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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/12/2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Applicant’s amendment and arguments filed 12/12/2025 have been fully considered. Claim(s) 1-2 is/are amended; claims 9-12 are newly added. Claims 1-12 are pending review in this Office action. Examiner affirms that the original disclosure provides adequate support for the amendment.
Upon considering said amendment and arguments, the previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 set forth in the Office action mailed 08/15/2025 has/have been withdrawn. Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new grounds of rejection below.
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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. (US20220021016A1 cited in 08/15/2025 Office action) in view of Isaka et al. (US20210135220A1), Greinke et al. (US5677082A cited in 02/24/2025 Office action), and Nakashima et al. (US20070048607A1).
Regarding claims 1, 2, 9-12, Zhao discloses an energy storage device (30, “secondary battery”) comprising a case (40) having an opening, an electrode assembly (50) housed in the case, a nonaqueous electrolyte housed in the case ([0083-0084], FIG. 4), and a lid body (60, “top cover assembly”) covering the opening of the case (40) ([0085], FIG. 4) (claims 1, 2), the electrode assembly comprising:
a negative electrode (51, “first electrode plate”) ([0119]) including a pair of flat portions (512, “stacking sections”) facing each other and a curved folding portion (511, “bending section”) connecting end portions on one side of the pair of flat portions (512) to each other ([0092], FIGs. 7, 9);
a positive electrode (52, 521, “second electrode plate”) disposed between the pair of flat portions (512) of the negative electrode ([0119], FIGs. 7-9) (claims 1, 2).
Zhao’s negative electrode (51) includes a negative electrode substrate (51 a, “current collector”) and a negative active material layer (51 b, “electrode active material layer”) stacked on a surface of the negative electrode substrate directly or indirectly ([0088], FIG. 6) (claims 1, 2). Zhao provides grooves (5111 a) in the bending sections (511) to ensure the negative electrode active material is subject to little or no compression stress during bending ([0089], FIGs. 6-8). Zhao is further silent to disclose any pressing steps of the negative electrode (51) specifically; as such, Zhao’s negative electrode active material layer is inherently stacked in a non-pressed or low-pressure pressed state with the only pressure being that applied during bending (claim 1).
While Zhao does not necessarily appear incompatible with the use of a solid graphite particle, Zhao fails to explicitly disclose the selection of a negative electrode active material containing a solid graphite particle, wherein Applicant’s definition of “solid” refers to a ratio of cross-section particle area without voids to the total cross section area being >95% (inst. spec. [0035]).
Greinke, directed a compacted carbon for an active material in an electrochemical cell (Greinke, abstract), teaches the selection of a finite group of materials as negative electrode active materials including coke and graphite particles (Greinke C2/L15-30), and teaches reducing the closed porosity of the material porosity down to a range of 5% or less in order to improve the volume capacity (C3/L53-64, C2/L15-30), Greinke’s closed porosity parameter being correlated to Applicant’s particle solidity as a ratio of internal void space to a total size of the particle (FIG. 3A, C4/L49-53).
As a skilled artisan would need to select at least some type negative electrode active material in order to form a functioning energy storage device, where Greinke’s finite set of carbon materials are recognized as predictable solutions within the technical grasp of a skilled artisan, it would be obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application for one having ordinary skill in the art to routinely explore the selection of a graphite particle with a reasonable expectation of successfully producing Zhao’s energy storage device (claims 1, 2).
In seeking to improve the volume capacity, it would further be obvious to optimize a closed porosity of modified Zhao’s graphite particle within a range of 0-5% as taught by Greinke. Such a modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as Greinke teaches a suitability of using graphite particles with this porosity range in a negative electrode (MPEP 2144.05 II). In this optimization, the skilled artisan would produce a solid graphite particle, as reduction of the closed pore volume to <5% would inherently increase the ratio of cross-section particle area without voids and total cross section area to greater than 95% (inst. spec. [0035]) (claims 1, 2).
Furthermore, while modified Zhao’s solid graphite particles would necessarily comprise at least some measure of an aspect ratio, Zhao fails to explicitly indicate that the solid graphite particle has an aspect ratio of 1 or more and 5 or less as claimed in claims 1, 2.
Nakashima, directed to an energy storage device (Nakashima, abstract), teaches a desirability to optimize the aspect ratio within a range of at least 1.02 to improve ease of production and to avoid excessively spherical negative electrode active material particles which have reduced adhesion, and less than 3.0 to provide a sufficient tap density ([0204-0205], [0228]).
