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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I: claims 1-6 in the reply filed on July 15, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takehara et al. (JP 2001338649A).
Claims 1-2 and 4: Takehara teaches a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising;
a negative electrode comprising a mixture of negative electrode active material and a lithium alloy and a binder, disposed on a current collector made of a SUS (steel) mesh [0029, 0036];
a positive electrode comprising a clay-like mixture of active material including LiMn2O4 and a binder, disposed on a current collector made of a SUS(steel) mesh and Ti (titanium) wire (i.e., the current collector has and electron conductive layer with pores) [0034-0035]; and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution prepared by dissolving an electrolyte such as LiPF6 in a non-aqueous solvent such as propylene carbonate [0036, 0030],
wherein the non-aqueous electrolyte is impregnated into the battery including the active material layer [0010] particularly the gold sol adhered to the active material particles that prevents leaching of mineral into the electrolyte [0025]. Since the porous current collector is laminated with the active material layer is immersed in the electrolyte, it follows that the electrolyte is also present in the current collector.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Isoyama et al. (US 5494762).
Claim 1: Isoyama teaches a non-aqueous electrolyte lithium ion secondary cell that can offer high discharge energy density (Col 1 lines 37-40, Col 6 lines 60-63, Column 8 lines 9-23), having:
a non-aqueous electrolyte solution (Col 5 lines 39-44, Col 12 lines 30-35),
a current collector (36) of a positive electrode (32) comprising an electron conductive material such as steel or aluminum (Fig. 13) (Col 12 lines 59-64, Col 13 lines 22-43, Col 35 lines 25-50),
and active material (34) comprising of a mixture of compounds including LiMn2O4 disposed on the current collector (Col 12 lines 11-15, Col 2 lines 5-10, Col 36 lines 59-63),
wherein the current collector comprises protrusions (38) on the on the surface of the current collector made of an uneven material or a network material comprising the material of the current collector, or an oxide of the oxidized current collector, wherein the protrusion protrudes into the active material layer to increase the area of release of electrons, which sufficiently reduces internal resistance, thereby increasing energy capacity (Col 2 lines 1-4, Col 12 lines 35-43, Col 13 lines, Col 13 lines 45-59 , col. 35 lines 25-40),
wherein the electrolyte is impregnated in the spaces created in the active material and is in contact with the electrode active material (Col 8 lines 10-40, Col 16 lines 25-29, Col 23 lines 23-32) (thus, the electrolyte liquid is also present in the conductive layer).
Claims 2 and 4: Isoyama teaches the current collector comprises a network material such as a wire form (i.e., wire net) or fibrous form ( i.e., metal fiber sheet) (Col 12 lines 59-64).
Claim 6: Isoyama teaches the current collector has protrusions on the surface of the current collector, wherein the protrusion protrudes into the active material layer as described above (Col 2 lines 1-4, Col 12 lines 35-43, Col 35 lines 42-48).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isoyama et al. (US 5494762), and further in view of Shishikura et al. (US 4537843 A).
Claim 3: Isoyama teaches a current collector comprising of a wire net as described above. Isoyama does not teach the network fineness of the wire net. However, Shishikura teaches a secondary battery (Col 3 lines 10-15) with a high energy density comprising an 80-mesh platinum net current collector for the positive and negative electrodes (Col 9 lines 25-30, 33-36), and an electrolyte dissolved in an organic solvent (i.e., a non-aqueous electrolyte) (Col 2 lines 67-68, Col 3 lines 1-3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant to have prepared Isoyama’s wire net current collector with a network fineness of 100 mesh because Shishikura teaches such is an operable current collector.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isoyama et al. (US 5494762), and further in view of Mori et al. (JP 2009212113 A).
Claim 5: Isoyama teaches a current collector comprising of a metal fiber sheet as described above. Isoyama does not teach the thickness or porosity of the metal fiber sheet. However, Mori teaches an electrode having high capacity and low resistance comprising a current collector made of conductive metal fiber sheet applicable to a lithium ion secondary battery using LiMn2O4 positive electrode active material [0001, 0007-008, 0024, 0034-0036]; wherein the metal fiber sheet is used in a porous state wherein the pores are connected to each other which allows an electrolyte to penetrate into the porous structure of the current collector such that the electrolyte is replenished to the electrode layer thereby lowering ion diffusion resistance and improving current collecting property [0011, 0023], and a slurry of electrode active material is supported on the porous current collector [0009],
wherein the metal fiber has a thickness of 10-200 µm [0028],
and the preferred porosity of the metal fiber sheet is between 30% and 95%. Mori, when the porosity is lower than 30% the sheet density increases and the amount of penetration of the electrolytic solution decreases and the effect of reducing the resistance decreases, and when the porosity is higher than 95% the number of fibers constituting the sheet decreases, the strength of the sheet decreases, the number of contact points between the metal fibers decreases and resistance increases [0032]. Mori does not identically teach the range greater or equal to 50%. However, overlapping ranges have been held to support a case of obviousness (See MPEP 2144.05.I)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant to have prepared Isoyama’s metal fiber sheet current collector with a thickness in the range 10-200 µm and porosity of 50% so that the current collector has sufficiently low ion diffusion resistance.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chen et al. (US 20200321619 A1) teaches a lithium ion battery comprising metal mesh wire anode and cathode current collectors, and electrode material disposed on the current collector and a polymer electrolyte [0007].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINAH RUSERE whose telephone number is (571)272-9954. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00 EST.
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, Michael Cleveland can be reached at 571-272-1418. 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.
/L.N.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1712
/MICHAEL B CLEVELAND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1712
Prosecution Insights