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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-12 are pending.
Claims 5-12 are withdrawn.
Claim 1 has been amended.
Status of Amendments
The amendment filed on January 14th, 2026 has been fully considered but does not place the application in condition for allowance.
Status of Objections and Rejections Pending since the Office Action of April 19th, 2025
The 102 rejections over Yasuhiro (JP 2020095812 A) are maintained.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 January 14th, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yasuhiro (JP 2020095812 A).
Regarding claims 1, 3, and 4, Yasuhiro teaches a negative electrode comprised of a current collector [00010], an active material layer comprised of silicon (as required by claim 3) particles [00044], a conductive material [00035], As required by claim 4, the electrode further comprises a first binder polymer such as cellulose or styrene-butadiene rubber [00036]. Cracks form in the negative active material after charging/discharging [00045]. A second binder polymer comprised of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and hexafluoropropylene (HFP) is contained within the negative electrode active material layer [00011] is present and impregnated in and between those cracks. Element 70 corresponds to the active material and element 72 corresponds to the second binder polymer ([00044] – [00046], figures 2b and 2c below).
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Additionally, the limitation of “wherein the second binder polymer is ejected from an electrolyte in which the second binder polymer has been dissolved” is a product-by-process limitation. “[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). See MPEP 2113.
Regarding claim 2, Yasuhiro teaches an example of the molar ratio of PVDF to HFP in the PVDF-HFP copolymer, where “the HFP substitution amount is 11 mol%” [00067]. The molar mass of the PVDF-derived monomer is 64 g/mol and the molar mass of the HFP-derived monomer is 150 g/mol. Assuming a sample of said copolymer comprises 100 mol, there would be 89 mol of PVDF monomers and 11 mol of HFP. 89 mol of the PVDF-derived monomer has a mass of 5696 g and 11 mol of the HFP-derived monomer has a mass of 1650 g. The total mass of the sample would be the sum of those two masses: 7346 g. The weight % of HFP of the sample is equivalent to 1650 g / 7346 g which is equivalent to 22.5%, which is greater than the claimed 20 weight %. Therefore, Yasuhiro’s example anticipates the claimed weight % range of the HFP monomer where the weight % is greater than 20%.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on January 14th, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant argues on page 7 that Yasuhiro does not disclose that the claimed second binder polymer that is impregnated between the cracks is ejected from an electrolyte that previously dissolved said binder polymer. The Examiner agrees that Yasuhiro does not explicitly disclose this. However, the Applicant has not established how the ejection of the second binder polymer changes the structure of the claimed negative electrode. If a structural difference is indeed present as a result of the ejection, then the limitation of “wherein the second binder polymer is ejected from an electrolyte in which the second binder polymer has been dissolved” changes the scope of the claims and new prior art would need to be applied. Otherwise, Yasuhiro’s negative electrode still anticipates the Applicant’s claims and the rejection on record is appropriately maintained.
Conclusion
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/R.B.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1722
/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722