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 second Office Action based on Application 17/634,195 and is in response to Applicant Arguments/Remarks filed 07/30/2025.
Claims 1-20 are previously pending, of those claims, claim 1 has been amended. All amendments have been entered. Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MIYAUCHI (US 2015/0187516 A1) in view of HONDA (WO 2015/008626 A1) and MASUDA (US 2017/0040613 A1).
MIYAUCHI teaches an electrode binder composition that includes a polymer (A) and a liquid medium (B) (paragraph 0014). Polymer (A) being polymer particles (paragraph 0016). The binder composition may include the polymer (A) with repeating unit A1 derived from a conjugated diene compound in an amount of 30-50 parts by mass, a repeating unit A5 derived from an alpha,beta-unsaturated nitrile compound in an amount of 1-10 parts by mass (paragraph 0019). The binder composition then may include an additive, the additive may be a polymer other than the polymer (A) (paragraph 0101).
MIYAUCHI teaches the binder composition includes a polymer other than polymer (A) (paragraph 0101) and may include poly(meth)acrylic acid and poly(meth)acrylamide as examples (paragraph 0102). This other polymer is taken to be the claimed polymer(B). MIYAUCHI does not explicitly teach repeating units of polymerized unsaturated carboxylic acid in a range of 5-95 parts by mass, and repeating units of polymerized (meth)acrylamide in an amount of 5-95 parts by mass.
HONDA teaches a binder composition for an electrical storage device (abstract). The binder includes at least a water-soluble polymer (A) (abstract). The water-soluble polymer has a function as a binder for improving the binding ability between the active material particles and the current collector (page 3 lines 8-11). The polymer(A) then incldues a repeating unit derived from (meth)acrylamide (page 3 lines 25-28). The polymer may contain a repeating unit derived from another monomer copolymerizable therewith, and may include an unsaturated carboxylic acid ester (page 3 lines 29-30). The repeating units derived from (meth)acrylamide may include 50-85 parts by mass (page 3 lines 34-37). The repeating unit derived from unsaturated carboxylic acid ester may include a content of 0-30 parts by mass (page 4 lines 25-29). By containing the unit derived from the unsaturated carboxylic acid ester in the above range, the water-soluble polymer has a more favorable affinity with the electrolytic solution (page 4 lines 30-32). The amount of carboxylic acid between 0-10 is taken to be an overlapping range with the amount of 5-95 parts by mass. See MPEP 2144.05(I). In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976).
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to substitute the polymer of MIYAUCHI with the water-soluble polymer of HONDA, as this is a simple substitution of one known prior art element for another in order to achieve predictable results.
MIYOUCHI teaches an alpha,beta-unsaturated nitrile compound in an amount of 1-10 parts by mass (paragraph 0019). MIYOUCH does not teach the alpa-beta-unsaturated nitrile compound greater than 10 and less than or qual to 40 parts by mass.
MASUDA teaches a particulate binder resin that may be a conjugated diene-based polymer (paragraph 0039). The conjugated monomer may be a copolymerizable monomer including an alpha,beta-unsaturated nitrile compound (paragraph 0042). The ratio of the alpha,beta-unsaturated nitrile compound unit of the particulate binder is preferably 0.1-40% by weight (paragraph 0053). This is taken to be an overlapping range with the claimed value of 10-40 parts by mass.
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated contain the amount of the alpha,beta-unsaturated nitrile compound of MIYAOUCHI to be within the amount as taught by MASUDA, as this is a simple substitution of one known prior art element for another in order to achieve predictable results.
With respect to claim 2. MIYAUCHI teaches The polymer other than polymer (A) is added to the binder composition so that the mass ratio of polymer(A):polymer other than polymer (A) is 10:99 to 80:20 (paragraph 0102).
With respect to claims 3 and 16. MIYAUCHI teaches the polymer (A) are particles (paragraph 0016). The average particle size of the polymer particles is 50-400 nm (paragraph 0090).
With respect to claims 4 and 17-18. MIYAUCHI teaches the liquid medium is water (paragraph 0092).
With respect to claims 5 and 19-20. MIYAUCHI teaches the binder composition may be used in an electrical storage device electrode slurry which is prepared by mixing the binder composition with an active material (paragraph 0039).
With respect to claim 6. MIYAUCHI the active material in the electrode slurry may include a silicon material (paragraph 0028).
With respect to claims 7 and 13. MIYAUCHI teaches the binder composition may include a thickener in order to improve the applicability of the binder composition (paragraph 0103).
With respect to claims 8 and 14-15. MIYAUCHI teaches the electrical storage device electrode includes a collector, and an active material layer that is formed by applying the electrode slurry to the surface of the collector, and drying the slurry (paragraph 0030).
With respect to claim 9. MIYAUCHI teaches an electrical storage device which includes the binder composition (abstract).
With respect to claim 10. MIYAUCHI teaches the liquid medium is water (paragraph 0092).
With respect to claim 11. MIYAUCHI teaches The polymer other than polymer (A) is added to the binder composition so that the mass ratio of polymer(A):polymer other than polymer (A) is 10:99 to 80:20 (paragraph 0102). MIYAUCHI teaches the polymer (A) are particles (paragraph 0016). The average particle size of the polymer particles is 50-400 nm (paragraph 0090).
With respect to claim 12. MIYAUCHI the active material in the electrode slurry may include a silicon material (paragraph 0028).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-7 of Applicant Arguments/Remarks, filed 07/30/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 103 under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of MIYAUCHI and HONDA have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of MIYAUCHI, HONDA, and MASUDA (US 2017/0040613 A1).
Applicant argues that MIYAUCHI and HONDA does not teach the amended claim limitation that the amount of the unit derived from an alpha,beta-unsaturated nitrile compound in an amount of greater than 10 and less than or equal to 40 parts by mass. In contrast Applicant argues that MIYAUCHI teaches the alpha,beta-unsaturated nitrile compound in an amount of 1-10 parts by mass. This argument is persuasive, however new grounds of rejection are made in view of MASUDA.
MASUDA teaches a particulate binder resin with the ratio of the alpha,beta-unsaturated nitrile compound unit of the particulate binder is preferably 0.1-40% by weight (paragraph 0053). This is taken to be an overlapping range with the claimed value of 10-40 parts by mass.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN G JELSMA whose telephone number is (571)270-5127. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Niki Bakhtiari can be reached at (571)272-3433. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JONATHAN G JELSMA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722