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 .
Claim Status
Claim 1 is amended.
Claims 2, 4-5 are cancelled.
Claims 1 and 3 are considered on the merits.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/21/2 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the instant application has specific differences from the cited references as follows:
Omae does not teach or suggest that in the low-density region (22b/32b) includes a portion in which the active material is embedded in the electrode current collector (21/31) and a portion not embedded in the electrode current collector (21/31). Further, Omae also does not teach or suggest that the portion embedded in the electrode current collector (21/31) is formed on a high-density region (22a/32a) side while the portion not embedded in the electrode current collector (21/31) is formed on an exposed portion (23/33) side of the electrode current collector (21/31).
Zama, Nishioka, and Minami do not remedy the deficiencies of Omae.
Regrading arguments a-b, it is acknowledged that Omae does not explicitly teach both a portion in which the active material is embedded in the electrode current collector and a portion not embedded in the electrode current collector. However, Zama teaches that the active material includes a portion not embedded in the core such that the portion not embedded in the core is formed on a core exposed portion side ([0082]-[0086]; [0088]; Fig. 6B; [0090]). Zama teaches that the region of reduced amount of active material that is uncompressed results in reduced amount of lithium ion to be transferred, during charging, to the outer peripheral portion of the negative electrode opposed to the positive electrode, thereby preventing the lithium ion from being deposited as dendrites ([0090]). One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify Omae by including a further uncompressed region of active material as taught by Zama to prevent lithium-ion dendrites in the peripheral portion of the electrode ([0090]). Omae teaches that a region of lower density active material which is compressed to a lesser extent suppresses wrinkles and distortion in the exposed portion ([0024]; [0030]; [0033]). Zama teaches that a portion of active material not embedded in the core ([0082]-[0086]; [0088]; Fig. 6B; [0090]) results in reduced amount of lithium ion to be transferred, during charging, to the outer peripheral portion of the negative electrode opposed to the positive electrode, thereby preventing the lithium ion from being deposited as dendrites ([0090]). Therefore, in view of Omae and Zama one of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to include both a reduced density portion embedded in the core and a portion not embedded in the core such that the portion not embedded in the core is formed on a core exposed portion side.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Omae et al. (JP2015018765A) in view of Zama et al. (US 20150380716 A1), both cited on the IDS filed on 08/31/22, in further view of Nishioka et al. (US 20150221943 A1) and Minami et al. (US 20070172733 A1). Reference is made to the previously enclosed translation of Omae.
Regarding claim 1, Omae teaches a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising a non-aqueous electrolyte and an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode are alternately stacked via a plurality of separators ([0009]-[0010]; Fig. 1 reproduced below), each of the plurality of positive electrodes and the plurality of negative electrodes comprising a core exposed portion in which a core is exposed, and a base portion in which a composite material layer is formed on at least one side of the core ([0012]-[0013]; [0017]-[0018]; current collector is considered a core portion; Fig. 5 annotated below), wherein the base portion comprises a first region in which an active material is embedded in the core such that an otherwise flat surface of the core defines a concave or convex surface facing the active material embedded in the first region, and a second region in which the average embedment depth of the active material in the core is smaller than that in the first region, the second region is located next to the core exposed portion ([0005]; [0021]-[0022]; [0024]; [0031]-[0033]; [0040]-[0041]).
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While Omae does not explicitly teach where an active material is embedded in the core such that an otherwise flat surface of the core defines a concave or convex surface facing the active material embedded in the first region, Omae teaches that an electrode is formed by applying an active material slurry to a current collector (core), drying the slurry, and then rolling to form an electrode mixture ([0011]; [0033]; [0039] applies to both positive and negative electrodes). Omae teaches that an amount of active material slurry applied to a region 32a is smaller than an amount of active material applied to a region 32b and that during a rolling process, a region 32b is compressed more than a region 32a ([0032]-[0033]; [0039]). Omae teaches that a negative electrode mixture slurry is applied to a copper current collector ([0046]; [0018]) and a positive electrode mixture slurry is applied to an aluminum current collector ([0044]; [0020]).
Therefore, during the rolling step taught by Omae, which compresses an active material into a current collector, region 32b, where more active material is present, is more compressed and active material in region 32b will become embedded in the current collector while region 32a is less compressed and active material in this region will be less embedded in the current collector (0032]-[0033]; [0039]; since the positive electrode can have the same configuration as the negative electrode this applies to both positive and negative electrodes) thereby meeting the limitation of claim 1.
This conclusion is supported by Nishioka and Minami. Nishioka teaches a positive electrode where positive electrode active materials are embedded into a positive electrode current collector during the process of rolling ([0017]) and a current collector is an aluminum current collector ([0018]). Minami teaches a negative electrode where negative active material is embedded in a negative current collector by pressure-rolling ([0020]-[0022]) and a negative electrode current collector is a copper current collector ([0024]).
Omae does not teach wherein a plurality of positive electrode and a plurality of negative electrodes are stacked nor where, in the second region, the active material includes a portion not embedded in the core such that the portion embedded in the core is formed on a first region side while the portion not embedded in the core is formed on a core exposed portion side.
