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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 appears to be missing punctuation in the limitation “in the intermediate area, a resin pool comprising the first resin is formed the first resin is a thermoplastic resin…” (emphasis added). The Examiner suggest adding either a comma or a semicolon between “formed” and “the first resin”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichikawa et al. (US-20150325822-A1; previously cited) as evidenced by Yoshioka et al. (US-6485862-B1; previously cited) in view of Sasaki et al. (WO-2020153457-A1; see English equivalent US-20220085444-A1, cited 01/20/2026, for citations) as evidenced by Matsumoto et al. (US-20130028540-A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Ichikawa discloses a secondary battery (film-covered battery 1; [0027, 0057, 0074-0080]) comprising (Fig. 6; [0057-0060, 0107-0111]):
an electrode laminate (battery element 6; [0035]) and an exterior packaging member (film covering material 4; [0027, 0035, 0081-0084]), the electrode laminate comprising a positive electrode [0074-0075] and a negative electrode [0076-0077].
Ichikawa teaches that a separator is interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode [0078], and electrolyte is added to the battery [0088]. Although not explicitly disclosed, it is understood that the separator is impregnated with the electrolyte as evidenced by Yoshioka (see Yoshioka: Col. 4, lines 55-60), thereby resulting in a structure wherein the positive electrode and the negative electrode are “laminated via an electrolyte interposed therebetween”.
Ichikawa further discloses:
the electrode laminate (battery element 6) being wrapped with the exterior packaging member (film covering material 4; see Fig. 6),
wherein (see annotation of Ichikawa Fig. 6, below) the exterior packaging member comprises an exterior packaging area that wraps the electrode laminate, a heat-sealing area, and an intermediate area existing between the exterior packaging area and the heat-sealing area.
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Annotation of Ichikawa Fig. 6.
Ichikawa discloses that the exterior packaging member (film covering material 4) includes a first resin (heat sealing layer 13; [0034-0035]), a layer containing metal (barrier layer 12; [0037, 0083]), and a layer containing a third resin (surface protective layer 11; [0036, 0082]). Ichikawa discloses that the layer containing metal (barrier layer 12) helps to prevent infiltration of water inside of the battery [0004, 0035], as is preferably a metal film of aluminum or aluminum alloy [0038]. Ichikawa also discloses that the invention is designed to prevent corrosion of the layer containing metal (barrier layer 12) due to the electrolyte [0010, 0013]. Ichikawa does not teach a second resin layer.
Sasaki teaches a similar exterior packaging member [0025, 0068, 0071, 0096-0097, 0138-0139] (Fig. 4). Sasaki teaches a similar barrier layer (3, Fig. 4) which suppresses the ingress of moisture [0096], and can be formed of a metal foil such as an aluminum alloy foil [0097-0098]. In order to prevent deterioration of the barrier layer, a barrier protection film (3a, Fig. 4) is provided between the barrier layer (3, Fig. 4) and the heat-sealable layer (4, Fig. 4), thereby preventing deterioration of the barrier layer [0010-0012, 0015, 0025, 0102, 0104]. The barrier protection film can comprise a chromium compound and a resin (e.g. acryl-based resin) [0124-0126, 0129].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have added a barrier protection film between the layer containing metal (barrier layer 12) and the first resin (heat sealing layer 13) of Ichikawa with a reasonable expectation that such a configuration would result in a successful exterior packaging member capable of preventing deterioration of the layer containing metal. The barrier protection film reads on a second resin layer.
Accordingly, modified Ichikawa renders obvious:
in the exterior packaging area, a layer containing a first resin (heat sealing layer 13; [0034-0035], a layer containing a second resin (barrier protection film; [Sasaki: 0102, 0104, 0125]), a layer containing metal (barrier layer 12; [0035, 0083]), and a layer containing a third resin (surface protective layer 11; [0035, 0082]) are sequentially laminated from an electrode laminate side (see annotation of Ichikawa Fig. 6, below).
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Annotation of Ichikawa Fig. 6.
Ichikawa further discloses (see annotation of Ichikawa Fig. 6, below; [0057-0060, 0107-0111]):
in the heat-sealing area the layer containing metal and the layer containing the third resin are sequentially laminated on both sides of the layer containing the second resin, and
in the intermediate area, a resin pool (resin mass 32, Fig. 6) comprising the first resin is formed [0038-0041, 0043, 0058].
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Annotation of Ichikawa Fig. 6.
