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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of inventive Group I and species A1 {i.e. wherein the surfactant is a fluorine-based surfactant} , species B1 {i.e. wherein the binder is a particle-type binder}, species C1 {i.e. wherein the inorganic particles have a dielectric constant of 5 or more} , and D1 {i.e. wherein the solvent is an aqueous solvent} in the reply filed on 12/11/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 14 – 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Groups II and III, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/11/2025.
In light of the search uncovering prior art applicable to species A3, wherein the surfactant is a nonionic surfactant, species A3 is considered rejoined in the current Office action .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d)
with a filing date of 09/25/2020. The certified copy of KR10-2020-0125066 has been filed in the present
application, received on 03/23/2023.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1 – 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yahiaoui (US6613703B1) in view of Wei (CN108417762A, cited in restriction mailed 10/20/2025).
Regarding Claims 1 – 2, Yahiaoui discloses a porous polymer substrate, (starting porous layer material constructed by thermoplastic polymers; Col. 6, lines 3 – 5 and lines 22 – 36); and a hydrophilic modification layer, that is Yahiaoui teaches modifying the starting material {i.e. corresponds to claimed porous polymer substrate} by chemically reacting the material with a cyclodextrin compound to impart hydrophilic properties to the fiber surfaces (Col. 1, lines 7 – 11) and achieving such a modification by coating the material with a chemical solution including the cyclodextrin compound (Col. 6, lines 66 – 67; Col. 7, lines 1 – 10; Col. 7, lines 40 – 51).
Yahiaoui further teaches, to uniformly surface graft the chemical coating onto the nonwoven web/fibers of the starting material, having the coating solution impregnate and saturate the starting material (Col. 1, lines 7 – 11; Col. 7, lines 2 – 4; Col. 8, lines 44 – 53), as such, one with ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect the hydrophilic modification layer to be disposed inside of the porous polymer substrate and on at least one surface of the porous polymer substrate {i.e. on surfaces of the fibers that make up the inner and outer surfaces of the porous starting material}.
Yahiaoui further particularly exemplifies using cyclodextrin compounds such as alpha-cyclodextrins, beta-cyclodextrins, and gamma-cyclodextrins, which include 6, 7, and 8 glucose units, respectively (Col. 5, lines 45 – 53; Col. 6, lines 37 – 43); therefore, Yahiaoui further discloses the hydrophilic modification layer also comprising a polymer compound within the scope of claimed Chemical formula 1 {i.e. alpha-,beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrins possess the structure of claimed Chemical formula 1 when n = 6 – 8} and the claimed list of the polymer compounds of claim 2.
Yahiaoui further discloses the hydrophilic modification layer also comprising a surfactant (Col. 8, lines 1 – 13).
Yahiaoui further teaches applying the cyclodextrin-modified porous polymer material as a battery separator (Col. 3, lines 7 – 17; Col. 9, lines 36 – 39), but does not particularly disclose an embodiment of a separator for a lithium secondary battery comprising the porous polymer substrate and hydrophilic modification layer.
However, since Yahiaoui already explicitly teaches that the cyclodextrin-modified porous polymer material has application as a battery separator, and Wei teaches that cyclodextrin polymer-coated porous film substrates are known in the art to be suitable separators for lithium ion batteries ([0009]), it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the cyclodextrin-modified porous polymer material of as a separator for the a lithium battery, with a reasonable expectation of success that such a separator would be suitable and provide a functioning lithium battery.
Regarding Claim 3, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Yahiaoui teaches the coating composition including the cyclodextrin compound in an amount of, desirably 0.1 – 1% by weight and further teaches the coating being present in an amount of about 2 – 20% by weight of the pre-coated nonwoven fabric {i.e. porous polymer starting material} (Col. 7, lines 48 – 51; Col. 8, lines 39 – 43), as such, Yahiaoui implicitly discloses a content of cyclodextrin compound, which corresponds to the claimed polymer compound, of 0.003% - 0.12% by weight of the pre-coated nonwoven fabric {i.e. porous polymer starting material}, which is within the claimed range of 1 part by weight or less based on 100 parts by weight of porous polymer substrate.
Claim(s) 4 – 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yahiaoui (US6613703B1) and Wei (CN108417762A), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nishikawa (JP6058159B2, Machine translation provided). {Examiner Note: For citations of the instant specification the examiner utilizes the US PG Pub. version: US20230344080A1 of the instant application}
Regarding Claims 4 – 5, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Yahiaoui teaches including a surfactant, such as polyethylene glycol and/or polyvinyl alcohol in the chemical solution of the coating to enhance the wettability of the nonwoven web and facilitate a more uniform coating (Col. 8, lines 1 – 5).
