DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A-1 (claims 3-4) and Species B-1 (claim 7) in the reply filed on June 5th, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 5 and 8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected Species A-2 and B-2, respectively, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2022-0104754, filed August 22nd, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements (IDS) submitted on August 21st, 2023 and March 12th, 2025 have been received and considered by the Examiner.
Claim Interpretation
All “wherein” clauses are given patentable weight unless otherwise noted. Please see MPEP 2111.04 regarding optional claim language.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to for the following informality:
Claim 9, line 2 recites the limitation “a ratio,” while Claim 9, line 4 recites the limitation “5 to 90%.” For consistency, these limitations should either both refer to a ratio (X:Y) or both refer to a percentage (X%).
Further clarification is required.
Prior Art
Cho US PG Publication 2016/0204464 (“Cho”)
Koga US PG Publication 2021/0184253 (“Koga”)
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.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 9-10, and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho US PG Publication 2016/0204464.
Regarding Claim 1, Cho discloses an all-solid-state battery (Abstract, [0019], entire disclosure dependent upon) comprising:
a positive electrode plate including a positive electrode current collector [layer] 101 and a positive electrode [active material] mixture layer 102 on the positive electrode current collector 101 (Fig. 7, [0026], [0079]);
a solid electrolyte layer 120 disposed [on the positive electrode mixture layer 102] on at least one side of opposite sides of the positive electrode plate ([0019], [0082]); and
a negative electrode plate [including a negative electrode active material mixture 112] positioned on a first side of the solid electrolyte layer 120 [opposite the positive electrode plate] (Fig. 7, [0082]),
wherein the positive electrode mixture layer 102 includes a groove having a depth [protruding] in a stacking direction (as shown as a zigzag pattern in Fig. 7 reproduced below, [0081]).
While Cho does not explicitly disclose wherein the solid electrolyte further includes a charging portion filled in the groove, Cho does disclose that an empty space provided by adjusting the amount of active material allows for a buffer space for easing an overall volume change of the secondary battery during charging and discharging operations ([0124]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the battery of Cho such that the solid electrolyte further includes an empty space as a charging portion filled in the groove formed by the positive electrode mixture layer in order to ease an overall volume change of the secondary battery during charging and discharging operations, as taught by Cho.
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Annotated Figure 7 of Cho
Regarding Claim 2, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 1, and Cho discloses the negative electrode plate, the solid electrolyte layer 120, and the positive electrode plate form one of a first stacked structure 500 including the negative electrode plate, the solid electrolyte layer 120, the positive electrode plate, the solid electrolyte layer 120, and the negative electrode plate in this order (Fig. 10, [0098]), and
a secondary battery 600’ including the negative electrode plate the solid electrolyte layer, and the positive electrode plate in this order (Fig. 34, [0124]).
Regarding Claim 3, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 2, and Cho discloses wherein the groove and the charging portion have a first width at a side of the solid electrolyte layer in the stacking direction, and have a second width at a side of the positive current collector, and an end of the first width and an end of the second with can be connected by a tilted angle forming an inclined surface (Fig. 34, [0081]).
While Cho does not explicitly disclose wherein the second width is smaller than the first width, Cho does disclose that the empty space defining the charging portion and the groove (as defined by the protruding amount of active material) is determined by varying the amount of active material within the positive electrode mixture layer ([0081], [0124]), that the layer may be deposited on the current collector layer such that the groove has a tilted angle ([0081]), and that the thickness of the positive electrode mixture layer is preferably between 1 and 30 µm ([0129]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to try each and every combination of widths as disclosed by Cho including the instances where the second width is smaller than the first width.
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Annotated Figure 34 of Cho
Regarding Claim 4, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 2, and Cho discloses wherein the groove and the charging portion have a first width at a side of the solid electrolyte layer in the stacking direction, and have a second width at a side of the positive current collector, and an end of the first width and an end of the second with can be connected by a tilted angle forming an inclined surface (Fig. 34, [0081]).
