held to have been obvious (In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960)). In addition, the number of positive electrode tabs and the number of negative electrode tabs is an obvious matter of design choice which one of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to make (Concrete Unlimited Inc. v. Cementcraft Inc. 227 USPQ 784 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Kuhle 188 USPQ 7 (CCPA 1975)). According to para. [0029] of the present application, “In the present invention, the positive electrode tabs and the negative electrode tabs can be different according to battery requirements or battery designs, and can have different numbers or configurations”. There is no evidence of criticality of the claimed number of positive electrode tabs and negative electrode tabs.
Conclusion
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/T.S.C/Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 8/27/2026
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