DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-9 are pending.
The foreign priority application No. 10-2021-0063615 filed in the Republic of Korea on May 17, 2021 has been received and it is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 1, 2, and 4-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An et al. (KR 10-2015-0034944A, with attached machine translation) in view of Kim et al. (US Patent 10,707,467) and in further view of Yamamoto et al. (US 2016/0294003).
With regard to claims 1 and 9, An et al. teach that an electrode assembly (100) is heat-pressed with the heat-press (160) at 10-150kgf/cm2, at a temperature of 50-130oC, for a duration of 0.5-60 seconds (fig.5, par.0026-0027, par.0029, claims 4-6).
The electrode assembly (100) comprises a stack including a first electrode (111), a first separator (112), a second electrode (113), a second separator (114) (fig.4, par.0019). The first electrode is an anode, and the second electrode is a cathode (claim 21).
The separator is located between the anode and the cathode, as required in claim 1.
An et al. teach that the separator comprises a coating layer including a mixture of inorganic particles and binder polymers (par.0015, claims 14 and 15), but fail to teach the separator in claim 1 of the instant application.
Kim et al. teach a separator for batteries, wherein the separator comprises a porous substrate and an adhesive layer on at least a surface thereof. The adhesive layer includes a first binder, a second binder, and a filler (abstract).
Kim et al. specifically teach a separator comprising a composition for an adhesive layer comprising a first binder (a copolymer prepared by suspension-copolymerizing 93.5wt% vinylidene fluoride, 5wt% hexafluoropropylene, and 1.5wt% acrylic acid, and having a weight average molecular weight of 1,1200,000), a second binder (a copolymer prepared by emulsion-copolymerizing 95wt% polyvinylidene fluoride and 5wt% hexafluoropropylene, and having a weight average molecular weight of 450,000), and alumina. The composition for the adhesive layer is coated on both surfaces of a polyethylene substrate (Example 1 in column 12). The mixing ration of the binder: alumina filler is 6:4 (see Table 1 in column 13, lines 20-40).
The separator of Example 1 has good strength and excellent dry adherence (column 13, lines 35-49).
The separator in Example 1 of Kim et al. is a separator comprising a coating layer including a mixture of inorganic particles and binder polymers, as required by An et al.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to use the separator in Example 1 of Kim et al. in the electrode assembly of An et al., in order to take advantage of its strength and dry adherence.
The polyethylene substrate of modified An is the “porous substrate” in claim 1 (see definition in par.0072 of the specification of the instant application).
The adhesive layer of modified An is the “adhesive layer” in claim 1, wherein:
-the first binder (a copolymer prepared by copolymerizing 93.5wt% vinylidene fluoride, 5wt% hexafluoropropylene, and 1.5wt% acrylic acid, and having a weight average molecular weight of 1,1200,000) is the “first binder that includes a first polyvinylidene fluoride-based compound” in claim 1;
-the second binder (a copolymer prepared by copolymerizing 95wt% polyvinylidene fluoride and 5wt% hexafluoropropylene, and having a weight average molecular weight of 450,000) is the “second binder that includes a second polyvinylidene fluoride-based compound” in claim 1; and
-alumina are “ceramic particles” in claim 1 (see definition in par.0045 of the specification of the instant application).
The mixing ratio of binder: alumina (ceramic particles) is within the range in claim 1.
An et al. fail to specifically teach that the electrode assembly is included in a lithium battery.
However, it is well-known in the art that a lithium battery may comprise a laminated electrode assembly, as evidenced in par.0005 of Yamamoto et al.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to use the laminated electrode assembly of modified An in a lithium battery.
The separator of modified An comprises the same components as the separator in par.0009-0011, par.0045, par.0051, par.0055, par.0057-0058, par.0060, par.0062-0066, par.0068, par.0070 of the instant application.
The electrode assembly of modified An is made under conditions similar to the conditions in par.0035 of the specification of the instant application.
The specification of the instant application teaches that the lithium battery has an adhesion ratio between 0.05 and 1.0, wherein
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(par.0034).
