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 .
The Applicant’s amendment filed on 1/13/2026 was received. Claims 1-8 was canceled, claim 9 was amended, claims 14-22 were newly added.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S.C code not included in this action can be found in the prior Office action issued on 10/14/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The claims rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi et al. (US 20160164069 A1) in view of Aya et al. (US 20200343532 A1) on claims 9-13 are withdrawn because Applicant amended independent claim 9.
Claims 9-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi et al. (US 20160164069 A1) in view of Aya et al. (US 20200343532 A1) and Miyazaki et al. (US 6051338 A) .
Regarding claims 9, 16: Takahashi et al. disclose an intermittently coated battery (equivalent to an electrochemical cell capable of energy storage) electrode (130) (equivalent to a component) manufacturing method (abstract). The method comprising:
Applying active material (equivalent to electrode material) on a first surface of the collector (101) (equivalent to a strip-shaped current collector), thereby forming a first surface intermittent coating layer (103a) (par. 18, 44, fig. 3A). (A strip-shaped current collector and an apparatus are shown in fig. 3A. See fig. section below for the equivalent sections.)
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Forming a front end indicator (129) (equivalent to a machine-readable coding) on the respective uncoated sections of the first surface of the collector (101) (par. 46, fig. 4A, 4B) (equivalent to the coding is applied onto the respective uncoated strip-shaped section). The front end indicator (129) comprises a front end indicator (125) and an identification information (127) (par.33, 38, 44-50, 58), which serves as a location indicator for coating active materials (par. 33, 38) and a recorder to record a thickness of the coating layer (par. 60-61) (equivalent to identifying the respective uncoated strip-shaped section).
Takahashi et al. fail to explicitly disclose the electrochemical cell including a housing which encloses an interior and an assembly, disposed in the interior, which includes at least two electrodes and at least one separator. However, Ava et al. disclose that a method of manufacturing a current collector electrode sheet for a stacked battery (par. 1). After a current collector electrode sheet (10) is intermittently coated with an active material (equivalent to an electrode material) (par. 14), the current collector electrode sheet (10) is cut (par. 14) and used for a battery (par. 17). The battery (150) (equivalent to an electrochemical cell) includes battery elements (equivalent to an assembly) in which a positive electrode (121) and a negative electrode (126) are alternately stacked in a plurality of layers with separators (120) interposed therebetween, and the battery elements are accommodated in a container (equivalent to a housing), which is formed of a flexible film (140) (par. 191, fig. 27). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the electrode of Takahashi et al. in the battery container (housing) of Aya et al. because Aya et al. teach that the battery (150) is an operable configuration for batteries (par. 220).
The combination of Takahashi et al. and Aya et al. fail to explicitly disclose the machine-readable coding is a barcode comprising lines oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction. However, Miyazaki et al. disclose an electrode plate (abstract). The electrode plate comprises identification marks (8) (equivalent to the machine-readable coding) (col. 16, lines 1-11, fig. 7). The identification mark (8) is selected from the group consisting of a process schedule control mark, a manufacture lot number, a bar code, a cut mark and a position alignment mark (claim 2). A barcode comprising lines oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction (west-east direction) is shown in fig. 7. Since the identification mark (8) of Miyazaki et al. and the front end indicator (129) of Takahashi et al. have the equivalent functions, i.e., position alignment and process information recording, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to replace the front end indicator (129) of Takahashi et al. with the identification mark (8) (bar code) of Miyazaki et al. as it is merely the selection of functionally equivalent parts recognized in the art and one of ordinary skill in the art would have a reasonable expectation of success in doing so.
Regarding claim 10: Takahashi et al. disclose that the intermittent coating layer (103) coated with the electrode active material and an electrode tab (132) not coated with the active material are integrally cut from the obtained intermittently coated battery electrode web, whereby a unit battery electrode (130) can be obtained (par. 56, fig. 3D, 4C).
Regarding claim 11: Takahashi et al. disclose the front end indicator (129), formed on uncoated sections (Fig. 4A). The front end indicator (129) comprises a front end indicator (125) and an identification information (127) (par.33, 38, 44-50, 58). The front end indicator (125) is a reference position for the intermittent coating layer (par. 28). When a second front end indicator detecting means (104b) detects the front-end indicator (125) (equivalent check the respective uncoated strip-shaped section), a shutter of the second surface coating die (102b) is opened to coat a second surface intermittent coating layers (103b) (par. 44-50). As the length of the coating layer is predetermined (par. 50), the length of the uncoated area can be calculated based on the pitch of the front-end indicator (125) and the length of the intermittent coating layer (103a) (equivalent to the coding includes information on a length of the respective uncoated strip-shaped section).
