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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 5 June 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, p. 4, 4th paragraph and p. 6, 6th paragraph, filed 5 June 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-3 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Kim (US 20220216480 A1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 20220216480 A1).
In regards to claim(s) 1, Kim discloses a positive electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery (abstract; [0105]), comprising:
a positive electrode current collector (abstract); and a positive electrode mixture layer (first positive electrode active material layer and a second positive electrode active material layer; abstract) formed on a surface of the positive electrode current collector, wherein the positive electrode mixture layer includes: a positive electrode active material (Example 1, [0122]: LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622)); and a fibrous carbon (Example 1, Table 1: Carbon nanotube structure) and a non-fibrous carbon (Example 1, Table 1: Carbon black), and when the positive electrode mixture layer is bisected in a thickness direction, and a half region on a side of the positive electrode current collector is defined as a first region and a half region on an outer surface side is defined as a second region, the first region contains substantially only the non-fibrous carbon (Example 1, Table 1: Carbon black) as a sole carbon-based conductive agent, and the second region contains substantially only the fibrous carbon (Example 1, Table 1: Carbon nanotube structure) as a sole carbon-based conductive agent, the positive electrode active material in the first region is identical to the positive electrode active material in the second region (in Example 1, both regions have the same active material, NCM622, [0122];[0124]), and a content of the fibrous carbon in the positive electrode mixture layer is 0.02 mass% to 0.5 mass% (Table 1; Example 1; 0.1% Carbon nanotube structure), based on a total mass of the positive electrode mixture layer.
While Kim discloses the two regions in Example 1, Example 1 does not disclose that the two regions have the same thickness. However, Kim discloses a thickness range of the two regions to be from 25:75 to 50:50 ([0062]) which overlaps the instantly claimed value of 50:50 and therefore establishes a case of prima facie obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05 I. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select the claimed range from the broader prior art range because prior art teaches the same utility over the entire range.
In regards to claim(s) 2, Kim discloses carbon nanotubes (Table 1; Example 1).
In regards to claim(s) 3, Kim discloses a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising the positive electrode, a negative electrode ([0097]) and a non-aqueous electrolyte ([0105]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS A SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-8760. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-3:30pm.
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/NICHOLAS A SMITH/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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