The lithium battery of modified An comprises the same components and it is made by the same method as the lithium battery of the instant application. Therefore, absent a record to the contrary it would be expected that the lithium battery of modified An has an adhesion ratio between 0.05 and 1.0, wherein
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.
"[T]he discovery of a previously unappreciated property of a prior art composition, or of a scientific explanation for the prior art’s functioning, does not render the old composition patentably new to the discoverer." Atlas Powder Co. v. IRECO Inc., 190 F.3d 1342, 1347, 51 USPQ2d 1943, 1947 (Fed. Cir. 1999). Thus the claiming of a new use, new function or unknown property which is inherently present in the prior art does not necessarily make the claim patentable. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1254, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977) (MPEP 2112.I. SOMETHING WHICH IS OLD DOES NOT BECOME PATENTABLE UPON THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW PROPERTY).
The range of 10-150kgf/cm2 includes the range of 10-20 kgf/cm2 in claim 9.
The range of 50-130oC includes the range of 70-90oC in claim 9.
The range of 0.5-60 seconds includes the value of 60 seconds (1 minute), which is within the range of 1-5 minutes in claim 9.
With regard to claim 2, the separator of modified An comprises the same components as the separator in par.0009-0011, par.0045, par.0051, par.0055, par.0057-0058, par.0060, par.0063-0066, par.0070 of the instant application.
The electrode assembly of modified An is made under conditions similar to the conditions in par.0035 of the specification of the instant application.
The specification of the instant application teaches that the lithium battery has an adhesion ratio between 0.1 to 0.95, wherein
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(par.0034 and par.0040).
The lithium battery of modified An comprises the same components and it is made by the same method as the lithium battery of the instant application. Therefore, absent a record to the contrary it would be expected that the lithium battery of modified An has an adhesion ratio between 0.1 to 0.95, wherein
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(MPEP 2112.I. SOMETHING WHICH IS OLD DOES NOT BECOME PATENTABLE UPON THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW PROPERTY).
With regard to claim 4, the alumina filler meets the claim limitations (Example 1 in column 12 of Kim et al.).
With regard to claims 5 and 6, Kim et al. teach that the adhesive layer of the separator comprises 60 parts by weight of binder and 40 parts by weight of alumina filler based on 100 parts by weight of the adhesive layer (see Table 1 in column 13, lines 20-40).
With regard to claim 7, the first binder (a copolymer prepared by copolymerizing 93.5wt% vinylidene fluoride, 5wt% hexafluoropropylene, and 1.5wt% acrylic acid, and having a weight average molecular weight of 1,1200,000) in Example 1 of Kim et al. (column 12) meets the limitations for “the first polyvinylidene fluoride-based compound of the first binder”.
The second binder (a copolymer prepared by copolymerizing 95wt% polyvinylidene fluoride and 5wt% hexafluoropropylene, and having a weight average molecular weight of 450,000) in Example 1 of Kim et al. (column 12) meets the limitations for “the second polyvinylidene fluoride-based compound of the second binder”.
With regard to claim 8, the separator of modified An comprises the same components as the separator in par.0009-0011, par.0045, par.0051, par.0055, par.0057-0058, par.0060, par.0063-0066, par.0070 of the instant application.
The electrode assembly of modified An is made under conditions similar to the conditions in par.0035 of the specification of the instant application.
The specification of the instant application teaches that the lithium battery has a wet adhesion of 350N or more, and a dry adhesion of 10N or more (par.0041).
The lithium battery of modified An comprises the same components and it is made by the same method as the lithium battery of the instant application. Therefore, absent a record to the contrary it would be expected that the lithium battery of modified An has a wet adhesion of 350N or more, and a dry adhesion of 10N or more (MPEP 2112.I. SOMETHING WHICH IS OLD DOES NOT BECOME PATENTABLE UPON THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW PROPERTY).
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
An et al. (KR 10-2015-0034944A, with attached machine translation) fail to teach the lithium battery in claim 3.
There are no prior art teachings that would motivate one of ordinary skill to modify An et al. and obtain the lithium battery in claim 3 of the instant application.
Conclusion
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/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722