CTNF 18/288,255 CTNF 97502 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/25/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 7 recites the limitation "the Ni layer that is in contact with the positive electrode active material layer" in lines 2-3 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Here, it is noted that claim 7 depends upon claim 5, which provides antecedent basis for “the Ni layer that is in contact with the negative electrode active material layer”. Based on claim 5, only one Ni layer has been given antecedent basis in claim 7. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim(s ) 1-6, 9, and 10 is /are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ts utsumi (US 20190027732 A1), further in view of Kawamura (WO 2021075253 with US equivalent 20240105960 A1) used for citation purposes. Re garding Claim 1, Tsutsumi is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art of metal hydride batteries (Paragraph 0045, “Prior to a description on each embodiment of the invention, a description will be given of a nickel-metal hydride battery as an example of a secondary battery to which the invention is applied.”), disclosing a bipolar electrode for a metal hydride battery which comprises a current collector including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, as shown in their figure 3, where the current collector 4 is flanked by electrode units 11, having a positive electrode active material layer on a second surface and a negative electrode active material on a first surface (Paragraph 0060, “The electrode unit 11 serves as a power generating element and includes a negative electrode 1 containing a hydrogen storage alloy, a positive electrode 2 containing a positive electrode active material, and a separator 3 interposed between the negative electrode 1 and the positive electrode 2 to permit ion transmission, but prohibit electron transmission. The negative electrode 1 , the positive electrode 2 , and the separator 3 are stacked in an axial direction of the current collectors 4 , and the electrode unit 11 is accommodated in the space defined by the current collectors 4 .”). Additionally, Tsutsumi discloses structure where the negative electrode active material layer contains a metal hydride (Paragraph 0045, “a description will be given of a nickel-metal hydride battery”). Additionally, Tsutsumi discloses structure where the current collector includes a steel sheet (Paragraph 0024, “Also in the bipolar battery of the invention, each of the current collectors is formed of a nickel-plated steel plate.”) Additionally, in regards to the limitation which requires that the current collector include a Ni-Fe alloy layer formed on at least one surface of opposite surfaces of the steel sheet, Tsutsumi fails to disclose said structure. Therefore, we look to Kawamura, which is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art secondary batteries (Abstract, “An electrolytic foil and a battery current collector is provided in which the risk of breakage or tearing during manufacturing presented by reduced thickness can be restrained, and which possess sufficient strength for repeated charging and discharging in a secondary battery.”). Here, Kawamura discloses an electrolytic foil coated on a current collector which comprises a Ni-Fe alloy layer (Abstract, “The electrolytic foil and the battery current collector contain a Ni—Fe alloy layer,”) applied on both the positive and negative electrode current collectors (Paragraph 0029, “Note that the alloy electrolytic foil of the present embodiment is applied to a current collector of a battery negative electrode and can be applied also to a current collector of a battery positive electrode.”). Here, Kawamura discloses that their Ni-Fe alloy layer allows for a reduction of the risk of breakage and tearing during manufacturing, as well as having sufficient strength for repeated charging and discharging (Paragraph 0014, “It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrolytic foil and a battery current collector in which the risk of breakage or tearing during manufacturing presented by reduced thickness can be restrained and which have sufficient strength for repeated charging and discharging in a secondary battery.”; Paragraph 0039, “which can suppress wrinkling or breakage even in a case of using an active material large in volume change when charging and discharging of a secondary battery are repeated.”). Accordingly, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to apply the Ni-Fe alloy to the both the first and second surfaces of Tsutsumi’s current collector based on Kawamura’s teaching (Paragraph 0029, “Note that the alloy electrolytic foil of the present embodiment is applied to a current collector of a battery negative electrode and can be applied also to a current collector of a battery positive electrode.”), thereby reading upon and making obvious the limitation of the instant claim which require a Ni-Fe alloy layer formed on at least one surface of opposite surfaces of the steel sheet. Regarding Claim 2, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of claim 1. Additionally, the foil layer of Kawamura’s Ni-Fe alloy layer has a thickness of 1.5 to 10 microns (Paragraph 0015, “An electrolytic foil of the present invention is (1) an electrolytic foil containing a Ni—Fe alloy layer, which is characterized by having a thickness of 1.5 to 10 μm”), meeting the requirement of the claim that the thickness is 1.0 microns or more. Regarding Claim 3, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of claim 1. Additionally, as discussed above, Kawamura discloses and makes obvious the application of their Ni-Fe layer to the positive and negative electrode sides of the bipolar electrode (Paragraph 0029, “Note that the alloy electrolytic foil of the present embodiment is applied to a current collector of a battery negative electrode and can be applied also to a current collector of a battery positive electrode.”), and therefore is disposed on a