DETAILED ACTION
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 statement (IDS) submitted on 03/05/24 and 09/11/25 was considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 03/05/24.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” “The invention relates to”, etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by the publication DE 102019216606 (hereinafter DE’606).
As to claim 1:
DE’606 discloses that it is known in the art to make a battery module comprising a plurality of round battery cells electrically connected in series and placed in a plurality of strings/rows/lines one after the other located in a tubular accommodating space; a component/element placed in the tubular accommodating space to electrically disconnect the battery cells from one another when the pressure inside a battery cell and/or inside the battery module exceeds a predetermined/preset value; and a rupturable/breakable contact plate/component electrically connected to the plurality of strings/rows/lines and an actuator to separate the rupturable/breakable contact plate/component from strings/rows/lines if activated (Abstract; 0005-0008; 0010-0012; 0015-0018; 0023-0026; 0037-0040; see Figures 1, 4 & 10).
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Thus, the present claim is anticipated.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: a detailed search for the prior art failed to reveal or fairly suggest what is instantly claimed, in particular: battery module comprising all of the claimed components/elements satisfying the specific structural and functional interrelationship as recited in dependent claims 10-13, respectively.
Claims 10-13, respectively, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Note that claims 14-16 are also allowable by virtue of their dependency in allowable claims 11 and 13, respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following reference discloses subject matter related to the claimed invention: Guidal et al’559.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND ALEJANDRO whose telephone number is (571)272-1282. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday (8:00 am-6:30 pm).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas A. Smith can be reached at (571) 272-8760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAYMOND ALEJANDRO/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1752
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