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 .
This is the initial office action for US Patent Application No. 18/252719 by Takahashi et al.
Claims 1-7 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Annaka et al. (US 2019/0348681 A1), herein referred to as Annaka.
Regarding claim 1, Annaka teaches [0026-0030] a negative electrode comprising an electrode mixed layer made from a slurry composition. The slurry composition comprises [0027] a negative electrode active material (electrode active material), a conductive material, and a binder.
Annaka proceeds to teach [0099-0100] the conductive material includes a fibrous conductive material, such as carbon fiber, and slurry composition contains the fibrous conductive material in a proportion of 0.1 mass percent or more. The amount of fibrous conductive material taught by Annaka is considered to overlap the claimed range of 0.3 mass percent and not more than 1.5 mass percent recited in claim 1.
Additionally, Annaka teaches [0027-0028] the binder comprises a copolymer that includes a nitrile group-containing monomer unit and an alkylene structural unit wherein the copolymer has a Mooney viscosity (ML1+4, 100° C.) of not less than 50 and not more than 200. The Mooney viscosity is considered to overlap the claimed range of Mooney viscosity of not less than 70 and not more than 150 recited in claim 1.
Annaka further teaches [0182] the slurry composition contains 4 parts of the copolymer and 4 parts of conductive material (3 parts acetylene black plus 1 part carbon nanotubes), thereby equation to a 1:1 part by mass ratio (100:100), which lies within Applicant’s claimed range of 50 parts by mass and not more than 200 parts by mass of polymer per 100 parts by mass of the conductive material.
The ranges of the mass percent of conductive material present in the slurry composition and the Mooney viscosity of the binder taught by Annaka overlap the claimed ranges recited in claim 1. MPEP Chapter 2144.05, Section I states “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); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990). Therefore, claims 1-5 and 7 are rejected as being obvious over Annaka.
Regarding claim 2, Annaka teaches the slurry composition that renders obvious the claimed electrode composition. Therefore, claimed volume resistivity is considered to be rendered obvious. MPEP Chapter 2112.01, Section I states “Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established”. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977).
Regarding claim 3, Annaka teaches [0097] the binder concentration in the slurry composition is 0.5 mass percent or more. The amount of binder present in the slurry composition taught by Annaka is considered to overlap the claimed range of 0.3 mass percent and not more than 2 mass percent recited in claim 3 (MPEP 2144.05, Section I).
Regarding claim 4, Annaka teaches [0095] the binder may include 40 mass percent or less of polymer containing fluorine atoms. In view of Annaka’s disclosure, this would mean that the total amount of binder would be 60 mass percent or more of the copolymer that includes the nitrile group-containing monomer unit and the alkylene structural unit and 40 mass percent or less of the polymer containing fluorine atoms.
Regarding claim 5, Annaka teaches [0100] the conductive material can include carbon black, which is known to have a particulate form, or carbon nanotubes, which are known to have a plate-shaped form.
Regarding claim 7, Annaka teaches (Claim 7) a non-aqueous secondary battery comprising an electrode mixed layer made from the slurry composition discussed above.
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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Annaka et al. (US 2019/0348681 A1), herein referred to as Annaka in view of Matsumura et al. (US 2018/0277848 A1), herein referred to as Matsumura (provided in Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement filed 5/12/2023).
Annaka teaches a negative electrode comprising an electrode mixed layer made from a slurry composition as discussed above. Annaka however does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations recited in claim 6 wherein the conductive material includes the fibrous conductive material and a conductive material other than the fibrous conductive material in a mass ratio of 100:0 to 50:50.
However, from the same field of technology, Matsumura recites a slurry composition for a secondary battery electrode. In view of claim 6, Matsumura teaches [0131 and 0146] a fibrous carbon nanomaterial is added to the slurry composition as a conductive material. Matsumura teaches it is advantageous to use at least 50 mass percent of the fibrous carbon nanomaterial because the electrical conductivity properties of the electrode mixed material layer are improved and the internal resistance of a secondary battery that includes the electrode mixed material layer is reduced.
At the time of the filing date of the pending application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the slurry composition taught by Annaka to include the teachings of Matsumura directed to including a conductive material comprising fibrous carbon nanomaterial in the slurry composition in order to form an electrode with improved electrical properties and thereby improving the capacity of the secondary battery containing the aforementioned electrode.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEWART A FRASER whose telephone number is (571)270-5126. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7am-4pm, EST.
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/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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