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 Group 1 in the reply filed on 4/17/26 is acknowledged.
Claims 2, 4, 6, and 7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 4/17/26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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, 3, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20020086216-A1, Sekino (S reference) in view of US-20190088987-A1, Herle (H reference).
Regarding claim 1, S reference teaches a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery [0017] comprising: a wound electrode assembly (2, see Fig. 1 where the electrode is wound, see also [0146]) in which a positive electrode (6) and a negative electrode (9) are wound with a separator (3) interposed therebetween; a non-aqueous electrolyte [0145]; and a battery case (1) for housing the wound electrode assembly and the non-aqueous electrolyte.
S reference teaches the negative electrode current collector is outermost layer of the wound assembly [0146].
S reference does not teach a relationship of A1 > B is satisfied, in which A1 is a nitrogen element concentration derived from a dinitrile group-containing compound in an outermost circumferential surface of the wound electrode assembly, and B is a nitrogen element concentration derived from a dinitrile group-containing compound in an inner region inside the outermost circumferential surface of the wound electrode assembly.
H reference teaches a negative electrode structure (400, see Fig. 4 for all reference numbers). H reference teaches a protective film (440) and first and second polymer films (450, 470) located over the protective film, both of which are formed directly on the current collector (160) in some regions (see circled regions in annotated Fig. 4 below). H reference teaches the polymer films are formed from succinonitrile [0069-0070]. H reference teaches a copper current collector [0041].
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H reference teaches the benefits of the protective films are that reels of electrodes can be wound without having lithium metal touching adjacent electrodes, a stable SEI layer is established for better cell performance, and dendrite formation is suppressed [0038]. H teaches the electrode may be used in a wound assembly [0039].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the instant invention to form the negative electrode of S reference with the protective film of H reference because doing so would achieve the benefits of improved cell performance and suppressed dendrite formation.
The instant claim 1 claims that the concentration of nitrogen derived from a dinitrile group-containing compound in the outermost circumferential layer of the electrode assembly must be greater than the concentration of nitrogen derived from the dinitrile group-containing compound inside of that outermost layer. The instant claim 1 does not claim that the concentration of nitrogen derived from the dinitrile group-containing compound inside of the outermost circumferential layer must be greater than 0, which is further evidenced by the dependent claim 3 of the instant claiming a range that includes a concentration of 0.
It is the examiner’s position that the claim language “outermost circumferential layer” has the broadest reasonable interpretation of meaning the electrode layer which is facing outwards in the electrode assembly, regardless of if it’s the exposed layer facing the case wall. In the case of S reference, the negative electrode assembly is the outermost circumferential layer.
This means that the other layers of the electrode assembly, which include the positive electrode assembly and the separator, would be the inner region inside the outermost circumferential surface of the wound electrode assembly, because they always reside closer to the center of the assembly than the negative electrode assembly they are joined to.
The combination of S reference and H reference would therefore teach all of the claimed matter of the instant claim 1. This is because succinonitrile is a dinitrile group-containing compound, and succinonitrile would be present on the anode assembly, which is outermost circumferential layer as explained above. The dinitrile group-containing compound would not be present in the region inside of the outermost circumferential layer because no dinitrile group-containing compound is present in the electrolyte, separator, or positive electrode layer of the combination. This means that the relationship A1 > B as defined by the instant claim 1 is satisfied by the combination.
Therefore, the instant claim 1 is unpatentable over the combination of S and H references.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of S reference and H reference teaches a ratio (B/A1) of the nitrogen element concentration B in the inner region of the wound electrode assembly to the nitrogen element concentration A1 in the outermost circumferential surface of the wound electrode assembly is 0. 0 is within the claimed range of instant claim 3, which means it anticipates the claimed material of instant claim 3.
Regarding claim 5, H reference teaches the polymer films are formed of succinonitrile which meets the requirements of the formula of instant claim 5.
Conclusion
The above rejections may be overcome and prosecution may be furthered by amending claim 1 to state that the concentration A1 must be in the range of concentrations provided in [0025].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LOUISE JAMES IANNUCCI whose telephone number is (571)272-6917. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M..
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, Allison Bourke can be reached at (303) 297-4684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LOUISE JAMES IANNUCCI/Examiner, Art Unit 1721
/ALLISON BOURKE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1721
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