same side as the first surface of the current collector, where the first surface is the surface upon which the negative electrode active material layer is provided. Regarding Claim 4, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, as discussed above, Kawamura makes obvious the disposal of the Ni-Fe alloy layer on both the first side and the second side of Tsutsumi’s current collector (Paragraph 0029, “Note that the alloy electrolytic foil of the present embodiment is applied to a current collector of a battery negative electrode and can be applied also to a current collector of a battery positive electrode.”), thereby reading upon and making obvious structure where the Ni-Fe alloy layer is disposed on each of a same side as the first surface of the current collector and a same side as the second surface of the current collector. Regarding Claim 5, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, as discussed above, Kawamura makes obvious the disposal of the Ni-Fe alloy layer on both the first side and the second side of Tsutsumi’s current collector. Additionally, Tsutsumi discloses an additional Ni layer (Paragraph 0050, “nickel-plated steel plate.”). Here, where Kawamura’s Ni-Fe alloy layer is provided on the surface of the conductive substrate, modified Tsutsumi’s Ni layer is applied to the surface of the Ni-Fe alloy layer, and is therefore located between the Ni-Fe alloy layer disposed on a same side as the first surface of the current collector, and the negative electrode active material layer. Regarding Claim 6, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, as discussed above, Kawamura makes obvious the disposal of the Ni-Fe alloy layer on both the first side and the second side of Tsutsumi’s current collector. Additionally, Tsutsumi discloses an additional Ni layer (Paragraph 0050, “nickel-plated steel plate”). Here, where Kawamura’s Ni-Fe alloy layer is provided on the surface of the conductive substrate, modified Tsutsumi’s Ni layer is applied to the surface of the Ni-Fe alloy layer, and is therefore located between the Ni-Fe alloy layer disposed on a same side as the second surface of the current collector, and the positive electrode active material layer. Regarding Claim 9, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Tsutsumi discloses a metal hydride battery comprising multiple bipolar electrodes stacked, where each electrode is the electrode of claim 1, as depicted in their figure 3, which comprises a plurality of said stacked bipolar electrodes. Regarding Claim 10, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of Claim 9. Additionally, Tsutsumi discloses structure wherein the positive electrode active material layer contains nickel hydroxide (Paragraph 0047, “A positive electrode active material is not particularly limited so long as to be usable for a positive electrode of an alkaline secondary battery, and examples thereof may include nickel hydroxide”) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsutsumi (US 20190027732 A1), further in view of Kawamura (WO 2021075253 with US equivalent 20240105960 A1) used for citation purposes as applied to claim 5 above, further in view of Kato (WO 9809003 A1, with US equivalent 6153077 A used for citation purposes) . Regarding Claim 7, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of Claim 5. Additionally, in regards to the limitation which requires a surface of the Ni layer that is in contact with the negative electrode active material layer or with the positive electrode active material layer has a larger surface roughness than the Ni-Fe alloy layer or the steel sheet, Tsutsumi is silent in regards to the roughness values of their nickel layer and steel sheet. Kawamura discloses that their Ni-Fe layer has an arithmetic mean height roughness Sz of preferably less than or equal to 4.0 microns (Paragraph 0048, “Sz . . . less than 4.7, more preferably equal to or less than 4.0”). Accordingly, in regards to the roughness of the nickel layer, we look to Kato, which is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art of manufacturing electrolytic foils (Abstract, “A method of manufacturing a porous electrolytic metal foil,”). Here, for a nickel electrode component, Kato discloses an Rz roughness value of 7 microns on the side the active material is placed on (Column 17 lines 66-67 Column 18 line 1, “The obtained electrolytic nickel foil had a porous structure in which the average thickness was 25 μ, the Rz of S surface was 2 μ, the Rz of M surface was 7 μ,”; column 16 lines 47-53, “A collector with an average thickness of 50 μ whose surface consisted of the M surface was formed by lapping the electrolytic copper foil over another with their S surfaces being brought into contact with each other, and an active material mixture was put on the M surfaces in the same way as in the case of the working example electrode 1, by which a working example electrode 3 was manufactured.”), further teaching that a collector with a nickel layer with said roughness demonstrates a superior decrease ratio of discharge capacity, tensile strength, and manufacturing cost value, compared to comparative examples. Accordingly, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of a nickel layer with an Rz value of 7 microns for the surface of the nickel layer upon which the negative electrode active material is applied. Accordingly, where Kawamura makes obvious a Ni-Fe material with a surface roughness Sz of 4.0 microns or less, which is a three dimensional surface roughness parameter over an area, based on calculating the distance from the largest peak height to the largest pit depth, and Kato makes obvious a surface roughness Rz of 7 microns, where Rz is a two dimensional surface roughness taken over a linear profile, taken as an average of distances from highest peaks to lowest valleys across a linear profile, the roughness Rz of 7 microns can therefore be characterized as rougher than the roughness Sz of 4 microns, thereby reading upon the limitation of the instant claim which requires that the surface of the Ni layer that is in contact with the negative electrode active material layer has a larger surface roughness than the Ni-Fe alloy layer. Regarding Claim 8, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of Claim 7. Additionally, as discussed above, Kato makes obvious a nickel surface with an Rz value of 7 microns, which falls within the claimed nickel surface roughness of 2 microns to 16 microns . 