While Cho does not explicitly disclose wherein the second width is a point, Cho does disclose that the empty space defining the charging portion and the groove (as defined by the protruding amount of active material) is determined by varying the amount of active material within the positive electrode mixture layer ([0081], [0124]), that the layer may be deposited on the current collector layer such that the groove has a tilted angle ([0081]), and that the thickness of the positive electrode mixture layer is preferably between about 1 and 30 about µm ([0129]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to try each and every combination of widths as disclosed by Cho including the instances where the second width is a point relative to the first width.
Regarding Claim 6, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 2, and Cho discloses wherein the positive electrode mixture layer has a first height in the stacking direction, and the groove and the charging portion have a second height ([0124]).
While Cho does not explicitly disclose wherein the second height is smaller than the first height, Cho does disclose that the empty space defining the charging portion is determined by varying the amount of active material within the positive electrode mixture layer ([0124]) and that the thickness of the positive electrode mixture layer is preferably between 1 and 30 µm ([0129]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to try each and every combination of heights as disclosed by Cho including the instances where the second height is smaller than the first height.
Regarding Claim 7, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 2, and Cho discloses wherein the groove is distributed over an entire area with respect to a plane of the positive electrode layer ([0120]-[0121]). While Cho does not disclose wherein the groove is formed in a plurality of circular shapes, Cho does disclose wherein the groove forms a zigzag1.
1 The change in form or shape, without any new or unexpected results, is an obvious engineering design. See In re Dailey, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1976) (see MPEP § 2144.04).
Regarding Claim 9, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 2, and Cho discloses wherein a ratio (H2/H1) of the second height (H2), which is a depth of the groove and the charging portion to the first height (H1), which is an entire thickness of the positive electrode mixture layer is less than 100 % (which encompasses the claimed range of 5 to 90%)2 ([0110] – wherein the protrusion defining the groove and charging portions is the first active material sheet 102a’ within the first active material layer and the entire first active material layer comprises at least first active material sheets 102a’ and 102b’).
2 In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976).
Regarding Claim 10, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 2, and Cho discloses wherein a first width of the groove and the charging portion is at least 1 µm (which encompasses the claimed range of 1 to 100 µm)2 ([0129]).
2 In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976).
Regarding Claim 14, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 2, and Cho discloses wherein the positive electrode mixture layer further includes an additional [first conductor] layer 103 disposed on a surface in the stacking direction to increase ionic conductivity ([0077]).
Regarding Claim 15, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 14, and Cho discloses wherein the additional layer 103 further includes an inner layer 102a disposed on an inner surface of the groove ([0094]).
Regarding Claim 16, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 15. Claim 16 puts forth limitations, specifically a filling portion, not defined in the claims from which it depends. Therefore, the battery of Cho is considered to meet the requisite limitations of Claim 16.
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho US PG Publication 2016/0204464, as applied to Claim 10, further in view of Koga US PG Publication 2021/0184253.
Regarding Claims 11-13, Cho teaches the instantly claimed battery according to Claim 2. Cho is silent in regards to particle sizes of the solid electrolyte.
However, Koga discloses a solid electrolyte comprising first, second, and third particles (Abstract, [0011]-[0012], [0016], entire disclosure dependent upon).
Koga teaches forming the solid electrolyte layer by arranging the particles such that the first particle has a size of less than 10 µm ([0064]), the second particle has a size less than that of the first particle and fills the gaps between the first particles ([0064], [0075]), and the third particle has a size less than the first and second particle sizes and is included in the positive electrode layer (Fig. 2, [0099]) in order for the solid electrolyte to have a high ionic conductivity ([0075]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the battery of Cho such that the solid electrolyte comprises: first particles having a first particle size of a solid electrolyte forming the solid electrolyte layer of less than 10 µm (which encompasses the claimed range of 2 to 5 µm)2, second particles having a second particle size of a solid electrolyte forming a filling portion between the gaps of the first particle having a size of less than 10 µm (which encompasses the claimed range of 1 µm or less)2 and that is smaller than the first particle size, and a third particle having a third particle size of the solid electrolyte included in the positive electrode mixture layer of less than 10 µm (which encompasses the claimed range of 0.1 to 2 µm)2, in order for the solid electrolyte to have a high ionic conductivity, as taught by Koga.
2 In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976).
Conclusion
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/O.M.M./Examiner, Art Unit 1729
/ULA C RUDDOCK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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