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 .
Summary
This is the response to the RCE filed on 09/09/2026.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6, 8, 11-12, 14 and 16-27 remain pending in the application.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/09/2026 has been entered.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (CN217588948 with provided machine English translation).
Addressing claims 1 and 8, Li discloses a solar cell (fig. 10), comprising:
a solar cell substrate (solar cell body);
collector electrodes (111, 121, 114) and bus electrode sections (112, 122) arranged on a target surface of the solar cell substrate, wherein the target surface is a back surface of the solar cell substrate [n0080], wherein the collector electrodes extend along a first direction (horizontal direction) and distributed at intervals along a second direction (vertical direction) different from the first direction, wherein the collector electrodes comprise first-type collector electrodes (111, 121) that are connected to the bus electrode sections, and second-type collector electrodes 115, wherein the bus electrode sections extend along the second direction and are located in edge regions at two ends (upper end and lower end) of the target surface opposite to each other along the second direction, wherein the bus electrode sections are electrically coupled to a portion of the collector electrodes having the same conductivity type as the bus electrode sections (fig. 10), wherein among all the bus electrode sections at a same end of the target surface along the second direction, two bus electrode sections located outer most along the first direction are first-type bus electrode sections 112, and the other bus electrode sections are second-type bus electrode sections 122, wherein different bus electrode sections at the same end of the target surface along the second direction are distributed at intervals along the first direction (fig. 10), wherein two of the second-type bus electrode sections arranged oppositely at different ends of the target surface along the second direction are not connected (fig. 10);
first connection portions 113 arranged on a side of the bus electrode sections, the side facing away from an edge of the solar cell substrate along the second direction (fig. 10, wherein the first connection portions are electrically coupled to the corresponding bus electrode sections (fig. 10); and
second connection portions 115 electrically coupled to at least one of the second-type collector electrodes 114 (fig. 10, the electrical connection or coupling is established by the intervening electrically conductive structures), wherein the second connection portion 115 is separated from an adjacent second connection portion by a gap along the second direction (fig. 1), wherein at least one of the collector electrodes is continuous at the gap (fig. 10), wherein a width of the first connection portions 113 is greater than a width of the second connection portions 115 along the second direction,
wherein the solar cell is a back contact solar cell [n0080], wherein at least a portion of the collector electrodes located in an edge regions are non-continuous collector electrodes (annotated fig. 10 below), and wherein the non-continuous collector electrodes have a discontinuity to be spaced apart the second-type bus electrode sections having a conductivity opposite to that of the non-continuous collector electrodes (in annotated fig. 10 below, the non-continuous collector electrodes A have opposite conductivity to that of the second-type bus electrode sections A; likewise, non-continuous collector electrodes B have opposite conductivity to that of the second-type bus electrode sections B).
Addressing claim 2, fig. 10 of Li shows two of the first-type bus electrode sections arranged oppositely at different ends of the target surface along the second direction are not connected.
Addressing claim 11, fig. 10 shows a bus electrode section 112 is spaced from an edge (left most edge) of the solar cell substrate by a first distance, and an adjacent bus electrode section 122 adjacent to the bus electrode section and having an opposite conductivity type is spaced from the edge of the solar cell substrate by a second distance, wherein the first distance is not equal to the second distance as claimed.
Addressing claim 14, fig. 10 shows connection electrode sections 114 electrically connecting the corresponding first connection portions 113 to the corresponding first-type bus electrode sections 112.
Addressing claims 16 and 18, Li discloses a photovoltaic module (fig. 4), comprising: one or more solar cells, wherein a solar cell comprises (see the rejection of claim 1 above for the limitations related to the solar cell because the limitations related to the solar cell are similarly recited in claim 1); and
interconnectors 2 configured to connect adjacent solar cells in series, wherein the interconnectors are soldered to the first connection portions, wherein terminals of the interconnectors exceed the first connection portions as claimed (fig. 4).
Addressing claim 20, paragraph [n0083] of Li discloses a width of at least one of the bus electrode sections along the first direction is greater than or equal to 10 µm and less than or equal to 500 µm (equal to 500 µm); and a quantity of the bus electrode sections located at the same end of the target surface is 6.
Addressing claim 22, fig. 10 shows edges of a plurality of the first connection portions 113 close to a side of the bus electrode sections are not flush as claimed.
Addressing claim 24, fig. 10 shows the right side portion of the first connection portions 113 are electrically connected to at least two of the first-type collector electrodes as claimed.
Addressing claim 25, fig. 10 shows the claimed configuration.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN217588948 with provided machine English translation) in view of Wang et al. (US 2017/0018672).
Addressing claim 17, Li is silent regarding the limitation of current claim.
Wang discloses the width of the interconnector is the same as the width of the bus electrode [0040]; therefore, at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the module of Li in view of Wang to have the interconnectors with the same width as that of the connection portions as disclosed by Wang, which results in a length by which the bus electrode sections exceed the first connection portions being zero that falls within the claimed range of less than or equal to 2 mm.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN217588948 with provided machine English translation) in view of Deng et al. (CN213459753 with provided machine English translation).
Addressing claim 21, Li is silent regarding a width of at least one of the bus electrode sections gradually increase along a direction approaching the second-type collector electrodes.
Deng discloses a back contact solar cell comprising bus electrode sections 53 that increases in a direction approaching the collector electrodes (fig. 10).
At the time of the of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the solar cell of Li with the section of the bus electrode with a width that gradually increases in a direction approaching the second-type collector electrodes as disclosed by Deng in order to increase the solderable area between the interconnector and the bus electrode; thereby improve the overall welding reliability of the solar cell grid structure (Deng, [n0042]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6, 12, 23 and 26-27 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2, 4, 6, 8, 11-12, 14 and 16-27 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 09/25/2026
