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 .
DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This is the first Office action on the merits for Application No. 18/822,501, filed 09/03/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs’) received on 09/03/2024, 03/11/2025, 09/24/2025 and 03/18/2026 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-20 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the external device" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "at least one side impact reinforcing beam" in lines 1-2. It is unclear whether this one side impact reinforcing beam is the same as the previous one recited in claim 1. This constitutes a double inclusion in the claim. If applicant intends to present the recited arrangement, the Office recommends the limitation to recite - -at least one side impact reinforcing beam of the side impact reinforcing beam- - for clarity. For the purposes of examination, this limitation is interpreted as the same beam introduced in claim 1.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the external device" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-20 are rejected upon dependent from a rejected base claim and they inherit its deficiencies.
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.
Claims 1-15 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xu et al. (CN 114571976 A, from IDS filed 03/11/2025, machine translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Xu discloses a box body (figs. 1-3, i.e., made up of integrated floor 140 and lower box body 200), applied in a battery (fig. 1, i.e., battery pack, not labeled), the box body comprising:
a main body (i.e., lower box body 200) having an accommodation chamber configured to accommodate a battery cell (i.e., battery/electric core 600), a top of the main body being formed as at least a part of a top of the box body (140,200), and
the battery being mounted at the external device through the top of the box body (figs. 1 and 4); and
a side impact reinforcing beam (i.e., upper reinforcing plate/beam 110) disposed at the top of the main body and extending from a middle of the top of the main body to an outer edge of each of two opposite sides of the top of the main body (figs. 1, 2 and 4, i.e., outer edge of each of two opposites sides of the top of the lower box body 200).
Regarding claim 2, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 1, wherein the box body comprises at least one side impact reinforcing beam (110), all side impact reinforcing beams (figs. 1 and 2) extending in one direction and being arranged at intervals (figs. 15 and 16).
Regarding claim 3, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the side impact reinforcing beams (110) is constructed as a mounting beam (fig. 1), the mounting beam having a mounting position located at a side of the mounting beam facing away from the main body (fig. 15, i.e., facing away from the lower boxy body 200).
Regarding claim 4, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 1, wherein the side impact reinforcing beam comprises at least one protrusion (see annotated fig. 2 below, “P110”), each of the at least one protrusion being disposed at the top of the main body (i.e., lower box body 200) and protruding from the top of the main body away from the accommodation chamber (annotated fig. 2), and
a weight reduction channel (see annotated fig. 2 below, “WRCs”) being formed by each of the at least one protrusion and the main body together.
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Annotated Figure 2
Regarding claim 5, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 4, wherein all protrusions (“P110”) extend in one direction and are arranged at intervals. See annotated figure 2 above.
Regarding claim 6, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 4, wherein sides of all protrusions (annotated fig. 2 above, “P110”) facing away from the main body (i.e., lower box body 200) are located in one plane.
Regarding claim 7, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 1, further comprising a high-voltage bin (figs. 1 and 4, i.e., electric appliance cabin 141) protruding from the top of the main body (200),
a high-voltage chamber (fig. 4; para. [0078], i.e., chamber where the electric appliance cabin 141 is disposed) being enclosed by the high-voltage bin separately or by the high-voltage bin and the main body together, and the high-voltage chamber being configured to accommodate a high-voltage box (fig. 4; para. [0078]).
Regarding claim 8, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 7, wherein: the high-voltage bin (141) and the side impact reinforcing beam (110) are sequentially arranged in a first direction (i.e., in the longitudinal direction towards the front end of the vehicle); and
the side impact reinforcing beam (110) extends in a second direction intersecting the first direction (figs. 1 and 4, i.e., in a transverse direction towards the sides of the vehicle).
Regarding claim 9, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 1, wherein the main body comprises a carrying member (i.e., frames 213, 214) and a frame (i.e., frames 301,304), wherein:
the frame encloses a cavity having at least an open top end (fig. 15, i.e., a cavity made up of at least frames 213,214,301 and 304), the carrying member (213, 214) covering the open top end of the cavity (figs. 1-2 and 15);
at least a part of the accommodation chamber (figs. 1-2 and 15) is enclosed by the carrying member (213,214) and the frame (301,304); and
the side impact reinforcing beam (110) is at least disposed at a top of the carrying member (213,214).
Regarding claim 10, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 7, wherein the side impact reinforcing beam (110) extends to be connected to a top of the frame (301,304; fig. 1).