Ichikawa discloses that the heat sealing layer (13) can be formed of polypropylene [0038, 0084], which is understood to read on a “thermoplastic resin” as evidenced by the instant specification [instant specification: 0016]. Accordingly, modified Ichikawa discloses that “the first resin is a thermoplastic resin that flows during formation of the heat-sealing area” [0038-0041, 0043, 0058].
Modified Ichikawa renders obvious that the second resin is an acryl-based resin [Sasaki: 0125-0126]. Acryl-based resins are understood to be forms of thermoplastic resins, as evidenced by Matsumoto [Matsumoto: 0065]. The second resin layer is designed to protect the barrier layer [Sasaki: 0010-0012, 0015, 0025, 0102, 0104], and therefore the second resin layer is understood to remain unchanged during the process of heat-sealing the exterior packaging material. Accordingly, modified Ichikawa renders obvious that “the second resin is a thermoplastic resin that does not flow during the formation of the heat-sealing area”.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichikawa et al. (US-20150325822-A1; previously cited) as evidenced by Yoshioka et al. (US-6485862-B1; previously cited) in view of Sasaki et al. (WO-2020153457-A1; see English equivalent US-20220085444-A1; cited 01/20/2026) as evidenced by Matsumoto et al. (US-20130028540-A1) as applied to Claim 1, above, and in view of Komatsu et al. (US-20040096735-A1).
Regarding Claims 3-4, modified Ichikawa render obvious all of the limitations as set forth, above, including that the positive electrode and negative electrode are separated by a separator [0078]. Ichikawa discloses that the electrolyte is a nonaqueous liquid electrolyte [0088], and therefore does not teach that the battery is a solid battery.
Komatsu teaches a similar secondary battery [Abstract, 0003, 0014, 0019-0022, 0029, 0071]. Komatsu teaches that a solid electrolyte can successfully replace a separator impregnated with an electrolytic solution as a separating material interposed between a negative electrode plate and positive electrode plate [0003, 0020, 0026, 0074]. Advantageously, the use of a solid electrolyte allows for a larger selection of active materials [0020, 0023], and functions to successfully separate the electrodes and prevent a short-circuit [0003, 0020, 0026].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have substituted the separator impregnated with an electrolytic solution disclosed by Ichikawa for a solid electrolyte as taught by Komatsu with a reasonable expectation that such substitution would result in a successful battery capable of preventing a short-circuit between the electrodes and allowing for a larger selection of active materials (MPEP 2143, B; MPEP 2144.06, II).
The use of a solid electrolyte reads on “the secondary battery being a solid battery” as required by Claim 3. Here, a “solid battery” is interpreted in light of the instant specification as being a secondary battery wherein the electrolyte is contained in a gel electrolyte layer, a solid electrolyte layer, and the like [instant specification: 0029]. The substitution of the separator for a solid electrolyte further reads on “in the electrode laminate, the positive electrode and the negative electrode are laminated via a solid electrolyte layer interposed therebetween” as required by Claim 4.
Claim(s) 1 and 3-4 is/are further rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sasaki et al. (WO-2020153457-A1; see English equivalent US-20220085444-A1, cited 01/20/2026, for citations) in view of Ichikawa et al. (US-20150325822-A1; previously cited) as evidenced by Matsumoto et al. (US-20130028540-A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Sasaki discloses a secondary battery (all-solid lithium secondary battery; [0030, 0052]) comprising
an electrode laminate (unit cell 50; [0031, 0034]) and an exterior packaging member (exterior material 10; [0031]), the electrode laminate comprising a positive electrode (positive active material layer 31) and a negative electrode (negative active material layer 21) which are laminated via an electrolyte (solid electrolyte layer 40) interposed therebetween [0031], the electrode laminate being wrapped with the exterior packaging member [0031].
Sasaki discloses that the exterior packaging member comprises a heat-sealable resin layer (4, Fig. 4), which is heat sealed at a flange area in order to seal the battery [0008, 0032, 0138-0139]. Accordingly, it is understood that the exterior packaging member exterior material 10) comprises
an exterior packaging area that wraps the electrode laminate, a heat-sealing area (corresponds to the area wherein the heat-sealable resin 4 is sealed), and an intermediate area existing between the exterior packaging area and the heat-sealing area.
