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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wada et al (EP3716301).
Regarding claim 1, Wada teaches a battery separator made of only cellulose and having an air permeability of 2.1 sec/100ml (conventional example 1, 0157-0158, 0183, table 1).
Regarding claim 2, Wada teaches the material to be nonwoven fabric (0007-0010).
Regarding claim 3, Wada teaches the separator to include only cellulose (0183).
Regarding claim 4, Wada teaches the separator to include only cellulose (0183).
Regarding claim 5, Wada teaches the separator to include only cellulose (0183).
Regarding claim 6, Wada teaches the fiber diameter to be 2.5 µm (conventional example 3, 0162, table 2).
Regarding claim 7, Wada teaches in conventional example 1, the thickness of the material to be 30.0µm and the density is 0.40 g/cm3 (0157). Utilizing these parameters, the areal density is within the claimed range.
Regarding claim 8, as the cellulose material of Wada is the same as the instantly claimed material, and cellulose material is not a pore forming material, the instant claim is considered to be taught.
Regarding claim 9, the material of Wada is considered to be within the instantly claimed range of the contact angle being less than 90 degrees (0157-0158).
Regarding claim 10, Wada teaches the separator to include only cellulose (0183).
Conclusion
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/SARAH A. SLIFKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759 February 5, 2026