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 .
2. Claims 1, 3-4, 6-13, 15-22 and 24 are pending in this office action.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. Information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted April 25, 2023; March 25, 2024; and, February 25, 2025, have been received and considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1, 3, 7-10, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (US 2020/0335755 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Zhang et al. disclose a separator for a lithium secondary battery, comprising a porous polyolefin substrate (paragraph 0038) having a tan(δ) of 0.3 or less, wherein tan(δ) is determined by Formula 1 [Formula 1] tan(δ) = G” /G’, wherein G’ is a storage modulus of the porous polyolefin substrate, at a minimum of 1.80 MPa, and G’’ is a loss modulus of the porous polyolefin substrate at a minimum of 0.40 MPa, leading to tan(δ) = 0.22 (See table 9A, example 2).
The recitation, “at a temperature of 230°C and an angular frequency of 0.1 rad/s” is considered a process step used to make the product, and is not further limiting to the product being claimed and the criticality of the specific testing step does not provide patentable distinction. As such, the limitation is not given patentable weight in this claim.
With regard to Claim 3, Zhang et al. disclose a separator for a lithium secondary battery, comprising a porous polyolefin substrate (paragraph 0038) having a tan(δ) of 0.1-0.3, wherein tan(δ) is determined by Formula 1 [Formula 1] tan(δ) = G” /G’, wherein G’ is a storage modulus of the porous polyolefin substrate, at a minimum of 1.80 MPa, and G’’ is a loss modulus of the porous polyolefin substrate at a minimum of 0.40 MPa, leading to tan(δ) = 0.22 (See table 9A, example 2).
With regard to Claim 7, Zhang et al. disclose wherein the porous polyolefin substrate comprises a plurality of fibrils and pores, wherein the pores are formed by the fibrils entangling with one another, and wherein polyolefin chains forming the fibrils are crosslinked directly with one another (paragraphs 0198-0202).
With regard to Claim 8, Zhang et al. disclose wherein the surfaces of fibrils are crosslinked (paragraph 0038).
With regard to Claim 9, Zhang et al. disclose wherein G’ is a storage modulus of the porous polyolefin substrate, at a minimum of 1.80 MPa, which meets the claimed limitation of 1.0x105 to 1.0x107 Pa (See table 9A, example 2).
With regard to Claim 10, Zhang et al. disclose wherein G’’ is a loss modulus of the porous polyolefin substrate at a minimum of 0.40 MPa (See table 9A, example 2), which meets the claimed limitation of 1.0x106 Pa or less.
With regard to Claim 13, Zhang et al. disclose wherein the separator has an air permeability of 500 sec/100 mL or less (See Table 9A).
With regard to Claim 15, Zhang et al. disclose wherein the separator further comprises an inorganic composite porous layer disposed on at least one surface of the porous polyolefin substrate, wherein the inorganic composite porous layer comprises an inorganic filler and a binder polymer (paragraph 0208).
8. Claims 1, 3-4, 6-13, 15-21 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2021091330 A1, using Han et al. (US 2022/0407179 A1) as an English equivalent.
With regard to Claims 1 and 3, Han et al. disclose a separator for a lithium secondary battery comprising a crosslinked polyolefin porous substrate including a plurality of fibrils and pores formed by the fibrils entangled with one another, and a method of manufacturing the same (Abstract, paragraphs 0028-0029). Han et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the porous polyolefin substrate has a tan (δ) of 0.3 or less, more specifically 0.1-0.3, wherein tan (δ)is determined by Formula 1 at a temperature of 230°C and an angular frequency of 0.1 rad/s: [Formula 1] tan (δ) = G”/G’ wherein G’ is a storage modulus of the porous polyolefin substrate and G” is a loss modulus of the porous polyolefin substrate. It is the position of the Examiner that such properties are inherent given that both Han et al. and the instant application utilize the same materials and manufacturing method for a lithium secondary battery. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention’s features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. See MPEP 2112.
The recitation, “at a temperature of 230°C and an angular frequency of 0.1 rad/s” is considered a process step used to make the product, and is not further limiting to the product being claimed and the criticality of the specific testing step does not provide patentable distinction. As such, the limitation is not given patentable weight in this claim.
With regard to Claims 4 and 6, Han et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the porous polyolefin substrate has an ‘a’ value of 0.03-0.25, more specifically 0.04-0.23, as determined by Formula 2: [Formula 2] a = d(log)(G’)/d(log(angular frequency)). It is the position of the Examiner that such properties are inherent given that both Han et al. and the instant application utilize the same materials and manufacturing method for a lithium secondary battery. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention’s features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. See MPEP 2112.
The recitation, “at a temperature of 230°C and an angular frequency of 0.1 rad/s” is considered a process step used to make the product, and is not further limiting to the product being claimed and the criticality of the specific testing step does not provide patentable distinction. As such, the limitation is not given patentable weight in this claim.
With regard to Claim 7, Han et al. disclose wherein the porous polyolefin substrate comprises a plurality of fibrils and pores, wherein the pores are formed by the fibrils entangling with one another, and wherein polyolefin chains forming the fibrils are crosslinked directly with one another (paragraph 0035).
With regard to Claim 8, Han et al. disclose wherein the surfaces of fibrils are crosslinked (paragraph 0037).
With regard to Claim 9, Han et al. do not specifically disclose wherein G’ is 1.0x105 to 1.0x107 Pa, however, such properties are inherent given that both Han et al. and the instant application utilize the same materials and manufacturing method for a lithium secondary battery. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention’s features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. See MPEP 2112.
