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 .
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(s) 11 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stephens (US 2022/0059894).
In re claim 1, Stephens discloses an energy storage floor assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising: a floor structure (24) comprising interconnected longitudinal and cross members as bearer elements; and an electrical energy store (20) arranged on an underside of the floor structure and connected to the floor structure (fig. 2), the energy store having a store housing with an upper housing part, by which at least one intermediate space between at least two of the bearer elements is overlapped downwardly in a vertical direction of the vehicle and thereby closed (fig. 2), and having prismatic storage cells (54) arranged in the store housing for storing electrical energy, wherein first ones of the prismatic storage cells are arranged successively along a first stacking direction while forming a first cell module, second ones of the prismatic storage cells are arranged successively along a second stacking direction, running parallel to the first stacking direction, while forming a second cell module, the first and second cell modules are arranged next to one another along a direction of arrangement running perpendicularly to the stacking directions and are joined to one another (fig. 3-5), and the first and second ones of the storage cells are joined to the upper housing part (fig. 9).
In re claim 20, Stephens further teaches the energy storage floor assembly as for use with a vehicle (par. 4).
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.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stephens as provided above and further in view of Jiang (US 2022/0149458).
In re claim 12, Stephens differs in that it is silent as to the use of adhesives. Attention, however, is directed to Morishita which teaches the use of adhesives. Attention, however, is directed to Jiang which teaches the use of adhesives between battery cells and the case (par. 81). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to incorporate adhesives between the first ones of the storage cells and the second one of the storage cells to the upper housing part to properly seal the cells in a manner which assists in the rapid exchange of heat.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stephens as provided above and further in view of Einoegg (US 2022/0149458).
In re claim 13, Stephens is silent as to the placement of the connection elements. Attention, however, is directed to Einoegg which teaches a similar apparatus wherein each respective storage cell has connection elements and a respective cell housing with a respective housing bottom, which connection elements are arranged on an upper side of the respective cell housing, opposite from the respective housing bottom, and by way of which electrical energy stored in the respective storage cell is provided. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate connection elements on the top of each cell housing, as taught by Einoegg in order to provide for the cells to be interconnected in an efficient manner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-19 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.
Conclusion
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/EREZ GURARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615