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
The amendment filed on 06/12/2026 does not place the application in condition for allowance.
In view of the amendment to the claims, the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 of claims 1, 3-13 has been withdrawn.
The cancelation of claim 9 is acknowledged.
New analysis follows.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 4 and their dependents 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.
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.
Claims 1 and 3-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujioka (US20190393481A1, cited in IDS cited 9/30/24), in view of Lee (US20200176753A1), Wixom et. al. (US20200313191A1) and Kwon et al. (KR20170075963A, reference made to attached English translation).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Fujioka discloses a battery electrode comprising:
a core (i.e. current collector 21, ¶[0014]); and
a mixture layer containing an active material and a binder (¶[0046] including PVdF ¶[0073]), the mixture layer being disposed on a surface of the core (Fig. 2),
wherein the mixture layer is defined into three equal parts in a thickness direction (applied in three equal layers (¶[0077]), such that the three equal parts being defined as a first region, a second region, and a third region in that order from a side on which the core is located (i.e. first layer, second layer, third layer, ¶[0076]), a porosity of the second region is higher than a porosity of the first region (¶[0076] and ¶[00084], Table 1, samples a2 and a6, see second layer 16% first layer 12% void rates), but does not disclose wherein a difference (a−c) between the porosity (a) of the first region and a porosity (c) of the third region is within the range of ±1% and wherein the binder is a fibrous binder.
Lee, related to battery electrodes, discloses an electrode with a mixture with three layers atop a current collector (¶[0026]) where the layers vary in porosity where the first negative electrode mixture layer may have a porosity corresponding to 0.85-0.95 times the porosity of the third negative electrode mixture layer.
One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the three layers of sample a2 could be modified such that the first layer had a porosity of 0.95 the third layer (¶0076] of Fujioka) resulting in a difference in porosity of 1% thereby improving the adhesion to the current collector, and improving the lithium-ion input/output characteristics of the third negative electrode mixture layer facing the positive electrode layer (¶[0056] of Lee).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the porosity of Fujioka to improve adhesion and battery characteristics.
Wixom, related to electrode fabrication, teaches PTFE may be used in place of PVdF as a binder and the process of fibrilization by high-shear mixing causes fibrous binder formation which improves electrode mechanical properties(¶[0067]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized using the fibrous PTFE binder in place of the binder of Fujioka would have resulted in improved electrode mechanical properties.
Therefore it would have been obvious to have used the fibrous PTFE binder in place of the binder of Fujioka to improve the electrode mechanical properties.
Fujioka does not disclose wherein a content of the binder, that is a mass ratio of the binder relative to a mass of the mixture layer in each region, increases in the order of the third region, the second region, and the first region.
Kwon, related to multi-layer electrodes, teaches a multi-layer electrode with three or more layers with a binder content(i.e. weight within the electrode layer) which decreases stepwise as it moves further away from the current collector(¶[0024] and [0028]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized using a binder content as described by Kwon in the electrode of modified Fujioka would have improved adhesion while maintaining battery performance(¶[0027]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to have used a binder content as described by Kwon in the electrode of modified Fujioka to improve adhesion while maintaining battery performance.
Regarding claim 3, modified Fujioka discloses a battery electrode according to claim 1, wherein a difference (b−a) between the porosity (b) of the second region and the porosity (a) of the first region is 4% (see electrode a2, ¶[0076]).
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Fujioka discloses a battery electrode comprising:
a core (i.e. current collector 21, ¶[0014]); and
a mixture layer containing an active material and a binder (¶[0046] including PVdF ¶[0073]), the mixture layer being disposed on a surface of the core (Fig. 2),
wherein the mixture layer is defined into three equal parts in a thickness direction (applied in three equal layers (¶[0077]), such that the three equal parts being defined as a first region, a second region, and a third region in that order from a side on which the core is located (i.e. first layer, second layer, third layer, ¶[0076]), a porosity of the second region is higher than a porosity of the first region (¶[0076] and ¶[00084], Table 1, samples a2 and a6, see second layer 16% first layer 12% void rates), but does not disclose wherein a difference (a−c) between the porosity (a) of the first region and a porosity (c) of the third region is within the range of ±1% and wherein the porosity (b) of the second region is higher than a porosity (c) of the third region and wherein the binder is a fibrous binder.
