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 1-11) in the reply filed on 8/31/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
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.
Claims 1 and 3-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Urano et al. (US 2006/0073382) in view of CN 207800665 (to Zhang et al.) – translation attached and relied upon below.
With respect to claim 1, Urano teaches a secondary cell (Figure 1), comprising:
an electrode assembly (2); and
a casing (1) accommodating the electrode assembly (2);
wherein:
the casing (1) comprises a body (as illustrated), a first end plate (3) and a second/(bottom) end plate, wherein the first (3) and second/(bottom) end plates are arranged on opposite sides of the body with respect to a length direction of the body (as illustrated in Figure 3), and
the first end plate (3) comprises a first terminal (12),
the first end plate (3) comprises:
a contacting tab (7) configured to provide an electrical contact between an
electrode of the electrode assembly (2) and the first terminal (12); and
a spacer arrangement (25 & 26) arranged between the first end plate (3) and the
electrode assembly (2) and configured to secure the electrode assembly (2) in the
length direction of the body (as illustrated).
Urano teaches wherein the first end plate (3) comprises a second/(positive) terminal (para. [0008]), but fails to teach wherein the second end plate/(bottom end plate) comprises a second terminal of the secondary cell (Figure 3).
Zhang teaches a battery cell comprising an electrode body (200) (Figure 5), a first/upper end plate (10), a second/(bottom) end plate (as illustrated), wherein the first end plate (10) comprises a first terminal (21), and the second/(bottom) end plate comprises a second terminal (41) (as illustrated) in order to provide an alternative structure of prismatic battery cells and to thereby accommodate design and space limitations.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing for the invention to have the second end plate/(bottom end plate) in the secondary cell of Urano comprise a second terminal, as taught by Zhang, in order to provide an alternative structure of prismatic battery cells and to thereby accommodate design and space limitations.
With respect to claim 3, Urano teaches wherein the contacting tab (7) is Z-folded between the electrode assembly (2) and the first terminal (12) (as illustrated in Figure 1) – similar to instant contacting tab (121) of instant Figure 4c.
With respect to claim 4, Urano teaches wherein the spacer arrangement comprises a first spacer element (25) (Figure 1) and a second spacer element (26), and wherein the contacting tab (7) is arranged between the first (25) and second (26) spacer elements (as illustrated).
With respect to claim 5, Urano teaches wherein the contacting tab (7) extends from the first spacer element (25) to the second spacer element (26) (as illustrated).
With respect to claim 6, Urano teaches wherein a width of the contacting tab (7) (Figure 1), as seen in a direction between the first (25) and second spacer element (26), exceeds at least half of a corresponding width of the electrode assembly (2) (as illustrated).
With respect to claim 7, Urano teaches wherein the first end plate (3) (Figures 11 & 12) further comprises at least one inlet port (13) configured to allow an electrolyte to be supplied to the electrode assembly (2) (para. [0037]), and wherein the at least one inlet port (13) extends from an outside of the first end plate (3) and through the spacer arrangement (32) (as illustrated).
With respect to claim 8, Urano teaches wherein the first end plate (3) (Figure 11) further comprises at least one tab spacer (32 – the middle part) arranged on a side of the first end plate (3) facing the electrode assembly (2) and extending along the contacting tab (7) to electrically insulate the contacting tab (7) from a sidewall of the casing (1).
With respect to claim 9, Urano teaches wherein the at least one tab spacer (32 – the middle part) is configured to secure the electrode assembly (2) in the length direction of the body (2).
With respect to claim 10, Urano teaches wherein the at least one tab spacer (32 – middle part) and the spacer arrangement (32 & 32) have the same extension in the length direction of the body (as illustrated in Figure 11).
With respect to claim 11, Urano teaches wherein the cell is a prismatic cell (Figure 3).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Urano et al. (US 2006/0073382) in view of CN 207800665 (to Zhang et al.), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CN 112331973 A (to Wu et al.) (cited – translation attached).
With respect to claim 2, Urano discloses all claim limitations as set forth above including wherein the contacting tab (7) is a sub-tab interconnecting the electrode tab (9) and the first terminal (12) (as illustrated in Figure 1). Urano fails to teach wherein the electrode of the electrode assembly (2) comprises an electrode tab (9) formed by an uncoated edge portion of the electrode. Wu et al. teaches a battery cell comprising an electrode body and an electrode tab extending therefrom, wherein the electrode tab is formed by an uncoated edge portion of the electrode in order to thereby electrically connect the electrode body to the current collector and provide electricity to the battery terminal.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing for the invention to form the electrode tab by an uncoated edge portion of the electrode in the battery of Urano, as taught by Wu et al., in order to thereby electrically connect the electrode body to the current collector and provide electricity to the battery terminal.
Conclusion
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/KAITY V CHANDLER/ 9/11/2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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