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 .
Status of Claims
Claim 7 is canceled. Claim 9 is newly added. Claims 1-6 & 8-9 are currently pending.
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.
Claims 1-6 & 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusada (US 2023/0031407 A1) in view of Lee (US 2020/0127328 A1).
Regarding claims 1-4, 6 & 8, Kusada teaches a secondary battery comprising a flat-shaped electrode body including a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a separator having an elongated shape with principal surfaces of the separator having a pair of long sides which are parallel to a longitudinal direction of the separator and comprising a base material layer of a porous resin, a ceramic layer containing inorganic particles disposed on at least one surface of the base material, and an adhesive layer on both of the principal surface of the separator such that the positive electrode and the negative electrode are insulated from each other; and a non-aqueous electrolyte; wherein the positive electrode has a positive electrode active material layer and a positive electrode current collector, and a positive electrode active material non-formed portion where no positive electrode active material layer is formed and the positive electrode current collector is exposed; the negative electrode has a negative electrode active material layer and a negative electrode current collector, and a negative electrode active material non-formed portion where no negative electrode active material layer is formed and the negative electrode current collector is exposed; the positive electrode active material layer non-formed and the negative electrode active material layer non-formed portion extend off outward from the pair of the long sides of the separator in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the separator respectively; and a dimension of the electrode body in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the separator and orthogonal to the thickness direction of the electrode body is larger than a dimension of the electrode body in the direction along the longitudinal direction of the separator and orthogonal to the thickness direction of the electrode body (Figs. 10 & 12; [0054]-[0067], [0075]-[0083] & [0122]-[0127]). Kusada is silent as to the separator comprising an adhesive layer having portions arranged at a predetermined pitch to form a stripe pattern on at least one of the principal surfaces such that the stripe pattern has a plurality of portions in which the adhesive layer extended from one long side of the separator to the other long side of the separator; and an angle formed by the adhesive layer and the long side of the separator is 20° or more and 70° or less. Lee teaches a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising an electrode body including a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a separator insulating the positive electrode and the negative electrode from each other; and a non-aqueous electrolyte ([0046]-[0048]), wherein the separator comprises a base material layer of a porous resin ([0112]-[0113] & [0143]-[0147]); and a ceramic layer containing inorganic particles such as alumina and disposed on at least one surface of the base material layer ([0143]-[0144]), and an adhesive layer, made up of polyvinylidene fluoride, having portions arranged at a predetermined pitch to form a stripe pattern on both principal surfaces of the separator with long sides such that an angle formed by the adhesive layer and the long side of the at least one principal surface of the separator is 5° to 60° with exemplary embodiments using 45° (Fig. 1; [0064] & [0145]-[0147]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention, to provide an adhesive layer as described in Lee on Kusada’s separator in order to secure mechanical strength and overvoltage safety of the battery while improving rate capability as taught by Lee ([0025]).
Regarding claims 5 & 9, Lee teaches the adhesive layer having a width of 0.5 mm to 4 mm and a coverage of the least one principal surface of the separator with the adhesive layer is 50% or more and 90% or less ([0147]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In response to applicant’s arguments that the combined teachings of Kusada and Lee does not fairly teach or suggest the claimed subject matter, the examiner respectfully disagrees. Specifically, applicant argues that Lee is silent as to claimed feature of the stripe pattern having a plurality of portions (i.e plurality of lines of the stripe pattern) in which the adhesive layer extends from one long side of the separator to the other long side of the separator. While Kusada discloses a wound electrode assembly which is formed into a flat shape (see figs. 8-12), it is noted that Lee’s electrode assembly is directed to a simple stacking structure of the positive electrode, the separator and the negative electrode without any disclosure of winding the electrode assembly to obtain the wound structure in Kusada. However, when Lee’s teachings for the adhesive layer is applied to Kusada’s wound structure, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand that the length of the long side of the separator would directly affect the angle formed between each of the plurality of portions of the stripe pattern and the long side of the separator as well as the area of the area coverage of the separator. As noted in the above rejection, Lee discloses in specific embodiments an angle of 45° formed between each of the plurality of portions of the stripe pattern and the long side of the separator and an area coverage of the separator by the adhesive layer of 62% ([0147]). Accordingly, when the length of the long side of the separator in Lee is extended to in order to obtain Kusada’s wound structure, the corresponding number and specific arrangement of the stripe pattern would be expected to be different from that shown in fig. 1 of Lee in order to maintain the same angle of 45° and area coverage of 62%. As shown in annotated fig. 1 below, when the length of the long sides of the separator is extended, at least one portion of the stripe pattern would be expected to extend from one long side of the separator to the other long side of the separator in order to maintain the same angle between the at least one portion of the stripe pattern and one of the long sides of the separator.
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Therefore, when the adhesive layer of Lee is applied to an electrode assembly having a flat and wound structure, as described in figs. 8-12 of Kusada, in which the length of the long side is extended from the configuration shown in fig. 1 of Lee, the resulting configuration would be expected to possess an adhesive layer in which at least one of the plurality of portions extends from one long side of the separator to the other long side of the separator.
Thus, in view of the foregoing, claims 1-6 & 8-9 stand rejected.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANAEL T ZEMUI whose telephone number is (571)272-4894. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm (EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, BARBARA GILLIAM can be reached at (571)272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATHANAEL T ZEMUI/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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