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 . 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-17, in the reply filed on December 1, 2025, is acknowledged. Claims 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hisamitsu et al. (JP 2006-085921 A), hereinafter “Hitsamitsu.”
Regarding claim 1, Hitsamitsu discloses a battery cell comprising:
an anode current collector, in this case the negative electrode side outermost current collector (p. 4-5, Fig. 1, ref. no. 11b);
an anode material layer on the anode current collector, in this case the negative electrode active material layer (p. 4-5, Fig. 1, ref. no. 15);
a cathode current collector, in this case the positive electrode side outermost current collector (p. 4-5, Fig. 1, ref. no. 11a);
a cathode material layer on the cathode current collector, in this case the positive electrode active material layer (p. 4-5, Fig. 1, ref. no. 13); and
a separator sandwiched between the anode material layer and the cathode material layer, in this case the electrolyte layer (p. 4-5, fig. 1, ref. no. 17);
each of the anode current collector, the anode material layer, the cathode current collector, the cathode material layer, and the separator including a first side edge (see annotated Fig. 1, below);
each of the anode current collector, the anode material layer, the cathode current collector, the cathode material layer, and the separator including a second side edge (see annotated Fig. 1, below);
the anode current collector and the cathode current collector each having a tapered shape with the second side edge of the anode current collector being thicker than the first side edge of the anode current collector and the first side edge of the of the cathode current collector being thicker than the second side edge of the cathode current collector, in this case both the positive and negative outermost current collectors have a substantially rectangular shape whose thickness decreases linearly in the longitudinal direction (p. 6; see annotated Fig. 1, ref. nos. 11a & 11b, below).
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Regarding claim 2, Hisamitsu further discloses that:
the first side edge of each of the anode current collector, the anode material layer, the cathode current collector, the cathode material layer and the separator define a first side of the battery cell (see annotated Fig. 1, ref. nos. 11a, 13, 17, 15, & 11b, above); and
the second side edge of each of the anode current collector, the anode material layer, the cathode current collector, the cathode material layer and the separator defining a second side of the battery cell (see annotated Fig. 1, ref. nos. 11a, 13, 17, 15, & 11b, above).
Regarding claim 3, Hisamitsu further discloses that the battery cell has a uniform thickness, in this case “the thickness of the entire surface of the battery element sealed with the laminate sheet can be maintained uniformly” (p. 11-12, ref. nos. omitted).
Regarding claim 5, Hisamitsu further discloses that:
the anode current collector includes a first planar surface extending from the first side edge to the second side edge of the anode current collector and a second planar surface extending from the first side edge to the second side edge of the anode current collector, the first planar surface and the second planar surface of the anode current collector facing in opposite directions (see annotated fig. 1, below);
the cathode current collector including a first planar surface extending from the first side edge to the second side edge of the cathode current collector and a second planar surface extending from the first side edge to the second side edge of the cathode current collector, the first planar surface and the second planar surface of the cathode current collector facing in opposite directions (see annotated fig. 1, below);
the first planar surface of the anode current collector and the second planar surface of the cathode current collector facing in opposite directions and being parallel to each other (see annotated fig. 1, below);
the second planar surface of the anode current collector being at a non-zero angle with respect to the first planar surface of the anode current collector (see annotated fig. 1, below);
the first planar surface of the cathode current collector being at a non-zero angle with respect to the second planar surface of the cathode current collector (see annotated fig. 1, below).
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Regarding claim 6, Hisamitsu further discloses that the non-zero angles of the positive and negative current collectors are equal to each other (see Fig. 1, ref. nos. 11a & 11b).
Regarding claim 7, Hisamitsu further discloses that the anode material layer includes first and second planar surfaces where the first planar surface contacts the second planar surface of the anode material layer and a second planar surface facing the opposite direction, where both planar surfaces extend from the first side edge to the second side edge of the anode material layer and are at a non-zero angle with respect to the first planar surface of the anode current collector (see annotated Fig. 1, below).
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Regarding claim 8, Hisamitsu further discloses that the cathode material layer includes first and second planar surfaces where the second planar surface contacts the first planar surface of the cathode material layer and a second planar surface facing the opposite direction, where both planar surfaces extend from the first side edge to the second side edge of the cathode material layer and are at a non-zero angle with respect to the first planar surface of the cathode current collector (see annotated Fig. 1, above).
Regarding claim 9, Hisamitsu further teaches that the separator includes first and second planar surfaces extending from the first edge to the second edge and facing opposite directions wherein the first planar surface contacts the second planar surface of the anode material layer and the second planar surface contacts the first planar surface of the cathode material and the first and second surfaces have a non-zero angle with respect to the first planar surface of the anode current collector and the second planar surface of the cathode current collector (see annotated Fig. 1, above)
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.
Claims 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Hisamitsu as applied to claims 1 and 5, above, and further in view of Ohta et al. (US 2022/0247048 A1), hereinafter “Ohta.”
Regarding claim 4, Hisamitsu does not disclose anode and cathode tabs respectively extending from the first edges of the anode and cathode current collectors. However, Ohta teaches a battery cell that comprises anode tabs extending from the first side edge of anode current collectors, in this case the negative electrode current collector tabs that extend from the face of the battery stack (¶ [0027] & [0035], Fig. 1, ref. nos. 22A & 22B) and positive electrode current collector tabs that extend from the face of the battery stack (¶ [0027] & [0034], Fig. 1, ref. nos. 12A & 12B). One having ordinary skill in the art would have understood that substituting the tab structure of Ohta for that of Hisamitsu would have yielded the predictable result of a functioning battery. See M.P.E.P. § 2143 I. B. Additionally, rearranging or shifting the positions of components are an obvious matter of design choice. See M.P.E.P. § 2144.04 VI. C. Therefore, it would have been obvious to have substituted the tab arrangement of Ohta for that of Hisamitsu in order to yield the predictable result of a functioning battery.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 12-17 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Hisamitsu does not disclose a second anode material layer disposed on the first surface of the anode current collector or a second cathode material layer disposed on the second planar surface of the cathode current collector. Furthermore, no prior art reference could be found that fairly teaches or suggests these limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT J CHMIELECKI whose telephone number is (571)272-7641. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 am to 5 pm.
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/SCOTT J. CHMIELECKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729