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.
Claims 1 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Milroy et al. (US 2017/0358831 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Milroy et al. discloses a battery pack (battery pack assembly 100) comprising: a plurality of battery modules (battery modules 110); a pack housing (housing 102) in which the plurality of battery modules are accommodated (Para. 0027); and an energy consumer (thermal-electric device 120; Para. 0036) connected between at least one battery module of the plurality of battery modules and the pack housing (Fig. 1B), and configured to convert electrical energy stored in the at least one battery module into thermal energy as a temperature inside the pack housing increases and dissipate the thermal energy through at least one of the pack housing and a heat sink (heat sink 128; Paras. 0031-0033).
Regarding claim 2, Milroy et al. discloses the battery pack of claim 1. Milroy et al. further discloses wherein the energy consumer comprises: a resistor (thermal-electric device 120) electrically connected to the at least one battery module (battery modules 110) as the temperature inside the pack housing increases (Para. 0030); and wherein the energy consumer is configured to be connected to the pack housing to conduct thermal energy received from the resistor to the pack housing (Paras. 0030-0032).
Regarding claim 12, Milroy et al. discloses a vehicle comprising the battery pack according to claim 1 (Para. 0034).
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. A prior art search did not uncover a reference(s) that fairly teaches the claimed subject matter, either alone or in combination: wherein the energy consumer comprises: a heat insulating member surrounding at least a part of the resistor; and a heat dissipater configured to connect the heat insulating member to the pack housing. Claims 4-11 depend from claim 3.
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Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HILARY LYNN JOHNS whose telephone number is (313)446-4852. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:30.
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/HILARY L JOHNS/Examiner, Art Unit 3613
/JAMES A SHRIVER II/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3613
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