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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “the second contact portion being configured to be engaged with the first contact portion while the separator is therebetween,” recited in claim 1, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-15 are 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.
In claim 1, the phrase, “the second contact portion being configured to be engaged with the first contact portion while the separator is therebetween,” is indefinite and vague. How is it possible for the first contact portion of the first clamp and the second contact portion of the second clamp engaged to each other while the separator is therebetween? Wouldn’t the separator prevent the engagement of the first contact portion and second contact portion if wound in between? Is separator wound only in the recess of each clamp?
Claim 5 is indefinite and vague. Which element constitutes “a plurality of support members?” In so far the claim is understood as any element supporting the blades and the clamps meet the limitations of the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 5-6, and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al., U.S. Patent No. 9899707 B2.
Regarding claim 5, Kim ‘707 discloses a winding apparatus 100 for secondary batteries, the winding apparatus comprising: a supplier (210, 220, 230, 240) configured to supply an electrode strip (1-4, located as same as applicant), the electrode strip including a first electrode plate 1, a second electrode plate 2, and separators (3a-b) overlapped in a predetermined order (i.e., the separators protruding and held by the clamps, see drawing below, claims 12-13), and a winder 100 including a plurality of claims (110a, 110b), a plurality of blades 120 outside the plurality of clamps, and a plurality of support members (see drawing below) coupled to the plurality of clamps and the plurality of blades, the plurality of blades 120 being coupled to the plurality of clamps (110a, 110b) and configured to support the electrode strip wound therearound (see figure 6), and the plurality of support members being configured to support the plurality of clamps and the plurality of blades, wherein, each of the plurality of clamps has a contact portion (see drawing below, a first contact portion and a second contact portion, claim 6) in contact with one end of the electrode strip, and the plurality of clamps are engaged with each other to hold the electrode strip, see figures 1-6.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-11 and 14-15 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claims 7-9 are patentable over the prior art of record because the teachings of the references taken as a whole do not show or render obvious the combination set forth in claims 7-9, including every structural element recited in the claims.
None of the references of the prior art teach or suggest the elements of the device as advanced above and such do not provide the necessary motivation, absent applicant's specification, for modifying the device in the manner required by the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANG K KIM whose telephone number is 571-272-6947. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M or Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 7 P.M.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Victoria Augustine, can be reached on (313) 446-4858. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
SK
2/6/26
/SANG K KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654