Modified Yahiaoui does not disclose wherein the surfactant is a fluorine-based surfactant/nonionic surfactant (Claim 4) or wherein the surfactant has an electrolyte permeability of 30% or more even after high-temperature storage (Claim 5).
Nishikawa teaches a separator for a nonaqueous secondary battery including a fluorine-containing nonionic surfactant in a coating layer on the separator ([0013 – 0015]). Nishikawa further teaches that non-fluorine-based nonionic surfactants using alkyl chains as the hydrophobic moiety and ionic surfactants that contain salts tend to increase the internal resistance of batteries and that the use of nonionic fluorine-containing surfactants in a coating layer on the separator achieves the effect of reducing internal resistance ([0020];[0024];[0098]). Nishikawa particularly exemplifies using fluorine-containing nonionic surfactants including Surflon S-242, S-243, and S-420 (all manufactured by AGC Seimi Chemical Co., Ltd.; hydrophobic structural unit = perfluoroalkyl group), Megafac F-444 (manufactured by DIC Corporation; hydrophobic structural unit = perfluoroalkyl group), Novec FC-4430 and FC-4432 (all manufactured by Sumitomo 3M Limited; hydrophobic structural unit = perfluoroalkyl group), and Ftergent 251, 212M, 215M, 250, 222F, 245F, 208G, 240G, 228P, and FTX-218 (all manufactured by Neos Corporation; hydrophobic structural unit = perfluoroalkenyl group) ([0031]).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to utilize as the surfactant of modified Yahiaoui’s coating solution a nonionic fluorine-containing taught by Nishikawa with a reasonable expectation of success in achieving the wettability enhancement desired by Yahiaoui (Col. 8, lines 1 – 5) in addition to a reduction in the internal resistance of modified Yahioui’s battery.
In the instant specification, the applicant teaches using fluorine-based surfactants containing 5 – 25 fluorine atoms per molecule, and further particularly exemplifies using 2 -[methyl[(nonafluorobutyl) sulfonyl]amino]ethyl acrylate {i.e. FC4430, 3M Co.} ([0063 – 0065]) . In working Example 1, the applicant discloses the surfactant FC4430, when tested by the method recited in claim 5, providing a permeability of 45% even after high-temperature storage ([0125]).
Selection of a surfactant having an electrolyte permeability of 30% or more even after high temperature (Claim 5) from Nishikawa’s list of surfactants {i.e. Novec FC-4430}, would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, because Nishikawa teaches a finite list of surfactants including Novec FC-4430 and further because such a selection would have a reasonable expectation of success in providing the enhanced wettability desired by Yahiaoui. {Examiner Note: One with ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect the surfactant Novec FC-4430 to provide, when tested as claimed, a permeability within the claimed range, since it is the same surfactant tested in [0125] of the instant specification.}
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yahiaoui (US6613703B1), Wei (CN108417762A) and Nishikawa (JP6058159B2, Machine translation provided), as applied to claim 1 and 4 above, and further in view of Adams (US PG Pub. 2020/0343510 A1, effective filing date of 07/07/2020).
Regarding Claim 6, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Yahiaoui teaches the coating composition including the cyclodextrin compound in an amount of, generally 0.1 – 10% by weight and further teaches including the surfactant in an amount of, generally 0 – 10% by weight (Col. 7, lines 48 – 51; Col. 8, lines 39 – 43); therefore, Yahiaoui appears to teach a content of surfactant that at least encompasses the claimed range {i.e. Based on the taught ranges of cyclodextrin compound and surfactant Yahiaoui at least suggests using equal parts of surfactant and polymer compound or a content of surfactant that is less than the content of polymer compound}.
Modified Yahiaoui does not particularly disclose wherein the content of surfactant is 1.0 parts by weight or less based on 100 parts by weight of the polymer compound .
Nishikawa teaches controlling the content of fluorine-containing nonionic surfactant in the separator to achieve the effect of reduced internal resistance without increasing the moisture content of the separator which can deteriorate the durability and reliability of the separator ([0032 – 0033]).
Adams, directed to directed to surfactant or material coated, treated or containing microporous battery separator membranes or separators and lithium batteries including such separator membranes or separators, teaches that fluorosurfactants or fluorocarbon-based surfactants are effective at enhancing separator wettability even when used at extremely low concentrations (0.001% to 0.1%) ([0002];[0057]).
