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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, Claims 1-7, in the reply filed on 06/15/2026 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)). Claims 8-11 are therefore withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains the implied phrase “The present invention relates to” in line 1. Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suh et al., hereinafter Suh (KR 20190105765, provided by Applicant). For citations of Suh, refer to US 2020/0331187.
Regarding Claim 1, Suh discloses (Figures 1-2) a forming apparatus (apparatus 100) for a pouch-shaped case (pouch 10), the forming apparatus comprising: a forming apparatus base (die 110) having recesses (forming grooves 112) configured to manufacture by pressing a lower receiving portion (leftmost accommodation part 11) of the pouch-shaped case and an upper receiving portion (rightmost accommodation part 11) of the pouch-shaped case continuously connected to the lower receiving portion (connected via folding part 12), the lower receiving portion and the upper receiving portion together being configured to receive an electrode assembly therein (electrode assembly 20, see Figure 7); a lower die (leftmost punch 120) of the forming apparatus; and an upper die (rightmost punch 120) of the forming apparatus; wherein the forming apparatus base comprises: an upper surface start portion, the upper surface start portion defining a first end of the forming apparatus base, the upper surface start portion being disposed parallel to a lower surface of the forming apparatus base, the upper surface start portion being flat (see Annotated Figure 1 below); a proximal end side wall continuously connected to a distal end of the upper surface start portion of the forming apparatus base, the proximal end side wall extending downwards perpendicularly from the upper surface start portion (see Annotated Figure 1 below); a base lower portion (leftmost bottom surface 112a) continuously connected to the proximal end side wall, the base lower portion being inclined downwards at a first angle relative to the lower surface, the base lower portion being flat (clearly seen in Figure 1; [0050] lines 1-5); a base side portion (partition wall 111) continuously connected to the base lower portion, the base side portion extending upwards perpendicularly from the base lower portion (partition wall 111 has a thickness to it, so it extends partially in the direction perpendicular to bottom surface 112a) and being inclined upwards at a second angle relative to the lower surface (Figure 1 clearly shows partition wall 111 being inclined upwards at an angle of approximately 90˚ relative to the lower surface); a base upper portion (see Annotated Figure 1 below) continuously connected to the base side portion, the base upper portion extending perpendicularly from the base side portion (rightmost bottom surface 112a, which makes up part of the base upper portion, extends partially in the direction perpendicular to partition wall 111) and being inclined downwards at the first angle relative to the lower surface, the base upper portion being flat (clearly seen in Figure 1; [0050] lines 1-5); a distal end side wall continuously connected to the base upper portion, the distal end side wall extending upwards perpendicularly from the base upper portion (see Annotated Figure 1 below; the section of die 110 with the distal end side wall has a thickness and thus extends partially in the direction perpendicular to bottom surface 112a); and an upper surface end portion, the upper surface end portion being continuously connected to the distal end side wall, the upper surface end portion being disposed parallel relative to the lower surface, the upper surface end portion being flat (see Annotated Figure 1 below).
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Suh Annotated Figure 1
Regarding Claim 2, Suh discloses (Figures 1-2) a lower part of the lower die (leftmost punch 120) of the forming apparatus has a shape conforming to shapes of the proximal end side wall (see Annotated Figure 1 above), the base lower portion (leftmost bottom surface 112a), and the base side portion (partition wall 111), and a lower part of the upper die (rightmost punch 120) of the forming apparatus has a shape conforming to shapes of the base upper portion and the distal end side wall (see Annotated Figure 1 above; corresponding shapes are clearly seen in the figure).
Regarding Claim 3, Suh discloses (Figures 1-2)
Regarding Claim 4, Suh discloses (Figures 1 and 4) a length of the base lower portion (leftmost bottom surface 112a) from the proximal end side wall to the base side portion (partition wall 111) is equal to a length of the base upper portion (see Annotated Figure 1 above) from the base side portion to the distal end side wall (see Annotated Figure 1 above; both bottom surfaces 112a are the same length, as evidenced by the folded part shown in Figure 4).
Regarding Claim 5, Suh discloses (Figure 1) the lower surface (see Annotated Figure 1 above) of the forming apparatus base (die 110) is disposed parallel to a ground in a gravitational frame of reference (clearly seen in figure).
Regarding Claim 6, Suh discloses (Figure 1) an intersection between the upper surface start portion of the forming apparatus base (die 110) and the proximal end side wall (see Annotated Figure 1 above), an intersection between the base side portion (partition wall 111) and the base upper portion (see Annotated Figure 1 above), and an intersection between the distal end side wall and the upper surface end portion of the forming apparatus base (see Annotated Figure 1 above) are located at equal distances from the lower surface of the forming apparatus base (equal distances of intersections clearly seen in Annotated Figure 1 above).
Regarding Claim 7, Suh discloses (Figures 1-2) a lower recess (leftmost forming groove 112) defined by the proximal end side wall (see Annotated Figure 1 above), the base lower portion (leftmost bottom surface 112a), and the base side portion (partition wall 111) defines a space for forming the lower receiving portion (leftmost accommodation part 11) of the pouch-shaped case (pouch 10), and an upper recess (rightmost forming groove 112) defined by the base upper portion and the distal end side wall (see Annotated Figure 1 above) defines a space for forming the upper receiving portion (rightmost accommodation part 11) of the pouch-shaped case.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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: prior art fails to teach, alone or in combination, a forming apparatus for a pouch-shaped case comprising a forming apparatus base, wherein the forming apparatus base comprises an upper surface start portion, a proximal end side wall extending downwards perpendicularly from the upper surface start portion, a base lower portion inclined downwards at a first angle relative to a lower surface of the forming apparatus base, a base side portion extending upwards perpendicularly from the base lower portion, a base upper portion extending perpendicularly from the base side portion and inclined downwards at the first angle relative to the lower surface, a distal end side wall extending upwards perpendicularly from the base upper portion, and an upper surface end portion, wherein a height of the base side portion is equal to a sum of a height of the distal end side wall and a height of the proximal end side wall measured in a direction parallel to the base side portion. In KR 20190105765 to Suh et al., which is considered to be the most relevant prior art, the first angle is very small (2˚ to 10˚), which would not result in the height of partition wall 111 being equal to the sum of the heights of the side walls, and it is explicitly taught that the purpose of this is to compensate for elastic springback in the formed workpiece so that the final formed product has an equal height on each side (see para. [0023]-[0024]). Accordingly, one skilled in the art would not be motivated to modify the forming apparatus disclosed by Suh in order to arrive at the claimed invention; Claim 3 is therefore allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERESA A GUTHRIE whose telephone number is (571)270-5042. The examiner can normally be reached M/Tu/Th, 10-6 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Templeton can be reached at (571) 270-1477. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TERESA A GUTHRIE/Examiner, Art Unit 3725
/Christopher L Templeton/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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