/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 .
Response to Amendment
This is a final office action in response to Applicant’s remarks and amendments filed on 03/10/2026. Claim 8 is currently amended. Claims 8-14 remain withdrawn as being drawn to a nonelected invention. Claims 1-7 and 15-18 are presented for examination.
The 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections in the previous office action are maintained.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues the Office’s prosecution to date does not appear to have been consist with its duty of compact prosecution because a second obviousness rejection was made based on Kim and Schmidt in the non-final rejection mailed 12/11/2025.
Examiner notes the arguments presented in the After Final response of 11/17/2025 necessitated a new interpretation of the prior art, as laid out in the previous Office Action.
Applicant argues Kim does not disclose the claimed gap because FIG. 4 of Kim is a schematic depiction of the electrode structure. There is no explicit or implicit indication that the structural representation of FIG. 4 is to scale. The cathode, separator, and anode are shown pulled away from each other in FIG. 4 to facilitate the labeling of various elements relating to Kim's battery. As Kim discloses the bent cathode and anode are fitted to each other ([0012]), one of ordinary skill in the art would have interpreted FIG. 4 of Kim as visually emphasizing relevant parts of its battery structure without any depiction of a gap that would exist in the actual fully assembled battery.
Examiner notes the vertical space between the active material layers and the separator corresponding to the claimed gap and as indicated in the annotated figure would still be present in the assembled battery of Kim.
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 1-7 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2010/0015529 A1, cited in the IDS filed 05/25/2022) in view of Schmidt (US 2008/0044728 A1; previously cited).
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses a secondary battery (lithium secondary battery, [0002]) comprising:
a case (battery case [0048]);
one or more positive electrode plates (cathode 110, Figs. 3 and 7, [0038]) disposed in the case;
one or more negative electrode plates (anode 120, Figs. 3 and 7, [0038]) disposed in the case;
a separator (130, Fig. 3, [0038]) disposed in the case; and
an electrolyte disposed in the case ([0048]),
wherein a positive electrode plate (110) out of the one or more positive electrode plates (110) includes three or more positive electrode units aligned and connected to one another (six units in Fig. 3);
a negative electrode plate (120) of the one or more negative electrode plates (120) includes three or more negative electrode units aligned and connected to one another (six units in Fig. 3);
each of the three or more positive electrode units includes a positive electrode current collector (111, Fig. 4, [0038]) and a positive electrode active material layer (112, Fig. 4, [0038]) disposed on the positive electrode current collector (111),
each of the three or more negative electrode units includes a negative electrode current collector (121, Fig. 4, [0038]) and a negative electrode active material layer (122, Fig. 4, [0038])) disposed on the negative electrode current collector (121),
the positive electrode plate (110) is folded alternately in opposite directions at first fold portions (folded regions 140, Fig. 4; markings 160 are spaced along the folded regions, Fig. 5, [0040]-[0041]) in a zigzag pattern, each of the first fold portions (160) being a boundary between corresponding adjacent two of the three or more positive electrode units,
the negative electrode plate (120) is folded alternately in opposite directions at second fold portions (folded regions 140, Fig. 4; markings 170 are spaced along the folded regions, Fig. 6, [0040]-[0041]) in a zigzag pattern, each of the second fold portions (170) being a boundary between corresponding adjacent two of the three or more negative electrode units,
the positive electrode active material layer (112) is disposed on the first fold portions (160), and the negative electrode active material layer (122) is disposed on the second fold portions (170) (active material is applied thinly to the folded regions [0018]),
the positive electrode plate (110), the negative electrode plate (120), and the separator (130) are arranged such that the positive electrode active material layer (112) on the three or more positive electrode units faces the negative electrode active material layer (122) on the three or more negative electrode units across the separator (130), and that the first fold portions (160) face the second fold portions (170) across the separator (130) (Fig. 4, [0038]),
the positive electrode plate (110) includes a positive electrode active material excessive portion (see annotation of Kim Fig. 4 below) including one of the first fold portions (160), the negative electrode plate is covered with the positive electrode plate (110) in the positive electrode active material excessive portion such that the one of the first fold portions (160) is located outward from a corresponding one of the second fold portions (170), and
a gap is formed between the positive electrode active material layer (112) and the separator and/or between the negative electrode active material layer (122) and the separator (130) in the positive electrode active material excessive portion (see annotation of Kim Fig. 4 below).
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Annotation of Kim Fig. 4
Kim does not disclose a case having a flat shape, a non-aqueous electrolyte, or wherein a length X of each of the three or more positive electrode units in a direction in which the three or more positive electrode units are aligned is greater than a length Y of each of the three or more negative electrode units in a direction in which the three or more negative electrode units are aligned,
Schmidt teaches a flat non-aqueous secondary battery (700, FIG. 11, [0066]) comprising a case having a flat shape (702, FIG. 1, [0066]) and a non-aqueous electrolyte disposed in the case ([0041]). Therefore, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have used a non-aqueous electrolyte and a case having a flat shape in the battery of Kim, because Schmidt teaches that such a configuration is known in the art.
