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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 7/11/23, 8/14/24, and 6/12/25 have been considered by the examiner.
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 1-2, 4, 6-7, and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishida et al. (JP 2003-151558).
Regarding claim 1, Ishida teaches an electrode for a secondary battery (abstract) comprising:
an electrode current collector, or electrode core material (11); and
a mixture layer, or positive electrode mixture layer (13), and a gas adsorption layer, or linear coating of gas adsorption element (12) (Figure 1),
wherein the mixture layer has a pattern structure, i.e. striped as seen in Figure 1, and
wherein the gas adsorption layer (11) is disposed in a region where the mixture layer is not disposed (Figure 1).
As for claim 2, it is seen in Figure 1 that the mixture layer (13) and gas adsorption layer (12) form one layer without irregularities on the surface).
Regarding claim 4, Ishida teaches that the coating layer has a thickness of 0.03mm to 0.1mm (p. 4 of machine translation).
As for claims 6-7, Ishida teaches that the gas adsorbent may be activated carbon ([0008]).
With regard to claims 9-10, Ishida teaches the electrode discussed above in a secondary battery including both electrode having a gas adsorption layer (p. 9 claim 6 of the machine translation), a separator, and an electrolyte (abstract).
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 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishida.
The teachings of Ishida as discussed above are incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 3, Ishida teaches that the thickness of the positive electrode layer including the gas adsorption layer is, for example 140 µm wherein the current collector has a thickness of 20 µm (p. 7). For thickness of 60 µm or smaller, which falls within the range of 30-100 µm for the gas adsorption layer, the limitations of claim 3 are met. Absent any additional and more specific information, a prima face case of obviousness exists. MPEP 2144.05
As for claim 5, Ishida is silent on the area of the gas adsorption layer relative to the mixture layer; however, Ishida teaches that both the thickness and the width of the gas adsorption layer are result effective (middle of p. 4 of machine translation). Therefore, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to determine the optimum area of the gas adsorption layer. MPEP 2144.05 II B
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishida as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Lee (KR 2001-0095831).
The teachings of Ishida as discussed above are incorporated herein.
Ishida teaches that the gas adsorbent material may be a metal oxide (p. 4 of machine translation) but is silent on the metals of claim 8.
Lee teaches a gas adsorbent metal oxide, specifically zirconium oxide (abstract).
It would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to use zirconium oxide such as suggested by Lee as the gas adsorbent material of Ishida and the results of the substitution, i.e. gas adsorption, would have been predictable. MPEP 2143 I B
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALIX ECHELMEYER EGGERDING whose telephone number is (571)272-1101. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am - 4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ula Ruddock can be reached at 571-272-1481. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ALIX E EGGERDING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729
Prosecution Insights