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 1-6) in the reply filed on 2/13/26 is acknowledged.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumagae (WO 2020/195310 A1) in view of Nagayama et al (JP 2007-193986 A).
Regarding claim 1, Kumagae teaches a solid-state battery (paragraph [0001], solid state lithium-ion battery) comprising:
a battery body (figs 3-4c, battery stack 500’) in which a positive electrode layer (figs 3-4c, positive electrode layer 10A), an electrolyte layer (figs 3-4c, solid electrolyte layer 20), and a negative electrode layer (figs 3-4c, negative electrode layer 10B) are stacked in a first direction (fig 3, paragraph [0016], each layer is stacked on top of the others);
a reference electrode (paragraph [0049]);
a positive electrode (fig 3, positive electrode terminal 30A) provided on the battery body and connected to the positive electrode layer (fig 3); and
a negative electrode (fig 3, paragraph [0084], negative electrode terminal 30B) provided on the battery body and connected to the negative electrode layer (fig 3).
Kumagae teaches a reference electrode formed on the same surface as the working electrode (paragraph [0049]), but is quiet to being stacked on the first surface of the battery body in the first direction.
Nagayama et al teaches the positive electrode 15p and reference electrode 11r to be along one surface (“X”) perpendicular to the surface direction of the unit cell layer 10, and the reference electrode 11r to be adjacent to the end face portion along the one surface, to prevent problems such as misalignment of the electrode composition due to unevenness of the end faces which would result in a decrease in accuracy of potential difference monitoring via the reference electrode (paragraph [0016-0018], figures 1 and 2). Nagayama teaches other positions where the end portion is positioned in the center of the positive electrode and negative electrode (paragraph [0023], fig 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kumagae such that the reference electrode is positioned on a first surface of the battery body in a stacking direction, as Nagayama teaches selecting the position to prevent problems such as misalignment of the electrode composition due to unevenness which would result in decrease in accuracy in the monitoring (Nagayama, paragraph [0016]).
Regarding claim 2, the combination teaches wherein the positive electrode (Kumagae, fig 3, positive electrode terminal 30A) is provided on a first end face of the battery body in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (Kumagae, fig 3, see 30A on the left side, paragraph [0043]),
wherein the negative electrode (Kumagae, fig 3, negative electrode terminal 30B) is provided on a second end face of the battery body in the second direction (Kumagae, fig 3, see 30B on the right side, paragraph [0043]), and
wherein the reference electrode is located closer to one of the first end face and the second end face than the other one of the first end face and the second end face on the first surface of the battery body (note combination, where Nagayama shows in figure 2 the reference electrode 11r may be on the same surface as positive electrode 15p, paragraph [0020]).
Regarding claim 3, the combination teaches wherein the reference electrode contains electrolyte and conductive auxiliary agent (Kumagae, paragraph [0020], note that the positive and negative electrodes may comprise a solid electrolyte and paragraph [0030] positive and/or negative electrodes may contain electronically conductive material, Nagayama, paragraph [0033], positive and negative electrode active layers 15p,15n include binders, conductive additives, electrolyte salts, Nagayama, paragraph [0047], reference electrode active materials may be composed of a mixture similar to that used for the active material layers 15p and 15n).
Regarding claim 4, the combination teaches wherein the positive electrode layer contains a positive electrode active material (Kumagae, paragraph [0020], positive electrode active material), wherein the negative electrode layer contains a negative electrode active material (Kumagae, paragraph [0020], negative electrode active material), and wherein the reference electrode contains the positive electrode active material or the negative electrode active material (Nagayama, paragraph [0047], mixture similar to electrodes 15p and 15n, reference electrode active material 11r can include lithium manganate, lithium titanate, graphite, etc, Nagayama paragraph [0030], positive electrode active material may include LiMn2O4, negative paragraph [0031], electrode active material may include carbon, graphite, acetylene black).
Regarding claim 5, Kumagae teaches a solid-state battery manufacturing method comprising:
forming a multi-layer body (figs 3-4c, 500’) in which a positive electrode layer (figs 3-4C, 10A), an electrolyte layer (20), and a negative electrode layer (10B) are stacked in a first direction (figs 3-4c, vertically);
stacking a reference electrode (paragraph [0049], reference electrode on the same surface as working electrode);
forming a positive electrode (30A) connected to the positive electrode layer on the multi-layer body (fig 3); and
forming a negative electrode (30B) connected to the negative electrode layer on the multi-layer body (fig 3).
Kumagae teaches a reference electrode formed on the same surface as the working electrode (paragraph [0049]), but is quiet to being stacked on the first surface of the multi-layer body in the first direction.
Nagayama et al teaches the positive electrode 15p and reference electrode 11r to be along one surface (“X”) perpendicular to the surface direction of the unit cell layer 10, and the reference electrode 11r to be adjacent to the end face portion along the one surface, to prevent problems such as misalignment of the electrode composition due to unevenness of the end faces which would result in a decrease in accuracy of potential difference monitoring via the reference electrode (paragraph [0016-0018], figures 1 and 2). Nagayama teaches other positions where the end portion is positioned in the center of the positive electrode and negative electrode (paragraph [0023], fig 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kumagae such that the reference electrode is positioned on a first surface of the battery body in a stacking direction, as Nagayama teaches selecting the position to prevent problems such as misalignment of the electrode composition due to unevenness which would result in decrease in accuracy in the monitoring (Nagayama, paragraph [0016]).
Regarding claim 6, the combination teaches further comprising integrally sintering the multi-layer body on which the reference electrode is stacked through a thermal process (Kumagae, paragraph [0016], each layer is preferably made of a sintered body, paragraph [0018], formed by firing, preferably integrally fired together, paragraph [0059], integrally sintered, Nagayama, note that the reference electrode active material is composed of a mixture of binder and additive similar to the positive and negative electrode layers (paragraph [0047]), thus would have been obvious to sinter them all together).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACKY YUEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5749. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 - 6:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Walker can be reached at 571-272-3458. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JACKY YUEN/
Examiner
Art Unit 1735
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735