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 .
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.
1. Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koike et al. (WO2017014147) in view of Emoto et al (JP2014056834).
As to claim 1,3, Koike et al. discloses a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising (page 2): a wound electrode assembly in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode are wound with a separator interposed therebetween (page 2); and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein the separator includes a porous substrate and in a case where the separator is divided into five regions in a width direction and the five divided regions are defined as a region A positioned at one end of the separator in the width direction, a region B positioned at the other end of the separator in the width direction, a region C positioned at the center portion of the separator in the width direction, a region D positioned between the region A and the region C, and a region E positioned between the region B and the region C, a porosity of each of the region D and the region E is larger than a porosity of each of the region A, the region B and the region C (figure 3c number R1-R3, pages 7-8).
Koike et al. fail to disclose a heat-resistant porous layer disposed on the porous substrate and facing at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode.
Emoto et al. teaches a heat-resistant porous layer disposed on the porous substrate and facing at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode for the purpose of providing a separator that can be excellent in liquid permeability (abstract and paragraph 0007).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant's invention was made to provide Koike et al. with a heat-resistant porous layer disposed on the porous substrate and facing at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode for the purpose of providing a separator that can be excellent in liquid permeability (abstract and paragraph 0007).
As to claim 2, Koike et al. discloses wherein the region D is positioned at greater than or equal to 30% and less than or equal to 90% of a width from the one end to the center portion of the separator in the width direction, and the region E is positioned at greater than or equal to 30% and less than or equal to 90% of a width from the other end to the center portion of the separator in the width direction (figure 3c number R1 are region D and E).
Koike et al. fail to disclose wherein the heat-resistant porous layer faces at least the positive electrode. Emoto et al. teaches wherein the heat-resistant porous layer faces at least the positive electrode for the purpose of providing a separator that can be excellent in liquid permeability (abstract and paragraph 0007).
Therefore , it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant's invention was made to provide Koike et al. with wherein the heat-resistant porous layer faces at least the positive electrode for the purpose of providing a separator that can be excellent in liquid permeability (abstract and paragraph 0007).
Conclusion
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/JANE J RHEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724