Regarding claim 11, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 1, wherein the top of the box body (200,140) is provided with a mounting portion (fig. 4; para. [0074], i.e., through hole 147), the battery being mounted at the external device through the mounting portion (para. [0090]).
Regarding claim 12, Xu discloses the box body according to claim 11, wherein the mounting portion has at least one mounting hole (fig. 4a-4b, i.e., through hole 147) defined at the top of the box body (200).
Regarding claim 13, Xu discloses a battery (fig. 1), comprising: the box body according to claim 1; and a battery cell (i.e., battery/electric core 600) accommodated in the accommodation chamber (figs. 29, 30).
Regarding claim 14, Xu discloses the battery according to claim 13, wherein the main body comprises a carrying member (213,214; figs. 1 and 4) located at the top of the box body and configured to define the accommodation chamber, the battery cell (600) being disposed at the carrying member (figs. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 15, Xu discloses the battery according to claim 13, wherein the battery cell (600) is suspended from a carrying member (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 18, Xu discloses an electric device, comprising the battery according to claim 12, the battery being configured to provide the electric device with electric energy (abstract; para. [0001]).
Regarding claim 19, Xu discloses the electric device according to claim 18, comprising a vehicle (para. [0007]), the battery being arranged at a bottom of a vehicle body of the vehicle (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 20, Xu discloses the electric device according to claim 19, wherein the battery is connected to the vehicle body (fig. 1) through the top of the box body (200), the top of the box body being constructed as at least a part of a chassis (i.e., made up of frames 301,304) of the vehicle body (figs. 1-2 and 4; para. [0009]).
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.
Claims 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu as applied to the claims above.
Regarding claim 16, Xu discloses the battery according to claim 13, wherein: the battery cell (600) has a first outer surface (fig. 1, i.e., front or rear side of battery core 600) facing towards a carrying member (213,214) but does not specifically teach the electrode terminal being disposed at the second outer surface. It is well recognized to a skilled person in the art for a battery cell unit to have an electrode terminal on one of the outer surfaces of the battery for providing electricity to electric vehicle and/or receiving electricity from a charging station or machine. The electric vehicle will be inoperative without an electrode terminal.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for the battery of Xu, with a reasonable expectation of success, to have the battery cell comprises an electrode terminal disposed at an outer surface of the battery cell except the first outer surface instead of positioning on other surface(s), doing so would yield the predictable result of compactness, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. See also, In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553, 188 USPQ 7 (CCPA 1975) (the particular placement of a contact in a conductivity measuring device was held to be an obvious matter of design choice). Moreover, the simple rearrangement by having the electrode terminal being disposed at the second outer surface of the battery for electrically communicating with the electric vehicle is old and well recognized in the art. Thus, having the electrode terminal positioned on either of the battery face would not change the way the electric vehicle functions and would perform equally well.
Regarding claim 17, Xu discloses the battery according to claim 16, wherein the battery cell has a second outer surface facing away from the first outer surface, but does not specifically teach the electrode terminal being disposed at the second outer surface. It is well recognized to a skilled person in the art for a battery cell unit to have an electrode terminal on one of the outer surfaces of the battery for providing electricity to electric vehicle and/or receiving electricity from a charging station or machine. The electric vehicle will be inoperative without an electrode terminal.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for the battery of Xu, with a reasonable expectation of success, to have the electrode terminal disposed at the second outer surface of the battery instead of positioning on other surface(s), doing so would yield the predictable result of compactness, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. See also, In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553, 188 USPQ 7 (CCPA 1975) (the particular placement of a contact in a conductivity measuring device was held to be an obvious matter of design choice). Further, the simple rearrangement by having the electrode terminal being disposed at the second outer surface of the battery for electrically communicating with the electric vehicle is old and well recognized in the art. Thus, having the electrode terminal positioned on either of the battery face would not change the way the electric vehicle functions and would perform equally well.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ayukawa (10,597,084 B2) discloses a vehicle body lower section structure includes rockers 20 extends along a vehicle front-rear direction and side reinforcing beams 34,36,38, See Figures 1-2;
An (US 2022/0032757 A1) discloses a battery-equipped vehicle body includes side reinforcing beams 300, See Figures 1, 6-8 and 10; and
Rawlinson et al. (US 10,023,038 B2) discloses a system for absorbing and distributing side impact energy utilizing an integrated battery back includes side reinforcing beams 510-516, See Figures 2-10.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tinh T Dang whose telephone number is (571)270-1776. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM.
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/TINH T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655 July 24, 2026
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