Sasaki further discloses (see annotation of Sasaki Fig. 4, below) that:
in the exterior packaging area, a layer containing a first resin (heat-sealable resin layer 4; [0025, 0138-0140]), a layer containing a second resin (barrier layer protective film 3a; [0025, 0102, 0104, 0125-0126]), a layer containing metal (barrier layer 3; [0025, 0097, 0101]), and a layer containing a third resin (base material 1; [0025, 0068, 0070-0071]) are sequentially laminated from an electrode laminate side [0025].
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Annotation of Sasaki Fig. 4.
Although Sasaki does not specifically teach the configuration of the heat-sealing area, Sasaki does disclose that the first resin (heat-sealable resin layer 4) is heat sealed at a flange area (i.e. area where the heat-sealable resin layers are in contact with each other) in order to seal the battery [0008, 0032, 0138-0139]. Therefore, it is understood that in the heat-sealing area, the first resin is sealed to itself, while the other layer remain unchanged. Accordingly, it is understood that “in the heat-sealing area the layer containing metal and the layer containing the third resin are sequentially laminated on both sides of the layer containing the second resin”.
Sasaki teaches that an object of the invention is to prevent deterioration caused by contact between the solid electrolyte and the barrier layer [0010-0012]. Although Sasaki teaches that the first resin layers are heat-sealed at a flange region [0008, 0032, 00138-00139], Sasaki does not teach that “in the intermediate area, a resin pool comprising the first resin is formed”.
Ichikawa teaches a similar exterior packaging member (film covering material 4; [0035-0038]). Ichikawa teaches that the sealing portion is responsible for the reliability of the battery [0004], and that cracks formed in the sealing layer can reach the metal barrier layer, thereby causing corrosion of the metal barrier layer by the electrolyte [0011, 0013]. In order to prevent contact between the electrolyte and the barrier layer, Ichikawa teaches that an interface bonding portion is formed adjacent to the battery element side [0013, 0040]. Specifically, by bringing the end faces of two heating members close to the boundary side of the battery element housing portion, and creating a slight displacement between the two heating members, the sealing layer (corresponds to heat-sealable layer resin layer of Sasaki) protrudes inward to form a resin mass (32, Fig. 6) and a curved interface between the sealing layers [0058-0059]. Advantageously, such a configuration increases the length of the bonding portion, thereby enhancing resistance against rupture and enhancing strength of the sealing portion [0059].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have sealed the first resin layers (heat-sealable layer resin layer 4) of Sasaki as taught by Ichikawa in order to form a resin mass, with a reasonable expectation that such a configuration would result in a successful secondary battery with enhanced resistance against rupture and enhanced strength of the sealing portion. Therefore, modified Sasaki renders obvious that in the intermediate area, a resin pool (resin mass) comprising the first resin (heat-sealable layer resin layer 4) is formed (see annotation of Ichikawa Fig. 6, below).
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Annotation of Ichikawa Fig. 6.
Modified Sasaki discloses a specific example wherein the first resin (heat-sealable resin 4) is polypropylene [0184], thereby rendering obvious with sufficient specificity that the first resin is a thermoplastic resin (as evidenced by the instant specification [instant specification: 0016]) that flows during formation of the heat-sealing area.
Sasaki discloses a specific example wherein the second resin (barrier layer protective film 3a) comprises polyacrylic acid [0189]. Polyacrylic acid is understood to be a thermoplastic resin, as evidenced by Matsumoto [Matsumoto: 0065]. Accordingly, modified Sasaki renders obvious that the second resin is a thermoplastic resin that does not flow during the formation of the heat-sealing area.
Regarding Claim 3, modified Sasaki renders obvious all of the limitations as set forth above. Sasaki discloses that the secondary battery is a solid battery [0030-0031, 0033-0034, 0053, 0209] as required by Claim 3. Sasaki further discloses that, in the electrode laminate, the positive electrode and the negative electrode are laminated via a solid electrolyte layer interposed therebetween [0031, 0034], as required by Claim 4.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 04/17/2026 have been carefully considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection does not rely on any combination of references applied in the prior rejections of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Specifically, Applicant’s amendment necessitated a new interpretation of the exterior packaging member layers of Ichikawa and, as laid out above, Ichikawa is no longer relied upon to teach the second resin layer. Accordingly, arguments directed towards Ichikawa not disclosing the newly added limitations are moot, since the rejections now rely on Ichikawa as modified by Sasaki. To facilitate compact prosecution, the claims are further rejected over Sasaki in view of Ichikawa.
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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/D.C.N./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/Haroon S. Sheikh/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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