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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/10/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues the prior art fails to teach or suggest spot-fused tape (film) on an electrode assembly as described in present disclosure. Kanda discloses that a protective tape is entirely attached to both sides of the electrode assembly, and Seong only discloses that the protective tape (130) is heat-welded to the electrode assembly (120). Seong does not disclose that the protective tape (130) is attached to the electrode assembly (120) by a spot-welding method using a soldering tip. Seong includes a thermally fused portion (132) that is continuously fused to the electrode assembly (see figure 2). Since all thermally fused portions (132) are thermally melted portions, Seong assumes that the protective film (130) is continuously fused to the electrode assembly (120) and therefore excludes spot bonding between the protective film (130) and the electrode assembly (120).
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. FIG. 1B of Kanda shows that the insulating auxiliary sheets (9) corresponding to the film of the claimed invention contact the electrode stack (2/3/7) at discrete locations corresponding to the ends of separators (7) (see annotated figure 1 in rejection of claims 1 and 14 below). Seong teaches the use of thermal fusion to connect a film to the ends of separators (125). Though neither Kanda nor Seong individually teach the use of spot-welding to thermally fuse a film to the ends of separators, one of ordinary skill in the art would arrive at the claimed structure of “the film being thermally fused to the first one of the side surfaces at discrete locations that are separated from one another by intermediate portions of the film that are not melted and not thermally fused to the first one of the side surfaces” by applying thermal fusion, as taught by Seong, to connect the film of Kanda to the ends of the separators in the electrode stack. The intermediate portions of Kanda in view of Seong (see annotated figure 1) would remain “not melted and not thermally fused to the first one of the side surfaces” because Kanda teaches connecting the film (9) only at the discrete locations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-3 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanda (US 2011/0223465 A1, previously cited) in view of Seong (US 2016/0043374 A1, previously cited) and Schlund (US 2018/0323416 A1, previously cited).
Regarding claim 1, Kanda discloses an electrode assembly (FIG. 1B) comprising:
an electrode stack (formed by electrodes 2/3 and separator 7 described below, FIG. 1B) in which a negative electrode (3, FIG. 1B, [0060]), a separator (7, FIG. 1B, [0061]), and a positive electrode (2, FIG. 1B, [0060]) are repeatedly stacked (FIG. 1B), the electrode stack (2,7,3) having two side surfaces (left and right surfaces of FIG. 1B) at opposite sides of the electrode stack (2,7,3); and
a film (side-plane insulating auxiliary sheet 9, FIG. 1B, [0068]) covering a first one of the side surfaces (left or right surface of FIG. 1B) of the electrode stack (2,7,3), the film (9) being connected to the first one of the side surfaces (left or right surface of FIG. 1B) at discrete locations (discrete locations in annotated figure 1 below) that are separated from one another by intermediate portions (intermediate portions in annotated figure 1 below) of the film (9) that are not connected to the first one of the side surfaces (left or right surface of FIG. 1B),
wherein the film (9) is connected to ends of the separators (7) at the discrete locations.
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Kanda does not disclose wherein the film is attached to the first one of the side surfaces of the electrode stack by thermal fusion or wherein two or more sheets of the separators are merged together at an end of each of the two or more sheets of the separators and bonded to each other to form a bonding portion, and the film is thermally fused to the bonding portion at the discrete locations.
Seong teaches an electrode assembly (FIG. 2) comprising: an electrode stack (120, FIG. 2, [0041]) in which a negative electrode (121, FIG. 2, [0042]), a separator (125, FIG. 2, [0042]), and a positive electrode (123, FIG. 2, [0042]) are repeatedly stacked, the electrode stack (120) having two side surfaces at opposite sides of the electrode stack (120) (see FIG. 1); and a film (130, FIG. 2, [0041]) covering a first one of the side surfaces of the electrode stack (120) (FIG. 2), the film (130) being thermally fused (thermally bonded, [0058]) to the first one of the side surfaces (FIG. 2) and thermally fused to ends of the separators (125). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to use thermal fusion to connect the film to the side surfaces of Kanda at the discrete locations because Seong teaches that doing so provides a secure attachment between the film and the separators without increasing capacity of a battery ([0063]). Further, Kanda teaches that the electrode assembly may be modified beyond the embodiments presented in the disclosure ([0059]).
The intermediate portions of Kanda in view of Seong would remain “not melted and not thermally fused to the first one of the side surfaces” because Kanda teaches connecting the film (9) only at the discrete locations (FIG. 1B and annotated figure 1 above).
Kanda in view of Seong does not disclose wherein two or more sheets of the separators are merged together at an end of each of the two or more sheets of the separators and bonded to each other. However, Kanda teaches that the separators have a bag shape (FIG. 1B, [0061]).
Schlund teaches an electrode assembly comprising: an electrode stack (230, Fig. 5b, [0038]) in which a first electrode (1, Fig. 5b, [0039]), a separator (5a and 5b, Fig. 5b, [0039]), and a second electrode (2, Fig. 5b, [0039]) are repeatedly stacked, the electrode stack (230) having two side surfaces at opposite sides of the electrode stack (230); and wherein two or more sheets of the separators (5a, 5b) are merged together at an end of each of the two or more sheets of the separators (5a, 5b) and bonded (laminated) to each other to form a bonding portion (arrows 7 indicate where separators 5a, 5b are connected, Fig. 4, [0036], and correspond to the left and right sides of the separators in 5a,5b in Fig. 5b). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have bonded the ends of two or more sheets of the separators to form a bonding portion to form the bag-shaped separators of Kanda in view of Seong because Schlund teaches that this configuration is known in the art (Fig. 5b). Further, Kanda teaches that the electrode assembly may be modified beyond the embodiments presented in the disclosure ([0059]).