07-21-aia AIA Claim( s) 11-13 i s/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over T sutsumi (US 20190027732 A1), further in view of Kawamura (WO 2021075253 with US equivalent 20240105960 A1) used for citation purposes, further in view of Kato (WO 9809003 A1, with US equivalent 6153077 A used for citation purposes) and Ohmura (US 20040005499 A1). R egarding Claim 11, Tsutsumi is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art of metal hydride batteries (Paragraph 0045, “Prior to a description on each embodiment of the invention, a description will be given of a nickel-metal hydride battery as an example of a secondary battery to which the invention is applied.”), disclosing a method for producing a bipolar electrode for a metal hydride battery, which comprises a step of forming a current collector including a steel sheet (Paragraph 0056, “Specifically, the current collector is formed of a nickel-plated steel plate”) Additionally, in regards to the method comprising a step of forming an Ni-Fe alloy layer, Tsutsumi fails to disclose said structure. Therefore, we look to Kawamura, which is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art secondary batteries (Abstract, “An electrolytic foil and a battery current collector is provided in which the risk of breakage or tearing during manufacturing presented by reduced thickness can be restrained, and which possess sufficient strength for repeated charging and discharging in a secondary battery.”). Here, Kawamura discloses an electrolytic foil coated on a current collector which comprises a Ni-Fe alloy layer (Abstract, “The electrolytic foil and the battery current collector contain a Ni—Fe alloy layer,”) applied on both the positive and negative electrode current collectors (Paragraph 0029, “Note that the alloy electrolytic foil of the present embodiment is applied to a current collector of a battery negative electrode and can be applied also to a current collector of a battery positive electrode.”). Here, Kawamura discloses that their Ni-Fe alloy layer allows for a reduction of the risk of breakage and tearing during manufacturing, as well as having sufficient strength for repeated charging and discharging (Paragraph 0014, “It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrolytic foil and a battery current collector in which the risk of breakage or tearing during manufacturing presented by reduced thickness can be restrained and which have sufficient strength for repeated charging and discharging in a secondary battery.”; Paragraph 0039, “which can suppress wrinkling or breakage even in a case of using an active material large in volume change when charging and discharging of a secondary battery are repeated.”). Accordingly, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to apply the Ni-Fe alloy to the both the first and second surfaces of Tsutsumi’s current collector (Paragraph 0029, “Note that the alloy electrolytic foil of the present embodiment is applied to a current collector of a battery negative electrode and can be applied also to a current collector of a battery positive electrode.”), thereby reading upon and making obvious the limitation of the instant claim which require a step of forming a current collector which includes a Ni-Fe alloy layer. Additionally, where Kawamura makes obvious the step of applying putting the Ni-Fe layer on both surfaces of the steel sheet, this constitutes an Ni layer being provided on at least one of opposite surfaces of the steel sheet. Additionally, in regards to the limitation which requires heat-treating the steel sheet on which the Ni layer is provided to diffuse the Ni in the Ni layer and Fe in the steel sheet, thereby forming the Ni-Fe alloy layer, modified Tsutsumi fails to disclose said structure. Therefore we look to Ohmura, which is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art of surface-treated steel plates (Abstract, “A battery case excellent in glossiness of appearance and working efficiency and a surface- plated steel plate”). Ohmura further teaches a steel plate characterized with an iron-nickel diffusion layer (Paragraph 0009, “In order to attain the object, a surface-treated steel plate for a battery case of claim 1 is characterized by having an iron-nickel diffusion layer as a lower layer”) which is formed by a thermal treatment which comprises heating the steel sheet on which the Ni layer is provided to diffuse the Ni layer and Fe in the steel sheet (Paragraph 0025, “After the plating, a nickel-iron diffusion layer is formed by a thermal treatment. The thermal treatment is carried out under such conditions that a nickel-iron alloy layer is formed as the entire amount, or a nickel layer remains by 3 [mu]m or less in thickness. For the object, a temperature of from 450 to 650[deg.] C. and a time of from 4 to 15 hours are preferred for a thermal treatment by a box type annealing method, and a temperature of from 600 to 850[deg.] C. and a time of from 0.5 to 3 minutes are preferred for a thermal treatment by a continuous annealing method.”). Here, Ohmura discloses that their embodiments which comprise a nickel-iron diffusion layer demonstrate superior discharge characteristics, having a discharge time less than a comparative example without nickel plating that diffuses into the iron layer, shown in their table 1 in regards to their examples and comparative example (Paragraph 0054, “As a result, the case where the discharging time was equal to or longer than Comparative Example 1 was evaluated as "-". The results are shown in Table 1.”). Accordingly, where