Therefore, since modified Yahiaoui includes a nonionic fluorine-containing compound as the surfactant (Refer to rejection of claim 4), and Adams teaches that fluorosurfactants are effective even at extremely low concentrations, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to select a content of surfactant within the overlapping portion of the claimed range and the range suggested by Yahiaoui to optimize the moisture of the separator while maintaining the wettability enhancing and internal resistance reducing effect of the fluorine-containing surfactant, with a reasonable expectation of success and without undue experimentation [See MPEP 2144.05(II)].
Claim(s) 7, 10, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yahiaoui (US6613703B1) and Wei (CN108417762A), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liu (CN107492620A, Machine translation provided).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Yahiaoui teaches a cyclodextrin-modified porous layer material that is capable of serving as a battery separator (Col. 3, lines 7 – 17).
Modified Yahiaoui does not explicitly disclose the separator further comprising a porous coating layer on at least one surface of the separator, the porous coating layer containing inorganic particles and a binder polymer for fixing an interconnecting the inorganic particles.
Liu teaches a lithium battery separator {i.e. film} including a base material that is a polymer microporous film and a coating {i.e. barrier film} comprising modified alkaline metal oxide and polymeric binder ([34];[37]). The coating is taught to provide the separator with increased heat resistance and dimensional stability and have a porosity of 30 – 90% ([25];[36]).
Since the separator of modified Yahiaoui is of a porous structure and is applied in a battery, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the separator by coating it with the barrier film as taught by Liu, and thus obtain the claimed porous coating layer, with a reasonable expectation of success in achieving a battery separator with enhanced heat resistance and dimensional stability.
Liu further teaches that there is strong adhesive force between the modified alkaline metal oxide particles and the polymeric binder due to their compatibility ([35]). Furthermore, in Fig. 5, Liu shows the modified alkaline metal oxide particles and polymeric binder forming a network by crosslinking ([46]); therefore, in the porous coating of modified Yahiaoui, one would reasonably expect the polymeric binder to be fixing and interconnecting the inorganic particles.
Regarding Claim 10, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Modified Yahiaoui’s separator includes the barrier film taught in Liu, as such, modified Yahiaoui further includes the claimed structure of wherein the binder polymer is a particle-type binder (Refer to Liu: Fig. 1; [38]).
Regarding Claim 13, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Modified Yahiaoui’s separator includes the barrier film taught in Liu, as such, modified Yahiaoui further includes the claimed structure of wherein inorganic particles have a silane group grafted to the surfaces of the inorganic particles (Refer to Liu: Fig. 4; [41];[44 – 45]).
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yahiaoui (US6613703B1), Wei (CN108417762A), cited in Restriction mailed 10/10/2025) and Liu (CN107492620A), as applied to claims 1 and 7 above, and further in view of Lee (US PG Pub. 2017/0331094 A1).
Regarding Claim 12, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Modified Yahiaoui’s separator includes the barrier film taught in Liu, as such, the inorganic particles of modified Yahiaoui are at least one of aluminum oxide, silica, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, and zinc oxide (Refer to Liu: [39]).
Modified Yahiaoui does not explicitly disclose the inorganic particles having a dielectric constant of 5 or more.
Lee teaches, with respect to a battery separator organic/inorganic composite porous coating layer, including inorganic particles having a dielectric constant of 5 or higher ([0009 – 0010];[0054 – 0055]). Aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, and zinc oxide are included within Lee’s taught list of example inorganic particles having a dielectric constant of 5 or higher ([0055]). Such inorganic particles are taught to increase ionic conductivity by increasing the dissolution rate of electrolyte salts in liquid electrolyte ([0054]).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to select as the inorganic particles of modified Yahiaoui’s barrier film {i.e porous coating layer} a inorganic particle material within the overlapping portion of Liu’s taught list and Lee’s taught list, and thus obtain the claimed inorganic particle having a dielectric constant of 5 or higher, with a reasonable expectation of success that such a material would be suitable for the barrier film and further provide a battery with increase ionic conductivity.
Claim(s) 8 – 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yahiaoui (US6613703B1), Wei (CN108417762A), cited in Restriction mailed 10/10/2025), Liu (CN107492620A, Machine translation provided) , as applied to claims 1 and 7 above, and further in view of Lin (CN107611326A, cited in 03/23/2023 IDS, Machine translation provided).
Regarding Claims 8 – 9, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Modified Yahiaoui’s separator includes the barrier film taught in Liu . The barrier film is taught to provide the separator with increased heat resistance and dimensional stability (Liu: [25]).
Modified Yahiaoui does not explicitly disclose the porous coating layer further comprising a polymer compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 (Claim 8).
