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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/29/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 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 Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 13 recites “wherein the first solid electrolyte layer and the second solid electrolyte layer is completely adhered to each other” but should recite “wherein the first solid electrolyte layer and the second solid electrolyte layer are completely adhered to each other.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-3, 5, 7-9, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ku (US 2021/0242490 A1, previously cited) in view of Yoshida (JP-2020164367-A; a machine translation is attached and referenced below).
Regarding claim 1, Ku discloses an all-solid-state battery (1, FIG. 12, [0121]) comprising: a positive electrode (10, FIG. 12, [0121]); a negative electrode (20, FIG. 12, [0121]); and a solid electrolyte (30, FIG. 12, [0121]) between the positive electrode (10) and the negative electrode (20), wherein the solid electrolyte (30) comprises a first solid electrolyte layer (second solid electrolyte layer 32, FIG. 12, [0121]) and a second solid electrolyte layer (first solid electrolyte layer 31, FIG. 12, [0121]), wherein the first solid electrolyte layer (32) comprises a binder ([0155]), wherein the first solid electrolyte layer (32) has a thickness greater than a thickness of the second solid electrolyte layer (31), and wherein the second solid electrolyte layer (31) faces the negative electrode (20).
Ku teaches that the first (32) and second (31) solid electrolyte layers should each contain a sulfide solid electrolyte and that the conductivity of the first solid electrolyte layer (32) is lower than the conductivity of the second solid electrolyte layer (31), but does not disclose wherein the second solid electrolyte layer does not have a binder.
Yoshida teaches a sulfide solid electrolyte layer ([0061]), wherein the solid electrolyte layer does not have a binder ([0063]). 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 second solid electrolyte layer of Ku by removing the binder because Yoshida teaches that doing so reduces interfacial contact resistance of the solid electrolyte particles, thereby improving ion conductivity in the layer ([0063]). Further, Ku teaches that the battery may be modified beyond the disclosed embodiments ([0248]).
Regarding claim 2, Ku in view of Yoshida teaches (see Ku) wherein the binder is at least one selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene, polyacrylonitrile, polymethylmethacrylate, polyvinylidene fluoride, a polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (PVDF-HFP), and styrene-butadiene rubber (Ku: [0155]).
Regarding claim 3, Ku in view of Yoshida does not disclose wherein the first solid electrolyte layer and the second solid electrolyte layer include at least one identical ingredient. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have added at least one identical ingredient to the first and second solid electrolyte layers of Ku in view of Yoshida because Ku teaches that each layer may further an include a typical sulfide-based solid electrolyte ([0148]).
Regarding claim 5, Ku in view of Yoshida teaches wherein the binder in the first solid electrolyte layer (32) is included in an amount of 0.2 weight% to 15 weight% based on the weight of a total solid content included in the first solid electrolyte layer (32) (Ku: 1 weight% to 2 weight%, [0157]).
Regarding claim 7, Ku in view of Yoshida does not disclose wherein the negative electrode does not include a negative electrode mixture layer. However, 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 Ku in view of Yoshida such that the negative electrode does not include a negative electrode mixture layer because Ku teaches an embodiment wherein the solid electrolyte layer is disposed directly on a lithium metal layer ([0145]) and it has been held that combining two embodiments disclosed adjacent to each other in a prior art patent does not require a leap of inventiveness and involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 8, Ku in view of Yoshida teaches (see Ku) wherein the negative electrode comprises a coating layer (thin film 24, FIG. 12, [0137]) and an ion transport layer (active material layer 22 may comprise acetylene black [0124] and PVDF [0129]; corresponding to the “ion transport layer” of the claimed invention as described at [119] of the instant specification).
Regarding claim 9, Ku in view of Yoshida teaches wherein solid electrolyte particles on a surface of the second solid electrolyte layer (31) are in contact with the negative electrode (20) (FIG. 12, the second solid electrolyte layer of Ku directly contacts the negative electrode, see 31 and 12 in FIG. 12 of Ku; the second solid electrolyte layer of Ku in view of Yoshida contains only solid electrolyte particles which therefore must contact the negative electrode layer).
Regarding claim 11, Ku in view of Yoshida teaches wherein the thickness of the first solid electrolyte layer is greater than 100% to 500% of the thickness of the second solid electrolyte layer (Ku: 300% to 400%, [0089]; the first and second solid electrolyte layers of Ku respectively correspond to the second and first solid electrolyte layers of the claimed invention).
Regarding claim 12, Ku in view of Yoshida teaches wherein a total thickness of the solid electrolyte layer is in a range from 20µm to 100µm (Ku: overlapping range of 11µm to 200µm, [0094], establishes a prima facie case of obviousness [MPEP § 2144.05(I)]).
Claims 6 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ku (US 2021/0242490 A1) in view of Yoshida (JP-2020164367-A), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lee (US 2012/0058378 A1, previously cited).
Regarding claims 6 and 13, Ku in view of Yoshida teaches wherein an adhesive resin layer may be provided between the solid electrolyte layer and an electrode (Yoshida: [0062]), but does not disclose wherein the first solid electrolyte layer is adhered to the second solid electrolyte layer or wherein the first solid electrolyte layer and the second solid electrolyte layer are completely adhered to each other over an entirety of an interface therebetween.
Lee teaches wherein a first solid electrolyte layer (140, Fig. 1, [0054]) is adhered to a second solid electrolyte layer (240, Fig. 1, [0054]) and wherein the first solid electrolyte layer (140) and the second solid electrolyte layer (240) are completely adhered to each other over an entirety of an interface therebetween (Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the battery of Ku in view of Yoshida by adhering the first solid electrolyte layer to the second solid electrolyte layer because Lee teaches that doing so would improve the mechanical strength of the electrolyte layer ([0082]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ku (US 2021/0242490 A1, previously cited) in view of Yoshida (JP-2020164367-A), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Harada (US 2018/0277909 A1, previously cited).
Regarding claim 10, Ku in view of Yoshida does not teach a battery module comprising the all-solid-state battery according to claim 1, wherein the all-solid-state battery is a unit cell.
Harada teaches a battery module (200, fig. 12) comprising an all-solid-state battery (100, fig. 12), wherein the all-solid-state battery is a unit cell (fig. 12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the all-solid-state battery taught by Ku in view of Yoshida to be used as a unit cell within a module because Harada teaches that doing so can increase battery performance in low temperature environments ([0245]).
Conclusion
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/C.C.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723