Regarding claim 2, Kanda in view of Seong and Schlund discloses wherein the film (9) is a first film, the electrode assembly further comprising a second film (9, FIG. 1B, [0068]) covering a second one of the side surfaces (left or right surface of FIG. 1B), the second film (9) being thermally fused to the second one of the side surfaces (see rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 3, Kanda in view of Seong and Schlund discloses wherein the film (9) is made of a thermoplastic material which is configured to be plastically deformed when subjected to heat and a pressure (Seong: first layer 132 of film 130 melts to thermally bond to separators 125, [0059]-[0060]).
Regarding claim 14, Kanda discloses an electrode assembly comprising:
an electrode stack (formed by electrodes 2/3 and separator 7 described below, FIG. 1B) in which a negative electrode (3, FIG. 1B, [0060]), a separator (7, FIG. 1B, [0061]), and a positive electrode (2, FIG. 1B, [0060]) are repeatedly stacked (FIG. 1B), the electrode stack (2,7,3) having two side surfaces (left and right surfaces of FIG. 1B) at opposite sides of the electrode stack (2,7,3); and
a film (side-plane insulating auxiliary sheet 9, FIG. 1B, [0068]) covering a first one of the side surfaces (left or right surface of FIG. 1B) of the electrode stack (2,7,3), the film (9) being connected to the first one of the side surfaces (left or right surface of FIG. 1B) at discrete locations (discrete locations in annotated figure 1 below) and not connected to the side surface (left or right surface of FIG. 1B) at intermediate portions (intermediate portions in annotated figure 1 below) of the film (9) separating the discrete locations (discrete locations).
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Kanda does not disclose wherein the film is attached to the first one of the side surfaces of the electrode stack by thermal fusion or wherein two or more sheets of the separators are merged together at an end of each of the two or more sheets of the separators and bonded to each other to form a bonding portion, and the electrode stack has at least two of the bonding portions.
Seong teaches an electrode assembly (FIG. 2) comprising: an electrode stack (120, FIG. 2, [0041]) in which a negative electrode (121, FIG. 2, [0042]), a separator (125, FIG. 2, [0042]), and a positive electrode (123, FIG. 2, [0042]) are repeatedly stacked, the electrode stack (120) having two side surfaces at opposite sides of the electrode stack (120) (see FIG. 1); and a film (130, FIG. 2, [0041]) covering a first one of the side surfaces of the electrode stack (120) (FIG. 2), the film (130) being thermally fused (thermally bonded, [0058]) to the first one of the side surfaces (FIG. 2) and thermally fused to ends of the separators (125). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to use thermal fusion to connect the film to the side surfaces of Kanda at the discrete locations because Seong teaches that doing so provides a secure attachment between the film and the separators without increasing capacity of a battery ([0063]). Further, Kanda teaches that the electrode assembly may be modified beyond the embodiments presented in the disclosure ([0059]).
The intermediate portions of Kanda in view of Seong would remain “not melted” because Kanda teaches connecting the film (9) only at the discrete locations (FIG. 1B and annotated figure 1 above).
Kanda in view of Seong does not disclose wherein two or more sheets of the separators are bent in opposite directions toward each other and are merged together at an end of each of the two or more sheets of the separators and bonded to each other to form a bonding portion, and the electrode stack has at least two of the bonding portions. However, Kanda teaches that the separators have a bag shape (FIG. 1B, [0061]).
Schlund teaches an electrode assembly comprising: an electrode stack (230, Fig. 5b, [0038]) in which a first electrode (1, Fig. 5b, [0039]), a separator (5a and 5b, Fig. 5b, [0039]), and a second electrode (2, Fig. 5b, [0039]) are repeatedly stacked, the electrode stack (230) having two side surfaces at opposite sides of the electrode stack (230); and wherein two or more sheets of the separators (5a, 5b) are bent in opposite directions toward each other and are merged together at an end of each of the two or more sheets of the separators (5a, 5b) and bonded (laminated) to each other to form a bonding portion (arrows 7 indicate where separators 5a, 5b are connected, Fig. 4, [0036], and correspond to the left and right sides of the separators in 5a,5b in Fig. 5b), and the electrode stack (230) has at least two of the bonding portions (7). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have bent adjacent two sheets of the separators in opposite directions toward each other and merged the sheets together and bonded the ends of two or more sheets of the separators to form a bonding portion to form the bag-shaped separators of Kanda in view of Seong, such that the electrode stack has at least two of the bonding portions, because Schlund teaches that this configuration is known in the art (Fig. 5b). Further, Kanda teaches that the electrode assembly may be modified beyond the embodiments presented in the disclosure ([0059]).
Regarding claim 15, Kanda in view of Seong and Schlund teaches wherein the bonding portions are disposed at the first one of the side surfaces (left or right side of Kanda FIG. 5B), and the film is thermally fused to the bonding portions (the film 9 is thermally fused to the ends of the separators 7 in Kanda, see FIG. 5B and rejection of claim 14, and the ends form the bonding portions, see rejection of claim 14).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanda (US 2011/0223465 A1) in view of Seong (US 2016/0043374 A1) and Schlund (US 2018/0323416 A1), as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Nishimoto (US 2013/0054061 A1, previously cited).
Regarding claim 4, Kanda in view of Seong and Schlund does not disclose wherein the film is made of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material.
Nishimoto teaches a thermally fused film formed of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) ([0177]). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have used polyethylene terephthalate (PET) because Nishimoto teaches that it can be thermally fused ([0174]) and is tough and flexible ([0177]).
Conclusion
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/C.C.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723