Lee, related to battery electrodes, discloses an electrode with a mixture with three layers atop a current collector (¶[0026]) where the layers vary in porosity where the first negative electrode mixture layer may have a porosity corresponding to 0.85-0.95 times the porosity of the third negative electrode mixture layer.
One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the three layers of sample a2 could be modified such that the first layer had a porosity of 0.95 the third layer (¶0076] of Fujioka) resulting in a difference in porosity of 1% thereby improving the adhesion to the current collector, and improving the lithium-ion input/output characteristics of the third negative electrode mixture layer facing the positive electrode layer (¶[0056] of Lee).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the porosity of Fujioka to improve adhesion and battery characteristics.
Lee also teaches wherein the porosity (b) of the second region is 40% (¶0099]) and is higher than a porosity (c) of the third region is 30% (¶[0100]) , and wherein a difference (b−c) between the porosity (b) of the second region and a porosity (c) of the third region is 10%.
One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the three layers of sample a2 could be modified such that the second layer had a porosity greater than the porosity of the third layer thereby improving and improving the lithium-ion input/output characteristics of the third negative electrode mixture layer facing the positive electrode layer (¶[0020] of Lee).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the porosity of Fujioka to improve battery characteristics.
Wixom, related to electrode fabrication, teaches PTFE may be used in place of PVdF as a binder and the process of fibrilization by high-shear mixing causes fibrous binder formation which improves electrode mechanical properties(¶[0067]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized using the fibrous PTFE binder in place of the binder of Fujioka would have resulted in improved electrode mechanical properties.
Therefore it would have been obvious to have used the fibrous PTFE binder in place of the binder of Fujioka to improve the electrode mechanical properties.
Fujioka does not disclose wherein a content of the binder, that is a mass ratio of the binder relative to a mass of the mixture layer in each region, increases in the order of the third region, the second region, and the first region.
Kwon, related to multi-layer electrodes, teaches a multi-layer electrode with three or more layers with a binder content(i.e. weight within the electrode layer) which decreases stepwise as it moves further away from the current collector(¶[0024] and [0028]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized using a binder content as described by Kwon in the electrode of modified Fujioka would have improved adhesion while maintaining battery performance(¶[0027]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to have used a binder content as described by Kwon in the electrode of modified Fujioka to improve adhesion while maintaining battery performance.
Regarding claim 5, modified Fujioka discloses a battery electrode according to claim 1, wherein a porosity (c) of the third region is higher than the porosity (b) of the second region (see electrode a2, ¶[0076]).
Regarding claim 6, modified Fujioka discloses a battery electrode according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of a difference between a content (a) of the binder in the first region and a content (c) of the binder in the third region to a total content (a+b+c) of the binder in each of the regions is within the range of ±5% and in this case all the layers have the same added binder content (sample a2, table 1, ¶[0071]).
Regarding claim 7, modified Fujioka discloses a battery electrode according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of a difference between a content (b) of the binder in the second region and a content (c) of the binder in the third region to a total content (a+b+c) of the binder in each of the regions is within the range of ±5% and in this case all the layers have the same added binder content (sample a2, Table 1, ¶[0071]).
Regarding claim 8, modified Fujioka discloses a battery electrode according to claim 1, wherein a content of the binder in the mixture layer increases in the order of the third region (i.e. separator side), the second region (i.e. center), and the first region (i.e. current collector side) (sample a6, Table 1, ¶[0084]).
Regarding claim 10, modified Fujioka discloses a battery electrode according to claim 1, wherein within the mixture layer, each layer has a porosity of less than 40% leading to an overall porosity of less than 40% (¶[0076]).
Regarding claim 11 modified Fujioka discloses a battery comprising:
the battery electrode according to claim 1 and an electrolyte solution (¶[0148]).
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.
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/K.J.A./Examiner, Art Unit 1726 /RYAN S CANNON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726
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