As such, in seeking to improve the negative electrode tap density without impairing production efficiency or reducing adhesion, it would be obvious for one having ordinary skill in the to optimize modified Zhao’s aspect ratio within a range of 1.02 to 3.0 as taught by Nakashima, this range falling within and overlapping with portions of the claimed ranges (1-5, claims 1, 2; 2-5, claims 10, 12) between 1.02-3.0 and 2.0-3.0 such that a skilled artisan would select within these encompassed/overlapped ranges through routine optimization under Nakashima’s teaching. Such an optimization would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as modified Zhao’s negative electrode active material necessarily comprises at least some value of aspect ratio which would benefit from the above optimization (MPEP 2144.05 II).
Modified Zhao’s negative electrode active material layer, which may be stacked in a non-pressed state (Zhao [0089]; see discussion of Zhao above), would consequently have no pressure applied to the negative active material layer during manufacture of the energy storage device when manufactured in this manner (claims 1, 9, 11).
Modified Zhao fails to explicitly quantify a ratio Q2/Q1 of the negative electrode substrate surface roughness with (Q2) and without (Q1) the negative electrode active material layer as being 0.90 or more (see claim 2). However, the instant specification indicates that in a state where no or little pressure is applied to the negative active material layer, the surface roughness ratio Q2/Q1 becomes close to 1 (inst. spec. [0016], [0108] Table 1), such that modified Zhao’s energy storage device produced where no or little pressure is applied to the negative active material layer would inherently comprise a Q2/Q1 of at least 0.90 or more (claim 2).
Furthermore, while Modified Zhao’s solid graphite particles would inherently comprise at least some measure of a Raman spectrum R value as a material property of graphite (see claims 1, 2), Zhao fails to numerically indicate that an R value is 0.25 or more and 0.8 or less.
Isaka, directed to an analogous negative electrode active material (Isaka, abstract), teaches optimizing an R value of a carbon material within a preferable range of at least 0.3 to improve the input-output characteristics of the material and less than 0.7 to suppress decomposition of the electrolytic solution and maintain initial efficiency (Isaka [0110-0111]).
As such, in seeking to balance the above considerations according to Isaka’s teaching, it would be obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art to optimize an R value of modified Zhao’s solid graphite particles within a range of 0.3-0.7, which is within the claimed range of 0.25-0.8 (claims 1, 2). Such an optimization would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as a skilled artisan would need to select at least some R value of modified Zhao’s solid graphite particle in order to successfully form the particle (MPEP 2144.05 II).
Regarding claim(s) 3, 6 modified Zhao discloses the energy storage device according to claims 1, 2, wherein the negative electrode (51) is a belt-like body folded in a bellows shape (“substantially zigzag shape”) (Zhao [0092], FIG. 7) along a longitudinal direction (“extending direction W”) of the negative electrode ([0087], FIG. 8).
Regarding claim(s) 4, 7, modified Zhao discloses the energy storage device according to claims 1, 2, wherein the positive electrode (52, “second electrode plate”) includes a plurality of positive electrodes (521, “stacking sections”), and each positive electrode of the plurality of the positive electrodes (521) is a plate-like positive electrode (521) (Zhao [0093-0094], FIGs. 8-9).
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Regarding claim(s) 5, 8, modified Zhao discloses the energy storage device according to claims 4, 7, wherein the plate-like positive electrode (521) includes a positive electrode substrate (black line in 521 in figures) and a positive active material layer (unfilled line in 521 in figures, see Annotated Zhao FIG. 9 above).
A surface of the positive electrode substrate facing one of each pair of the flat portions (512) of the negative electrode (51) is recognized as the principal surface as claimed (Annotated Zhao FIG. 9, [0095], FIG. 10);
the positive active material layer is directly or indirectly stacked on the principal surface of the positive electrode substrate (Annotated Zhao FIG. 9).
Zhao’s negative active material layer of the curved folding portion (511) faces away from the plate-like positive electrode (521) having the positive active material layer ([0094], Annotated Zhao FIG. 9), and thus does not face the positive active material layer directly or indirectly stacked on the principal surface of the positive electrode substrate as claimed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of claim(s) 1-12 under 35 U.S.C. 103 over Kasamatsu (US20110281163) in view of Zhao (US20220021016) and Tashita (US20210218025) (Remarks filed 12/12/2025 pp. 6-7) 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.
Conclusion
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/E.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 3/12/2026