Ohmura discloses a method which comprises heat treating a steel sheet on which a Ni layer is provided to diffuse the Ni and Fe in the steel sheet, forming a Ni-Fe alloy layer, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of the heat-treating step of Ohmura, thereby reading upon and making obvious the limitation of the instant claim. Additionally, Tsutsumi discloses a step of forming a negative electrode active material layer on a first surface of the formed current collector (Paragraph 0002, “and a negative electrode active material layer disposed on a second face of the current collector”), and a step of forming a positive electrode active material layer on a second surface of the current collector (Paragraph 0060, “a positive electrode active material, and a separator 3 interposed”) Regarding Claim 12, modified Tsutsumi makes obvious the invention of Claim 11 Additionally, in regards to the limitation which requires that the step of forming the current collector further includes forming a roughened Ni layer on the Ni-Fe alloy layer, the roughened Ni layer having a larger surface roughness than the Ni-Fe alloy layer or a larger surface roughness than the steel sheet, Tsutsumi is silent in regards to the roughness values of their nickel layer and steel sheet. Kawamura discloses that their Ni-Fe layer has an arithmetic mean height roughness Sz of preferably less than or equal to 4.0 microns (Paragraph 0048, “Sz . . . less than 4.7, more preferably equal to or less than 4.0”). Accordingly, in regards to the roughness of the nickel layer, we look to Kato, which is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art of manufacturing electrolytic foils (Abstract, “A method of manufacturing a porous electrolytic metal foil,”). Here, for a nickel electrode component, Kato discloses an Rz roughness value of 7 microns on the side the active material is placed on (Column 17 lines 66-67 Column 18 line 1, “The obtained electrolytic nickel foil had a porous structure in which the average thickness was 25 μ, the Rz of S surface was 2 μ, the Rz of M surface was 7 μ,”; column 16 lines 47-53, “A collector with an average thickness of 50 μ whose surface consisted of the M surface was formed by lapping the electrolytic copper foil over another with their S surfaces being brought into contact with each other, and an active material mixture was put on the M surfaces in the same way as in the case of the working example electrode 1, by which a working example electrode 3 was manufactured.”), further teaching that a collector with a nickel layer with said roughness demonstrates a superior decrease ratio of discharge capacity, tensile strength, and manufacturing cost value, compared to comparative examples. Accordingly, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of a nickel layer with an Rz value of 7 microns for the surface of the nickel layer upon which the negative electrode active material is applied. Accordingly, where Kawamura makes obvious a Ni-Fe material with a surface roughness Sz of 4.0 microns or less, which is a three dimensional surface roughness parameter over an area, based on calculating the distance from the largest peak height to the largest pit depth, and Kato makes obvious a surface roughness Rz of 7 microns, where Rz is a two dimensional surface roughness taken over a linear profile, taken as an average of distances from highest peaks to lowest valleys across a linear profile, the roughness Rz of 7 microns can therefore be characterized as rougher than the roughness Sz of 4 microns, thereby reading upon the limitation of the instant claim which requires that the step of forming the current collector further includes forming a roughened Ni layer that has a larger surface roughness than the Ni-Fe alloy layer. Regarding Claim 13, modified Tsutsumi discloses a method for producing a metal hydride battery which comprises a step of producing a bipolar electrode by the production method according to claim 11 (Paragraph 0060, “. The negative electrode 1 , the positive electrode 2 , and the separator 3 are stacked in an axial direction of the current collectors 4 , and the electrode unit 11 is accommodated in the space defined by the current collectors 4 .”), and a step of producing a metal hydride battery by using the bipolar electrode (Paragraph 0066, “The two current collectors 4 , 4 T and the electrode unit 11 enclosed with the current collectors 4 , 4 T constitute one cell 15 . This cell is sandwiched between two terminal plates 16 , 17 . The cell and the terminal plates 16 , 17 are joined with bolts 20 and are secured with nuts 21 . A bipolar battery 10 is thus obtained.”; Paragraph 0045, “Prior to a description on each embodiment of the invention, a description will be given of a nickel-metal hydride battery as an example of a secondary battery to which the invention is applied”), depicted in their figure 3. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN W ESTES whose telephone number is (571)272-4820. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 - 5:30. 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, Basia Ridley can be reached at 5712721453. 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. /J.W.E./Examiner, Art Unit 1725 /Sean P Cullen, Ph.D./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 2 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 3 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 4 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 5 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 6 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 7 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 8 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 9 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 10 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 11 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 12 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 13 Art Unit: 1725 Application/Control Number: 18/288,255 Page 14 Art Unit: 1725
Prosecution Insights