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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1, 6, and 12-15 are amended. The rejection of claims 1 and 14-15 have been modified as required by the amendment. Claims 1-15 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by European
Patent EP 2942832A1 (IDS dated 10/24/2023), hereinafter Jung.
Regarding claim 1, Jung teaches an electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) comprising:
an active material portion in which an active material is formed on a substrate; and (“An
electrode active material is applied onto one or both surfaces of the prepared current- collecting foil to manufacture an electrode” [0028])
a non-coated portion in which the active material is not formed, (‘electrode tabs’ 111
and 121, Fig 3)
wherein the non-coated portion (111 and 121) comprises a first non-coated portion
(first non-coated portion in annotated figure below) in which a non-coated portion tab is
formed and a second non-coated portion (second non-coated portion in annotated figure
below) extending from the first non-coated portion in a width direction of the active material
portion, and an area of the first non-coated portion and an area of the second non-coated
portion satisfy Expression 1 below,
wherein the first non-coated portion (first non-coated portion in annotated figure below) has a rectangular shape (rectangle shape in annotated figure) and is used as an electrode tab or has an electrode tab attached thereto (first non-coated portion is part of 121 which is used as an electrode tab):
(Expression 1) 1.0 < (A+B)/A < 2.0
wherein, in Expression 1, A represents the area of the first non-coated portion (mm2),
and B represents the area of the second non-coated portion (mm2). (The claim does not state
the first and second non-coated portions must make up the entirety of the electrode tab,
therefore, any non-coated portions can be defined in a way to fit this expression. Additionally,
the expression is in the form of a ratio and any area can be presented in mm2 therefore the unit do not matter. The figure below provides an example in which the areas of the first and second non-coated portions would fit this expression.)
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1286
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Regarding claim 2, Jung teaches the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) of claim 1,
wherein the area of the first non-coated portion and the area of the second non-coated portion
satisfy Expression 2 below:
(Expression 2) 1.2 < (A+B)/A < 1.8
wherein, in Expression 2, A and B are as defined in Expression 1 above. (The claim does
not state the first and second non-coated portions must make up the entirety of the electrode
tab, therefore any non-coated portions can be defined in a way to fit this expression.
Additionally, the expression is in the form of a ratio and similarly any area can be presented in
mm2 therefore the unit do not matter. see above figure)
Regarding claim 3, Jung teaches the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) of claim 1,
wherein the non-coated portion tab forms an electrode tab of the electrode plate (electrode
tabs 111 and 121, Fig 3).
Regarding claim 4, Jung teaches the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) of claim 1,
wherein the non-coated portion comprises a first region in contact with the active material
portion and a second region spaced apart from the first region in a longitudinal direction of the
active material portion (“Electrode tabs 111 and 112 protruding from the electrodes 110 and
120 extend and protrude from the thin current-collecting foil” [0029], Fig 3).
Regarding claim 5, Jung teaches the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) of claim 4,
wherein the second non-coated portion comprises a straight line shape (‘straight portion’ 111a,
Fig 3) connecting the first region and the second region. (“As illustrated in Fig. 3, the first and
second electrode tabs 111 and 121 have linear portions 111a and 121a that are straight lines
from one end to the other end thereof.” [0035])
Regarding claim 6, Jung teaches the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) of claim 4, wherein the first region is formed to have a wider width than the second region (Here, the electrode tabs 111 and 121 may have widths that gradually decrease in directions in which the electrode tabs 111 and 121 protrude outward from the electrodes 110 and 120, respectively.” [0030], Fig 3).
Regarding claim 7, Jung teaches the electrode plate of claim 4, wherein a width of the second non-coated portion gets smaller from the first region to the second region. (Second non-coated portion in annotated figure below is a trapezoidal shape where the length of the second region is smaller than the length of the first region.)
Regarding claim 8, Jung teaches the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) of claim 4, wherein the second non-coated portion comprises a polygonal shape (“Each of the electrode tabs 111 and 121 may have a trapezoidal shape” [0030] i.e. a polygon, Fig 3).
Regarding claim 9, Jung teaches the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) of claim 4, wherein the second non-coated portion comprises a round shape connecting the first region and the second region (“According to another embodiment, the trapezoidal first and second electrode tabs may have side surfaces with curved portions 111b and 121b” [0036], Fig 3-5).
Regarding claim 10, Jung teaches the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) of claim 9, wherein the round shape is a convexly protruding shape (“According to further another embodiment, the trapezoidal first and second electrode tabs 111 and 121 may have side surfaces with curved portions 111c and 121c of which respective central portions convexly protrude to form protruding portions 111c and 121c” [0037], Fig 5).
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745
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Regarding claim 11, Jung teaches the electrode plate of claim 9, wherein the round shape is a concavely indented shape (“That is, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the electrode tabs 111 and 121 may have curved portions 111b and 121b that are gradually recessed from both ends towards the centers thereof” [0036], Fig. 4).
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1094
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Regarding claim 12, Jung teaches the electrode plate of claim 1, wherein a width of the first non-coated portion and a width of the active material portion have a ratio of 1:1 to 1:4
(The claim does not state the first and second non-coated portions must make up the entirety
of the electrode tab, therefore any non-coated portion can be defined in a way to fit this ratio.
