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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 1-3 in the reply filed on May 28th, 2026 is acknowledged.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Honda et al. (US 2021/0288348).
Regarding Claim 1, Honda meets the claimed,
A solid-state battery, ([0066] teaches a solid-state battery) including a first current collector layer, ([0052] and Fig. 1 teaches negative electrode current collector 210) a first active material layer, ([0052] teaches a negative electrode active material 110) a solid electrolyte layer ([0052] teaches a solid electrolyte layer 130) a second active material layer ([0052] teaches a positive electrode active material layer 120), and a second current collector layer ([0052] teaches a positive current collector 220) in order as stated (Fig. 1 teaches the layers in order as stated), wherein: the first current collector layer and the second current collector layer each have an extended portion that extends to an outer circumferential side relative to the first active material layer, the solid electrolyte layer, and the second active material layer over an entire circumference of the first active material layer, the solid electrolyte layer, and the second active material layer (Fig. 1 and [0005] teaches both current collectors having a larger area than the area of the negative electrode active material layer, and necessarily, the positive electrode active material layer and solid electrolyte layer); the first current collector layer and the second current collector layer are joined to each other via a thermoplastic resin layer between the extended portions ([0005] and Fig. 1 teach that the sealing member is disposed in a region sandwiched between the extended regions of the current collectors; [0075] teaches that the sealing member may be a thermoplastic resin); and (i) the first active material layer and the solid electrolyte layer have an extended portion that extends to the outer circumferential side relative to the second active material layer over the entire circumference of the second active material layer (Fig. 1 teaches the negative electrode active material layer 110 and the solid electrolyte layer 130 extending to the outer circumferential side relative to the positive electrode active material layer 120 over the entire circumference), and the extended portion of the solid electrolyte layer and the second current collector layer are joined to each other via the thermoplastic resin layer (Fig. 1 teaches that the extended portion of the solid electrolyte layer 130 is joined to the positive current collector layer 220 by the sealing member 310) or (ii) the first active material layer has an extended portion that extends to the outer circumferential side relative to the second active material layer and the solid electrolyte layer over the entire circumference of the second active material layer and the solid electrolyte layer (Fig. 6 teaches negative electrode active material layer 110 extending outwards relative to the positive electrode active material layer 120 and the solid electrolyte layer 130 over the entire circumference of the positive electrode active material 120 and the solid electrolyte layer 130), and the extended portion of the first active material layer and the second current collector layer are joined to each other via the thermoplastic resin layer (Fig. 6 teaches the negative electrode active material layer 110 joined to the positive current collector layer 220 through sealing member 310 along the extended portion).
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honda et al. (US 2021/0288348).
Honda teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, which Claim 2 is dependent upon, but does not teach the specified range of 0.05 mm to 2.0 mm for the thickness from the outer surface of the first current collector layer to the outer side surface of the second current collector layer.
However, Honda does teach a range of 0.025 mm to 1.1 mm (aggregate sum of ranges for the current collectors, electrode layers, and electrolyte layers). In the case where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art, there exists a prima facie case of obviousness (See MPEP 2144.05).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use a selected portion of the range of thickness (0.05 mm to 1.1 mm) as taught by Honda, which overlaps the instantly claimed range.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honda et al. (US 2021/0288348) in view of Sasaki et al. (US 2022/0173462).
Honda meets the claimed,
[…] the thermoplastic resin layer has an extended portion that extends to the outer circumferential side relative to the first current collector layer and the second current collector layer over the entire circumference of the first current collector layer and the second current collector layer ([102] and Fig. 6 teach the resin layer having an extended portion, extending to the outer circumferential side and over the entire circumference of the current collector layers).
Honda does not teach an insulation film on any surface of the battery, nor any extended portions of current collectors or collector tabs.
Sasaki meets the claimed,
The solid-state battery according to claim 1, wherein: the first current collector layer, the first active material layer, the solid electrolyte layer, the second active material layer, and the second current collector layer are sealed by a first insulation film ([106] teaches that base material layer 1 must be insulation quality, and thus, it is an insulator. [0030] and Fig. 1 teaches base material layer 1 being layered on both sides of the battery) layered on the outer side surface of the first current collector layer ([0030] and Fig. 1 teach exterior material 10, comprising base material layer 1, layered on the outside of the first current collector layer) and a second insulation film layered on the outer side surface of the second current collector layer ([0030] and Fig. 1 teach exterior material 10, comprising base material layer 1, layered on the outside of the second current collector layer); […] a first collector tab layered on the outer side surface of the first current collector layer or a protruding portion of the first current collector layer protrude from the first and second insulation films so as to exceed the extended portion of the thermoplastic resin layer ([0055] and Fig. 1 teach a terminal 60 which is electrically bonded to negative electrode current collector 22, essentially being an protruding portion of the current collector, and protrudes from the insulation layers); a second collector tab layered on the outer side surface of the second current collector layer or a protruding portion of the second current collector layer protrude from the first and second insulation films so as to exceed the extended portion of the thermoplastic resin layer ([0055] and Fig. 1 teach a terminal 60 which is electrically bonded to positive electrode current collector 32, essentially being an protruded portion of the current collector, and protrudes from the insulation layers); and the first collector tab or the protruding portion of the first current collector layer and the second collector tab or the protruding portion of the second current collector layer are insulated from each other by being offset from each other in a plane direction of the solid-state battery ([0056] teaches two terminal 60s that are connected to the positive and negative electrode layers are pointed in opposite directions).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use an insulation layer as taught by Sasaki on both surfaces of the battery in order to suppress delamination of the battery cell layers (See [0058], “By uniformly pressing the press surface of the all-solid-state battery, for example, delamination between the solid electrolyte and the positive active material layer can be more suitably suppressed”).
Further, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to extend the current collectors out of the insulation layer as taught by Sasaki in order to allow for electrical conduction through the battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW Y. HO whose telephone number is (571)842-1342. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 - 6:00, Mon - Thurs.
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/A.Y.H./ Examiner, Art Unit 1744
/MICHAEL M. ROBINSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1744
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