Schmidt further teaches that the battery (700) comprises a positive electrode (720, FIG. 11, [0067]), a separator (730, FIG. 11, [0067]), and a negative electrode (730, FIG. 11, [0067]) folded in a zigzag pattern (FIG. 11, [0066]). Schmidt teaches that by using a negative electrode active material having a greater potential than carbon ([0076]), it is possible to produce a battery in which the positive electrode is longer than the negative electrode. A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the battery of Kim such that a length X of each of the three or more positive electrode units in a direction in which the three or more positive electrode units are aligned is greater than a length Y of each of the three or more negative electrode units in a direction in which the three or more negative electrode units are aligned because Schmidt teaches that doing so provides enhanced flexibility in battery design and allows for variability in the manufacturing/assembly process ([0076]). Further, Kim teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the embodiments of the disclosure ([0045]).
Regarding claim 2, Kim in view of Schmidt teaches wherein a difference (X-Y) between the length X and the length Y ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm (Schmidt: overlapping range of “from 0 mm to 5 mm” [0070] establishes a prima facie case of obviousness [MPEP § 2144.05(I)]).
Regarding claim 3, Kim in view of Schmidt teaches wherein a width WX of each of the three or more positive electrode units in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the three or more positive electrode units are aligned and a width WY of each of the three or more negative electrode units in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the three or more negative electrode units are aligned satisfy a relation of WX≤WY (Schmidt: difference in extension between the positive electrode and the negative electrode can be 0 mm [0070]).
Regarding claim 4, Kim in view of Schmidt teaches wherein at least a portion of the separator (130) is fixed to the negative electrode plate (Kim separator is thermally welded to the active material layer of the cathode or anode [0019]).
Regarding claim 5, Kim in view of Schmidt teaches wherein in a case where a number of the one or more positive electrode plates (110) is one and a number of the one or more negative electrode plates (120) is one, the positive electrode active material layer (112) is disposed on only one surface of the positive electrode current collector (111), and the negative electrode active material layer (122) is disposed on only one surface of the negative electrode current collector (121) (Kim: Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 6, Kim in view of Schmidt does not explicitly disclose wherein the positive electrode active material layer (112) on the first fold portions (160) and the negative electrode active material layer (122) on the second fold portions (170) contact the separator (130) at a portion of the positive electrode plate (110) covered with the negative electrode plate (120). However, Kim teaches that the separator may be thermally welded to the active material layer of the positive electrode or the negative electrode ([0024]). Therefore, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have thermally welded the separator to the positive electrode active material layer and the negative electrode active material layer at a portion of the positive electrode plate covered with the negative electrode plate, such that the positive electrode active material layer on the first fold portions and the negative electrode active material layer on the second fold portions contact the separator, as taught by Kim ([0024]).
Regarding claim 7, Kim in view of Schmidt teaches wherein no member which prevents permeation of the non-aqueous electrolyte is provided between each of the first fold portions (160) and corresponding one of the second fold portions (170) (Kim: Figs. 3 and 4).
Regarding claim 15, Kim in view of Schmidt does teaches wherein the gap is formed between the positive electrode active material layer (112) and the separator (130) in the positive electrode active material excessive portion (see claim 1).
Regarding claim 16, Kim in view of Schmidt teaches wherein the gap is formed between the negative electrode active material layer (122) and the separator (130) in the positive electrode active material excessive portion (see claim 1).
Regarding claim 17, Kim in view of Schmidt teaches wherein the negative electrode plate includes a negative electrode active material excessive portion (see annotation of Kim Fig. 4 below) including one of the second fold portions (170), the positive electrode plate (110) is covered with the negative electrode plate (120) in the negative electrode active material excessive portion such that the one of the second fold portions (170) is located outward from a corresponding one of the first fold portions (160).
Kim in view of Schmidt does not disclose wherein no gap is formed between the positive electrode active material layer (112) and the separator (130) or between the negative electrode active material layer (122) and the separator (130) in the negative electrode active material excessive portion. However, Kim teaches that the separator may be thermally welded to the active material layer of the positive electrode or the negative electrode ([0024]). Therefore, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have thermally welded the separator to the positive electrode active material layer and the negative electrode active material layer at a portion of the positive electrode plate covered with the negative electrode plate, such that no gap is formed between the positive electrode active material layer and the separator or between the negative electrode active material layer and the separator in the negative electrode active material excessive portion, as taught by Kim ([0024]).
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Annotation of Kim Fig. 4
Regarding claim 18, Kim in view of Schmidt wherein the negative electrode active material layer (122) contains negative electrode active material that is at least one selected from the group consisting of carbon material or silicon compound, and combinations thereof (Schmidt: Si alloys and polymers, [0055] and Table 1 on p. 15).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/C.C.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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