Regarding claim 12: Takahashi et al. disclose the front-end indicator (125) and an identification information (127) can be integrated into a front end indicator (129) (par. 58). The identification information (127) can record the thickness of the intermittent coating layer, which is found in an inspection after the production of the intermittent coating layer (par. 60-61).
Regarding claim 13: Takahashi et al. disclose a battery electrode (130) manufacturing by the method described in claim 9 above. The electrode comprising:
a collector (101) including an intermittent electrode layers (103a), coated with active material (equivalent to an electrode material) (par. 18), and uncoated sections (par. 46, fig. 4A. See fig. section above).
Regarding claim 14: Takahashi et al. disclose the uncoated strip-shaped section onto which the front end indicator (129) is applied forms part of the battery electrode (130) (fig. 4C, see fig. section above.)
Regarding claim 15: Takahashi et al. disclose a front end indicator forming means (120), such as a laser marking machine or an inkjet print means, that can form a front end indicator on a metal surface is used to form a front end indicator (125) (par. 31, fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 17: Takahashi et al. disclose the front end indicator (129) and the second front end indicator (129) are offset from one another in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (see fig. section above).
Regarding claim 18: Takahashi et al. disclose the front end indicator (129) and the second front end indicator (129) coding are overlapping in the longitudinal direction (see fig. section above).
Regarding claim 19: Takahashi et al. disclose a cut line separates the front end indicator (129) and the second front end indicator (129) in the transverse direction, the method further comprising cutting the strip-shaped current collector to separate a first respective coated strip-shaped section and the respective uncoated strip-shaped section from a second respective coated strip-shaped section and the second respective uncoated strip-shaped section (par. 63, see fig. cut below).
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Regarding claim 20: Takahashi et al. disclose an intermittently coated electrode manufacturing method as described above. Takahashi et al. fail to explicitly disclose the cut line defines an edge of the respective uncoated strip-shaped section and also defines an edge of the second respective uncoated strip-shaped section. However, Miyazaki et al. disclose an electrode plate (abstract) and a process for producing such electrode plate (col. 1, lines 6-10). The electrode plate (21) comprises an active material layer (3) on almost all the surface of a collector (2) and an identification marks (8) on a terminal mounting portions (4) (equivalent to uncoated strip-shaped sections). An electrode plate for a secondary battery is a part obtained by cutting away along the dotted line (col. 16, lines 1-11, fig. 7, 9) (equivalent to the cut line defines an edge of the respective uncoated strip-shaped section and also defines an edge of the second respective uncoated strip-shaped section). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the cut line of Miyazaki et al. as the cut line of Takahashi et al. because Miyazaki et al. teach the electrode plate manufactured in this method can (i) provide an excellent wind-up condition when wound in roll form and being capable of constituting a battery having high capacity; and (ii) have identification marks without adversely affecting on the terminal mounting portion and the battery performance (col. 3, lines 11-25).
Regarding claim 21: Takahashi et al. disclose a front end indicator forming means (120), such as a laser marking machine or an inkjet print means, that can form a front end indicator on a metal surface is used to form a front end indicator (125) (par. 31, fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 22: Takahashi et al. disclose an intermittently coated electrode manufacturing method as described above. Takahashi et al. fail to explicitly disclose a respective coated strip- shaped section separates the machine-readable coding and the second machine-readable coding in the transverse direction. However, Miyazaki et al. disclose an electrode plate (abstract) and a process for producing such electrode plate (col. 1, lines 6-10). The electrode plate (1) comprises an active material layer (3) on almost all the surface of a collector (2) and a terminal mounting portions (4) (col. 6, lines 30-59, fig. 1). A respective coated strip-shaped section separates terminal mounting portions (4) in the transverse direction (see fig. separate below). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the respective coated strip-shaped section of Miyazaki et al. as to separate the front end indicator (129) and the second front end indicator (129) of Takahashi et al. because Miyazaki et al. teach the electrode plate manufactured in this method can (i) provide an excellent wind-up condition when wound in roll form and being capable of constituting a battery having high capacity; and (ii) have identification marks without adversely affecting on the terminal mounting portion and the battery performance (col. 3, lines 11-25).
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Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 1/13/2026 have been fully considered. Applicant primarily argues Takahashi and Aya do not teach the machine-readable coding is a barcode comprising lines oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction.
In response:
Applicant’s arguments are moot because the newly cited Miyazaki reference teaches the barcode as described in paragraph 3 above.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PIN JAN WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7057. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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/PIN JAN WANG/Examiner, Art Unit 1717
/Dah-Wei D. Yuan/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1717