The first annotated pictures provides an example in which the first non-coated portion and
active material lengths have a ratio of 1:1.6)
Regarding claim 13, Jung teaches the electrode plate of claim 1, wherein a width of the first non-coated portion and a width of the active material portion have a ratio of 1:1 to 1:2
(The claim does not state the first and second non-coated portions must make up the entirety
of the electrode tab, therefore any non-coated portion can be defined in a way to fit this ratio. The first annotated pictures provide an example in which the first non-coated portion and
active material lengths have a ratio of 1:1.6)
Regarding claim 14, Jung teaches an electrode assembly (Fig 2, 100) comprising:
a cathode; (“Here the first electrode 110 and the second electrode 120 may be
electrodes opposite to each other” [0027], Fig 2)
an anode; and (For example, when the first electrode 110 is a negative electrode, the
second electrode 120 may be a positive electrode, and vice versa” [0027] , Fig 2)
a separator (Fig 2, 130) interposed between the cathode and the anode,
wherein the cathode or the anode comprises an electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120),
wherein the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) comprising:
an active material portion in which an active material is formed on a substrate; and (“An
electrode active material is applied onto one or both surfaces of the prepared current-
collecting foil to manufacture an electrode” [0028])
a non-coated portion in which the active material is not formed, (‘electrode tabs’ 111
and 121, Fig 3)
wherein the non-coated portion (111 and 121) comprises a first non-coated portion
(first non-coated portion in first annotated figure) in which a non-coated portion tab is formed
and a second non-coated portion (second non-coated portion in first annotated figure)
extending from the first non-coated portion in a width direction of the active material portion,
and an area of the first non-coated portion and an area of the second non-coated portion
satisfy Expression 1 below,
wherein the first non-coated portion (first non-coated portion in annotated figure below) has a rectangular shape (rectangle shape in annotated figure) and is used as an electrode tab or has an electrode tab attached thereto (first non-coated portion is part of 121 which is used as an electrode tab):
(Expression 1) 1.0 < (A+B)/A < 2.0
wherein, in Expression 1, A represents the area of the first non-coated portion (mm2), and B
represents the area of the second non-coated portion (mm2). ( The claim does not state the
first and second non-coated portions must make up the entirety of the electrode tab, therefore
any non-coated portions can be defined in a way to fit this expression. Additionally, the
expression is in the form of a ratio and any area can be presented in mm2 therefore the unit do
not matter. The first annotated figure provides an example in which the areas of the first and
second non-coated portions would fit this expression.)
Regarding claim 15, Jung teaches a secondary battery (‘The secondary battery according to the related art includes a unit cell A’ [0004], unit cell A is described the exact same way in [0004] and [0007] but just references Fig 1 rather than Fig 2) comprising an electrode assembly (Fig 2, 100),
the electrode assembly (Fig 2, 100) comprising:
a cathode; (“Here the first electrode 110 and the second electrode 120 may be
electrodes opposite to each other” [0027], Fig 2)
an anode; and (For example, when the first electrode 110 is a negative electrode, the
second electrode 120 may be a positive electrode, and vice versa” [0027], Fig 2)
a separator (Fig 2, 130) interposed between the cathode and the anode,
wherein the cathode or the anode comprises an electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120),
wherein the electrode plate (Fig 2, 110 and 120) comprising:
an active material portion in which an active material is formed on a substrate; and (“An
electrode active material is applied onto one or both surfaces of the prepared current-
collecting foil to manufacture an electrode” [0028])
a non-coated portion in which the active material is not formed, (‘electrode tabs’ 111
and 121, Fig 3)
wherein the non-coated portion (111 and 121) comprises a first non-coated portion
(first non-coated portion in first annotated figure) in which a non-coated portion tab is formed
and a second non-coated portion (second non-coated portion in first annotated figure)
extending from the first non-coated portion in a width direction of the active material portion,
and an area of the first non-coated portion and an area of the second non-coated portion
satisfy Expression 1 below,
wherein the first non-coated portion (first non-coated portion in annotated figure below) has a rectangular shape (rectangle shape in annotated figure) and is used as an electrode tab or has an electrode tab attached thereto (first non-coated portion is part of 121 which is used as an electrode tab):
(Expression 1) 1.0 < (A+B)/A < 2.0
wherein, in Expression 1, A represents the area of the first non-coated portion (mm2), and B
represents the area of the second non-coated portion (mm2). (The claim does not state the first
and second non-coated portions must make up the entirety of the electrode tab, therefore any
non-coated portions can be defined in a way to fit this expression. Additionally, the expression
is in the form of a ratio and any area can be presented in mm2 therefore the unit do not matter. The first annotated figure provides an example in which the areas of the first and second non-coated portions would fit this expression.)
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed March 30, 2026, with respect to 35USC112(b) and 35USC103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35USC112(b) rejection of claims 7, 12, and 13 and the 35USC103 rejection of claims 1-2 and 14-15 been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed March 30, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the first and second non-coated portions perform different functions. However, this argument is not commensurate with the scope of the claims which as amended only require function of the first non-coated region and additionally, because the structure of Jang is the same structure as that of the instant claims, it is expected that they are capable of the same function. Nor does the claim bar the same function in both regions. Applicant also argues that in Jung, there is no distinction between a first and second non-coated portion. Again, this argument is not commensurate in scope with the claimed invention which does not require distinction. As described above, Jung teaches a non-coated portion (Figs. 3-5, 111 and 121). This non-coated portion consists of a rectangle first non-coated portion and two trapezoidal second non-coated portions that extend from the first non-coated portion in the width direction (depicted in annotated figure above). Because the structure of Jung is identical to the structure of the instant claims, it is expected that they are capable of functioning in the same manner. Finally, applicant argues that the electrode tabs and leads of Figures 6 and 7 do not correspond to the shape of the instants first and second non-coated portion. The structures of Jang in Figures 3-5 do correspond to the instant’s first and second non-coated structures. The non-coated portion (111 and 121) consists of a rectangle first non-coated portion and two trapezoidal second non-coated portions that extend from the first non-coated portion in the width direction (depicted in annotated figure above)
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/M.K.H./Examiner, Art Unit 1724
/MIRIAM STAGG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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