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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 22 June 2023, 14 December 2023, and 18 November 2024 were considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: "is attached to at least one of side surfaces". Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-5, 8, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2020/0373625 (Ono et al., hereinafter, “Ono”).
Regarding claim 1, Ono teaches:
A secondary battery (¶ 0023, stacked battery), comprising:
an electrode assembly (¶ 0023, power generation element) including a plurality of first electrode plates (¶ 0023, plurality of electrodes) coated with a first active material (¶ 0024, positive electrode active material layer 12 is disposed on at least one surface of a positive electrode current collector 11), a plurality of second electrode plates coated with a second active material (¶ 0024, negative electrode active material layer 22 is disposed on at least one surface of a negative electrode current collector 21), and a separator positioned between each of the plurality of first electrode plates and each of the plurality of second electrode plates (¶ 0023, plurality of separators); and
a case accommodating the electrode assembly through an internal space (¶ 0023, exterior member 50 that accommodates the power generation element), wherein the electrode assembly includes a fixing member on at least one surface in contact with the case (¶ 0023, second bonding portions 62 for bonding outermost layers 40a of the power generation element 40 and an inner side 50a of the exterior member 50).
Figure 4 of Ono is attached for reference.
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Regarding claim 2, Ono teaches the battery of claim 1, wherein the second bonding portions 62 (fixing member) are attached to a lower surface of the power generation element (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 3, Ono teaches the battery of claim 1, wherein the second bonding portions 62 (fixing member) are attached to a top and bottom side (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 4, Ono teaches the battery of claim 1, wherein the second bonding portions 62 (fixing member) are attached to two surfaces facing each other among the side surfaces, the top and bottom side (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 5, Ono teaches the battery of claim 1, and in paragraph 0035 Ono states the outermost layer 40a of the power generation element 40 shown in Figure 4 is the negative electrode current collector 21, but that it is not limited to this case and can be any other layer of the power generation element, including the negative electrode active material layer 22, or the positive electrode active material 12. Furthermore, the electrode active material layers 12 and 22 do not fully coat the electrode current collectors 11 and 22 where they extend to the tab, making them only semi-coated. Therefore, in the case that the outermost layer is either a positive or negative electrode active material layer, the stacked battery would include a semi-coated portion on a region of the outer surface of the outermost electrode plate to which an active material is not applied, and the second bonding portion 62 (fixing member) would be attached to the semi-coated portion (Fig. 4, ¶ 0035).
Regarding claim 8, Ono teaches the battery of claim 1, wherein the second bonding portion 62 (fixing member) can be made of an olefin-based resin such as polyethylene (¶ 0031).
Regarding claim 10, Ono teaches the battery of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of first substrate tabs protruding from the plurality of first electrode plates as shown in Figure 4 (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 11, Ono teaches:
a secondary battery (¶ 0023, stacked battery), comprising:
an electrode assembly (¶ 0023, power generation element); and
a case accommodating the electrode assembly through an internal space (¶ 0023, exterior member 50 that accommodates the power generation element), wherein the electrode assembly includes a first fixing member on a first surface in contact with the case and a second fixing member on a second surface in contact with the case (¶ 0023, second bonding portions 62 for bonding outermost layers 40a of the power generation element 40 and an inner side 50a of the exterior member 50, Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 12, Ono teaches:
a secondary battery (¶ 0023, stacked battery), comprising:
an electrode assembly (¶ 0023, power generation element) including a plurality of first electrode plates (¶ 0023, plurality of electrodes) coated with a first active material (¶ 0024, positive electrode active material layer 12 is disposed on at least one surface of a positive electrode current collector 11), a plurality of second electrode plates coated with a second active material (¶ 0024, negative electrode active material layer 22 is disposed on at least one surface of a negative electrode current collector 21), and a separator positioned between each of the plurality of first electrode plates and each of the plurality of second electrode plates (¶ 0023, plurality of separators);
a plurality of first substrate tabs protruding from the plurality of first electrode plates (Fig. 4);
a plurality of second substrate tabs protruding from the plurality of second electrode plates (Fig. 4); and
a case accommodating the electrode assembly through an internal space (¶ 0023, exterior member 50 that accommodates the power generation element), wherein the electrode assembly includes a first fixing member on a first surface in contact with the case and a second fixing member on a second surface in contact with the case (¶ 0023, second bonding portions 62 for bonding outermost layers 40a of the power generation element 40 and an inner side 50a of the exterior member 50, Fig. 4).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 6-7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2020/0373625 (Ono) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2017/0346130 (Maeda et al., hereinafter, “Maeda”).
Regarding claims 6-7, and 9, Ono teaches the battery of claims 1 and 5, but does not teach a first thickness of the fixing member corresponding to a second thickness of the active material in an area other than the semi-coated portion, that the fixing member is a tape or spray coating, or that the fixing member is 10µm - 60µm.
In the same field of endeavor of batteries, Maeda is directed to a double-sided tape for fixing electrode stacks to cases. The tape is made of a heat-sensitive adhesive with thickness of 1 - 20µm (¶ 0059), a pressure-sensitive adhesive with thickness of 2 - 10 µm (¶ 0060), and a substrate polyolefin film with thickness of 10 - 100µm (¶ 0029), for a combined thickness of 13 - 130µm. Maeda also teaches a negative electrode active material with thickness of 30 - 300µm (¶ 0115), overlapping with the range of the fixing member. The thickness of the heat-sensitive and pressure-sensitive adhesive layers are between 1 - 20µm and of 2 - 10µm, respectively, to optimize adhesive force and battery capacity (¶ 0059), and the thickness of the polyolefin film is between 10 - 100µm for ease of handling (¶ 0029). Additionally, using both a heat-sensitive side and pressure-sensitive side allows for better capacity retention ratios after vibration and high temperature tests (¶ 0170, Table 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have utilized the double-sided tape of Maeda with the stacked battery and case of Ono. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve the battery’s resilience to high temperatures and vibrations.
Conclusion
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/M.F./Examiner, Art Unit 1784
/HUMERA N. SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1784