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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/08/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claim 1 amended. Claim 7 is canceled. Claims 1-6 & 8 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 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 45° to 60° (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 claim 5, 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 with respect to claims 1-6 & 8 have been considered but are moot 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. The amendment to claim 1 has prompted a new ground of rejection in view of the newly cited Kusada reference. As presently claimed, the subject matter of claims 1-6 & 8 is found to be obvious over the combined teachings of Kusada and Lee as noted in the above updated rejection. Thus, in view of the foregoing, claims 1-6 & 8 stand rejected.
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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