However, Zama teaches a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising a non-aqueous electrolyte and an electrode assembly in which a plurality of positive electrodes and a plurality of negative electrodes are alternately stacked via a plurality of separators ([0048]-[0050]; Fig. 3B), each of the plurality of positive electrodes comprising a core exposed portion in which a core is exposed, and a base portion in which a composite material layer is formed on at least one side of the core, wherein the base portion comprises a first region in which a packing density of an active material is increased by compression and a second region in which there is less active material than that in the first region, and the second region is located next to the core exposed portion ([0034]-[0037]; Fig. 2A & 2B). The second region the active material includes a portion not embedded in the core such that the portion not embedded in the core is formed on a core exposed portion side ([0082]-[0086]; [0088] “the region 107 where the existing amount of the active material is small which is not compressed by the roll press is formed at both end portions of the active material layer”; Fig. 6B; [0090]). Zama teaches that the region of reduced amount of active material that is uncompressed (corresponding to “portion not embedded in the core”) results in reduced amount of lithium ion to be transferred, during charging, to the outer peripheral portion of the negative electrode opposed to the positive electrode, thereby preventing lithium ions from being deposited as dendrites ([0090]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery taught by Omae by forming a stacked battery wherein a plurality of positive electrode and a plurality of negative electrodes are stacked as taught by Zama. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Omae by including a further uncompressed region of active material as further taught by Zama.
One of ordinary skill in the art could have modified the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery taught by Omae by forming a stacked battery wherein a plurality of positive electrodes and a plurality of negative electrodes are stacked as taught by Zama to achieve the predictable result of a non-aqueous electrolyte battery with a stacked configuration. One of ordinary skill in the art would have made this modification with reasonable expectation of successfully producing a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery because stacked batteries are known in the art. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify Omae by including a further uncompressed region of active material as taught by Zama to prevent lithium-ion dendrites in the peripheral portion of the electrode ([0090]).
Omae teaches that a region of lower density active material which is compressed to a lesser extent suppresses wrinkles and distortion in the exposed portion ([0024]; [0030]; [0033]). Zama teaches that a portion of active material not embedded in the core ([0082]-[0086]; [0088]; Fig. 6B; [0090]) results in reduced amount of lithium ion to be transferred, during charging, to the outer peripheral portion of the negative electrode opposed to the positive electrode, thereby preventing the lithium ion from being deposited as dendrites ([0090]). Therefore, in view of Omae and Zama one of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to include both a reduced density portion embedded in the core and a portion not embedded in the core such that the portion not embedded in the core is formed on a core exposed portion side.
Modified Omae does not teach wherein the surface curve rate of the core in the first region is 110% to 150%.
However, modified Omae teaches a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising a non-aqueous electrolyte and an electrode assembly in which a plurality of positive electrodes and a plurality of negative electrodes are alternately stacked via a plurality of separators (Zama [0048]-[0050]; Fig. 3B; Omae [0009]-[0010]; Fig. 1), each of the plurality of positive electrodes and the plurality of negative electrodes comprising a core exposed portion in which a core is exposed, and a base portion in which a composite material layer is formed on at least one side of the core (Omae [0012]-[0013]; [0017]-[0018]; Fig. 5), wherein the base portion comprises a first region in which an active material is embedded in the core and a second region in which the average embedment depth of the active material in the core is smaller than that in the first region, and the second region is located next to the core exposed portion (Omae [0005]; [0021]-[0022]; [0024]; [0031]-[0033]; [0040]-[0041]). Omae teaches wherein the positive active material is a lithium transition metal composite oxide which contains Ni, Co, and Mn, or Ni, Co, and Al ([0014]) and the positive current collector is aluminum ([0012]) while the negative electrode active material is, for example, carbon, silicon or graphite, and the negative current collector is copper ([0020]; [0018]). The materials taught by Omae are the same as the instant invention (instant specification [0031]; [0033]; [0016]-[0018]). Further the electrodes taught by Omae are made via the same method as the instant application (instant application [0017], [0032]; [0038]), namely application of a slurry to a current collector ([0032]; [0044]), drying, and compressing ([0011]; [0017]). Because the active materials in the electrodes taught by Omae are embedded into the respective current collector, creating concave/convex surfaces, the electrode taught by modified Omae would necessarily possess a surface curve rate greater than 100%.
Further, given that the electrode assembly in modified Omae, has the same structure and compositions as claimed, it is the Examiner’s position that said electrode assembly, would inherently possess the same properties, including the same surface curve rate of 110%-150% (See MPEP 2112.01). Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255,195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977). “When the PTO shows a sound basis for believing that the products of the applicant and the prior art are the same, the applicant has the burden of showing that they are not.” In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 709, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1658 (Fed. Cir.1990).
Regarding claim 3, Omae teaches wherein the second region is formed in an area within 10mm or less from a boundary with the core exposed portion (Omae [0026]-[0027]; Fig. 3 reproduced below).
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Takeyama (JP 2017010644 A) teaches a stacked lithium-ion secondary battery where a positive electrode is coated with an active material such that there is an application portion where positive active material is applied and an unapplied portion where the positive active material is not applied (pg. 2) and the application portion has a thick portion and a thin portion (pg. 2). Cited on the IDS filed 08/31/2022, reference is made to enclosed translation.
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/F.B.A./Examiner, Art Unit 1728
/MATTHEW T MARTIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1728
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