With regard to Claim 10, Han et al. do not specifically disclose wherein G’’ is 1.0x106 or less Pa, however, such properties are inherent given that both Han et al. and the instant application utilize the same materials and manufacturing method for a lithium secondary battery. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention’s features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. See MPEP 2112.
With regard to Claim 11, Han et al. disclose wherein the separator has a melt-down temperature of 160°C or higher (paragraph 0096).
With regard to Claim 12, Han et al. disclose wherein the separator has a porosity of 40% or more (paragraph 0078).
With regard to Claim 13, Han et al. disclose wherein the separator has an air permeability of 500 sec/100 mL or less (See Tables 2-3).
With regard to Claim 15, Han et al. further disclose an inorganic composite porous layer disposed on at least one surface of the porous polyolefin substrate, wherein the inorganic composite porous layer comprises an inorganic filler and a binder polymer (paragraphs 0063-0064).
With regard to Claim 16, Han et al. further disclose an inorganic composite porous layer disposed on at least one surface of the porous polyolefin substrate, wherein the inorganic composite porous layer comprises an inorganic filler and a first binder polymer (paragraph 0065); and a porous adhesive layer, called a dispersing agent, disposed on the inorganic composite porous layer, wherein the porous adhesive layer comprises a second binder polymer (paragraph 0074).
With regard to Claim 17, Han et al. disclose a method for manufacturing the separator for a lithium secondary battery noted above, comprising the steps of: (S1) preparing a non-crosslinked porous polyolefin substrate; (S2) applying a photoinitiator composition to the non-crosslinked polyolefin porous substrate, wherein the photoinitiator composition comprises a Type 2 photoinitiator; and (S3) irradiating the porous polyolefin substrate having the applied photoinitiator composition, wherein the irradiation uses ultraviolet (UV) rays (See Examples 1-4, paragraphs 0145-0154).
With regard to Claim 18, Han et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the non-crosslinked porous polymer substrate in step (S1) has a BET specific surface area of 15 m2/g or more. It is the position of the Examiner that such properties are inherent given that both Han et al. and the instant application utilize the same materials and manufacturing method for a lithium secondary battery. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention’s features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. See MPEP 2112.
With regard to Claim 19, Han et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the non-crosslinked porous polyolefin substrate of step (S1) has a tan(δ) of 0.5 or more, as determined by Formula 1. It is the position of the Examiner that such properties are inherent given that both Han et al. and the instant application utilize the same materials and manufacturing method for a lithium secondary battery. A reference which is silent about a claimed invention’s features is inherently anticipatory if the missing feature is necessarily present in that which is described in the reference. See MPEP 2112.
With regard to Claim 20, Han et al. disclose wherein the Type 2 photoinitiator comprises isopropyl thioxanthone (ITX), an isopropyl thioxanthone derivative, thioxanthone (TX), benzophenone (BPO), a benzophenone derivative, 4-hydroxybenzophenone, or combinations thereof (paragraphs 0024-0025, 0085-0089).
With regard to Claim 21, Han et al. disclose wherein the concentration of the Type 2 photoinitiator is 0.05-0.2 parts by weight (paragraph 0092), which meets the claimed limitation of 0.01-0.3 wt% based on the total weight of the photoinitiator composition.
With regard to Claim 24, Han et al. disclose a lithium secondary battery, comprising; a positive electrode; a negative electrode; and the separator noted above interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (paragraph 0135).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2021091330 A1, using Han et al. (US 2022/0407179 A1) as an English equivalent, as applied to Claims 1, 3-4, 6-13, 15-21 and 24 above, and in further view of Kim et al. (US 2020/0343506 A1).
With regard to Claim 22, Han et al. disclose the method for manufacturing the separator for a lithium secondary battery in paragraph 8 above, but do not specifically disclose wherein the photoinitiator composition in step (S2) further comprises a Type 1 photoinitiator, and wherein the Type 1 photoinitiator comprises a benzoin-based initiator, a hydroxyketone-based initiator, an aminoketone-based initiator, a phosphine oxide-based initiator, or combinations thereof.
Kim et al. disclose a method of manufacturing a separator including polyolefin fibrils and bond structures generated by reacting at least some of a first radical formed on surfaces of the fibrils by a photoreactive material (paragraph 0011). Kim et al. disclose wherein the photoreactive material may be a hydrogen abstraction photoinitiator (considered a Type 1 photoinitiator), including at least one selected from a group consisting of benzophenone-, camphoquinone-, anthraquinone-, thiozanthone-, α-hydroxyketone-, bisacylphosphinoxide-, α-aminoketone-, phenylglyoxylate-, monoacylphosphinoxide-, and benzildimethylketal-based photoinitiators, substituents or derivatives thereof, and combinations of two or more thereof (paragraphs 0015, 0038-0039). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Han et al. to include a Type 1 photoinitiator, wherein the Type 1 photoinitiator comprises a benzoin-based initiator, a hydroxyketone-based initiator, an aminoketone-based initiator, a phosphine oxide-based initiator, or combinations thereof, because Kim et al. teach that these materials contribute to the mechanical properties and heat resistance of the separator (paragraph 0033), and help improve the photocrosslinking effect (paragraph 0039).
Conclusion
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARIE O APICELLA whose telephone number is (571)272-8614. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 5:00PM EST.
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/KARIE O'NEILL APICELLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725