DETAILED ACTION
Examiner’s Notes
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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112:
(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 1-20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “another one of the respective pair of adjacent cell strings” in lines 15-16 and “the other one of the respective pair of adjacent cell strings” in lines 16-17. It is unclear whether the claimed “another one” is identical to or a different feature from the claimed “the other one”. For the purpose of office action, the recitation “another one of the respective pair of adjacent cell strings” will be treated as if it recites “the other one of the respective pair of adjacent cell strings”. All claims which depend on clam 1 are rejected by virtue of dependency. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 recites “wherein the lead-out structure is located at least on a side of the respective intermediate interconnection structure away from the first edge cell and the second edge cell in a third direction” in lines 27-29. Based on the claim limitation “wherein the respective intermediate interconnection structure includes a first portion, a second portion, and a lead-out structure” in lines 20-21, the “lead-out structure” is itself part of the “respective intermediate interconnection structure”. Therefore, it is unclear how the lead-out structure is located at least on a side of the “respective intermediate interconnection structure”. All claims which depend on clam 1 are rejected by virtue of dependency. Appropriate correction is required. (Examiner’s Note: In case of amendment to the claim(s), further search and consideration are required).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the prior art taken alone or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of the claims, in such a manner that a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103 would be proper. The prior art fails to teach a combination of all the claimed features as presented in independent claim 1.
Regarding claim 1, the closest prior art, HYUN (US 20180062016 A1) teaches the state of the art of a solar cell module. And, HYUN teaches a photovoltaic module (see the solar cell module in Figs. 1-6), comprising: at least two cell strings (see the upper left 3 cell string and the lower left 3 cell string) spaced apart from one another in a first direction (see the x direction) and electrically connected in sequence (see Fig. 1), wherein each respective cell string of the at least two cell strings includes at least two cells (see the 3 cells) spaced apart from one another in the first direction and electrically connected in sequence (see Fig. 1), wherein each of the at least two cells includes electrodes (see the plurality of first electrodes 141 and the plurality of second electrodes 142) arranged at intervals in a second direction (see the y direction) intersecting the first direction (see Figs. 1-6), and the first direction and the second direction define a reference plane (see Fig. 1); solder ribbon structures (see the plurality of first conductive wirings 210 and the plurality of second conductive wirings 220), wherein a respective solder ribbon structure of the solder ribbon structures is disposed on a corresponding cell of the at least two cells of a corresponding cell string of the at least two cell strings (see Fig. 4), and the respective solder ribbon structure is in electrical contact with a corresponding electrode of the electrodes of the corresponding cell (see Fig. 4); and intermediate interconnection structures (see the intercell connectors 300A & the shields 400), wherein a respective intermediate interconnection structure of the intermediate interconnection structures is electrically connected with a respective pair of adjacent cell strings of the at least two cell strings (see Fig. 4), wherein one of the respective pair of adjacent cell strings (see the upper left 3 cell string) has a first edge (see the bottom edge of the upper left 3 cell string) facing another one of the respective pair of adjacent cell strings and a first edge cell (see the 3rd cell) adjacent the first edge, the other one of the respective pair of adjacent cell strings (see the lower left 3 cell string) has a second edge (see the top edge of the lower left 3 cell string) facing the first edge cell and a second edge cell (see the 4th cell) adjacent the second edge (see Fig. 1), and the respective intermediate interconnection structure is at least partially located near the first edge and the second edge (see Fig. 1); wherein the respective intermediate interconnection structure includes a first portion (see the upper half part of the shield 400), a second portion (see the lower half part of the shield 400), and a lead-out structure (see the intercell connector 300A), wherein an orthographic projection of the first portion on the reference plane overlaps an orthographic projection of the first edge cell on the reference plane (see Figs. 1-2), and wherein an orthographic projection of the second portion on the reference plane overlaps an orthographic projection of the second edge cell on the reference plane (see Figs. 1-2), wherein the third direction refers to a thickness direction of the first edge cell and the second edge cell (see the z direction).
But, the prior art fails to explicitly teach a combination of all the claimed features including
“the first portion is in electrical contact with at least two solder ribbon structures disposed on the first edge cell, and the second portion is in electrical contact with at least two solder ribbon structures disposed on the second edge cell, wherein the lead-out structure is located at least on a side of the respective intermediate interconnection structure away from the first edge cell and the second edge cell in a third direction”, as claimed.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAE-SIK KANG whose telephone number is 571-272-3190. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:00am – 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew T. Martin can be reached on 571-270-7871. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TAE-SIK KANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1728
Prosecution Insights