Lin teaches a cyclodextrin-based ceramic diaphragm coating slurry for a lithium ion battery separator and the inclusion of the cyclodextrin compound reduces the water absorption of water-based ceramic powder coated membranes and improves the heat resistance and high-rate charge-discharge efficiency of lithium-ion batteries ([0009];[0028]). The cyclodextrin compound in Lin is one or more of α-cyclodextrin, hydroxypropyl-α-cyclodextrin, oxidized-α-cyclodextrin, sulfonic acid-α-cyclodextrin, amino-α-cyclodextrin, phosphate-α-cyclodextrin, carboxyl-α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin, oxidized-β-cyclodextrin, sulfonic acid-β-cyclodextrin, amino-β-cyclodextrin, phosphate-β-cyclodextrin, carboxyl-β-cyclodextrin, γ-cyclodextrin, hydroxypropyl-γ-cyclodextrin, oxidized-γ-cyclodextrin, sulfonic acid-γ-cyclodextrin, amino-γ-cyclodextrin, phosphate-γ-cyclodextrin, and carboxyl-γ-cyclodextrin ([0012]).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add a cyclodextrin compound as taught by Liu to the barrier film of modified Yahiaoui, with a reasonable expectation of success in furthering the heat resistance capability of the barrier film as well as reducing the water absorption of the separator.
By including a cyclodextrin compound taught in Lin, modified Yahiaoui teaches cyclodextrin compounds that overlap in scope with the claimed Chemical Formula 1 {i.e. α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin are represented by Chemical Formula 1}.
Selection of a cyclodextrin compound represented by claimed Chemical Formula 1 {i.e. α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin} would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, because Lin teaches a finite list of cyclodextrin compounds and such a selection would have a reasonable expectation of success in being a cyclodextrin compound suitable for the separator coating and further capable of providing the desired heat resistance effect.
Lin further teaches the amount of cyclodextrin compound most preferably being 1 wt% to 3 wt% of the coating slurry and the amount ceramic powder {i.e. corresponds to inorganic particles} most preferably being 20 wt% to 40 wt% of the coating slurry ([0020];[0022]), which provides a content of cyclodextrin compound 2.5 – 15 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the inorganic particles. As such, the barrier film of modified Yahiaoui includes a content of polymer compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 that overlaps the claimed range of 10 parts by weight or less based on 100 parts by weight of the inorganic particles (Claim 9).
Lee teaches, with respect to a battery separator organic/inorganic composite porous coating layer, including inorganic particles ([0009 – 0010];[0054 – 0055]). The inorganic particles are taught to increase ionic conductivity, and Lee teaches inorganic particles also taught in modified Yahiaoui (Lee: [0054] and Liu: [39]).
One with ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the amount of each component included in the coating of modified Yahiaoui would affect the effects provided by each component. That is, for instance, the bonding between the polymeric binder and inorganic particles would be affected by the amount of polymeric binder used, the ionic conductivity effect of inorganic particles would be affected by the amount of inorganic particles, and the heat resistance/reduced water absorption effect of the cyclodextrin compound would be affected by the amount of cyclodextrin compound.
Therefore, selection a content of polymer compound, within the significantly overlapping portion of the claimed range and taught range, would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to optimize the effects of cyclodextrin compound in light of the effects of inorganic particles {i.e. ensure ion conductivity improvement and capability of inorganic particles and polymeric binder to form desired bonded framework} within the coating, with a reasonable expectation of success and without undue experimentation [See MPEP 2144.05(II)].
Claim(s) 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yahiaoui (US6613703B1), Wei (CN108417762A), cited in Restriction mailed 10/10/2025), and Liu (CN107492620A, Machine translation provided), as applied to claims 1 and 7 above, as evidenced by Henninge (US PG Pub. 2005/0255769 A1).
Regarding Claim 11, modified Yahiaoui discloses all limitations as set forth above. Modified Yahiaoui’s separator includes the barrier film taught in Liu, as such, the inorganic particles of modified Yahiaoui are at least one of aluminum oxide, silica, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, and zinc oxide (Refer to Liu: [39]).
Modified Yahiaoui does not explicitly disclose the inorganic particles being hydrophilic.
Henninge is directed to a separator that is prepared by coating hydrophilic ceramic nanoparticles (such as aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, and zirconium oxide) on a sheet-like flexible substrate such as nonwoven polyethylene terephthalate ([0014];[0016];[0029];[0043]). The hydrophilic ceramic coating is taught to allow for improved electrolyte wetting and thus improved conductivity ([0029]).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have the inorganic particles if modified Yahiaoui be hydrophilic, as taught by Henninge, with a reasonable expectation of success in improving the wettability, and thus conductivity, of the separator.
Conclusion
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/A.Y.O./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 1/28/2026