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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/08/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are not found persuasive 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. Takeshi teaches wherein a current collector is directly welded to a casing to improve internal resistance and high-current discharge capacity [0045-0046]. See rejection below.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuda (US20210376391A1, IDS cited 11/11/2024, previously cited), in view of Takeshi (JP2001068145, translation attached, IDS cited 02/17/2023).
Regarding claims 1,3,4, Okuda discloses a secondary battery (cylindrical secondary battery 1 in Fig 1, 2; [0014-0016, 0054]) comprising:
a metallic case body (case body 5 in fig 2; [0014-0015, 0019, 0056]) having an opening;
a sealing assembly (sealing assembly 6 [0014-0015, 0023, 0056] sealing the opening of the metallic case body;
an electrode assembly (wound electrode assembly 3; [0014-0017, 0019, 0055]) housed in the metallic case body,
the electrode assembly including a positive electrode (positive electrode 11 [0049]), a negative electrode (negative electrode 12 [0017-0019, 0036-0037, 0051]), and a separator (separator [0014, 0016, 0046]),
the positive electrode and the negative electrode that are wound with the separator
interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (see Fig 2; [0055, 0016]),
the negative electrode including a negative electrode current collector (negative electrode current collector 14 [0018, 0036, 0051]) and a negative electrode active material layer (negative electrode active material layer 16 [0018, 0037, 0051]) formed on the negative electrode current collector,
the negative electrode having an exposed part (i.e., exposed portions 14a, 14b [0019]) in which the negative electrode active material layer is not formed and the negative electrode current collector is exposed (see Fig 2),
the exposed part disposed at a winding end of the negative electrode ([0019, 0051]),
Okuda further discloses wherein the electrode assembly has a stacked part in which metal foils formed from the exposed part which is wound (see Fig 2). Okuda further discloses wherein the length of the exposed portion 14b of the negative electrode current collector is not particularly limited, but is desirably a length one or more times around the outer periphery of the electrode assembly to obtain a good contact state with the case body so that the case body acts a negative electrode terminal [Okuda 0019].
Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have formed a stack part, wherein the exposed part is wound more than one turn in a direction from a winding end to a winding start of the electrode, with a reasonable expectation to obtain a good contact state with the case body so that the case body acts as a negative electrode terminal [Okuda 0019]. Such modification meets claim 3 requiring the exposed part to form “more than one turn” and claim 4 requiring “two or more turns” since Takeshi discloses wherein the exposed part is wound more than one turn.
Okuda further discloses wherein the stacked part is in contact with the metallic case [0019], but does not disclose wherein the stacked part is welded to the metallic case.
In this regard, Takeshi teaches an alkaline secondary battery comprising a negative electrode current collectors located in the outermost layer of the electrode that are spot-welded to the inner surface of the container [Takeshi 0045], wherein such spot-welding to contact the inner surface of the container reduces internal resistance and improves high-current discharge characteristics [Takeshi 0045-0046]. It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified Okuda such that the stacked part of the electrode assembly comprising the metal foils are directly welded to the inner surface of the metallic case body, with a reasonable expectation to reduce internal resistance and improve high-current discharge characteristics [Takeshi 0045-0046].
Regarding claim 2, modified Okuda discloses the secondary battery according to claim 1. Since Okuda discloses wherein the exposed portion 14b is disposed on an outermost periphery of the electrode assembly and that the length of the exposed portion 14b of the negative electrode current collector is desirably a length one or more times around the outer periphery of the electrode assembly (modified in claim 1 rejection; [0019-Okuda]), a person having ordinary skill in the art envisage “the stacked part to be disposed in an entire circumference of an outermost periphery of the electrode assembly”, as claimed.
Regarding claim 5, modified Okuda discloses the secondary battery according to claim 2. Okuda does not disclose an embodiment wherein the stacked part is welded continuously over an entire circumference of a side surface of the metallic case body, as claimed.
However, Takeshi teaches wherein the spot welding the inner surface of the container and the outer surface of the current collector reduces internal resistance and improves high-current discharge characteristics [Takeshi 0045-0046]. Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have spot welded over an entire circumference of a side surface of the metallic case body, with a reasonable expectation to further improve internal resistance and high-current discharge characteristics [Takeshi 0045-0046].
Regarding claim 6, modified Okuda discloses the secondary battery according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the negative current collector (i.e., copper foil) is 8μm [Okuda 0051].
Since Okuda discloses wherein the exposed part is preferably wound one or more times around the outer periphery of the electrode assembly to obtain a good contact state with the case body, a person having ordinary skill in the art would envisage the thickness of the stacked part to be equal to or greater than 8 μm, which encompasses the claimed range of “20 μm or more and 200 μm or less”.
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have selected the encompassed thickness range, with a reasonable expectation to obtain a good contact state so that the case body so that the case body acts as a negative terminal [Okuda 0019].
Conclusion
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/T.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/Haroon S. Sheikh/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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