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 .
The Applicant amended independent claim 1; and canceled claims 3, 6-8, 10. The pending claims are claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hinoki et al., US 2010/0248026, in view of Kawakami, US 5582931, in further view of Lee et al., US 2017/0309915.
Regarding claim 1, Hinoki et al., teaches an electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery (abstract), comprising:
a current collector (abstract), and an active material layer on the current collector (abstract), a coating layer (0097; 0144; 0147-0150), and the polyethylene particles are included in at least one selected from the active material layer (0079; 0083; 0087) and are included in the coating layer (0031; 0034; 0104); coating layer further comprises inorganic particles (0011; 0016; 0020) and a binder (0077; 0084; 0086); and the polyethylene particles have a ratio of a major axis length to a minor axis length of 2.00 (0223); and polyethylene particles have a thickness of 0.1μm to 4 μm (0032; 0074;).
Hinoki et al., does not teach flake-shaped polyethylene particles.
Kawakami teaches a battery electrode comprising polyethylene particles in the shape of flakes (col. 10, lines 35-47).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to insert the teachings of Kawakami into the teachings of Hinoki et al., because although Hinoki et al., does not teach the shape of the polyethylene particles, Kawakami teaches the various shapes of particles, including flake-shaped (col. 10, lines 35-47), which would provide more variety in the shape of the particles.
Hinoki and Kawakami do not teach the inorganic particles comprise CeO2, CaO, GaO, Y2O3, SrTiO3, BaTiO3, Mg(OH)2, or a combination.
Lee et al., teaches inorganic particles comprising CeO2 (0016), CaO2 (0016), Y2O3 (0016), BaTiO3 (0016).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to insert the teachings of Lee into the teachings of Hinoki modified by Kawakami because “an electrode that is surface-coated with inorganic particles…shut down does not take place at high temperature, leading to thermal runaway (0008).
Regarding claim 2, Hinoki et al., modified by Kawakami and Lee, teaches the flake-shaped polyethylene particles have an average particle size (D50) of 0.5 μm to 4 μm (abstract; 0019-0020).
Regarding claim 4, Hinoki et al., teaches the active material layer comprises an active material (0079; 0083; 0087) and further comprises at least one selected from a conductive material (0076; 0081; 0199) and a binder (0077; 0079-0081).
Regarding claim 5, Hinoki et al., teaches the polyethylene particles are included in an amount of less than 8% by mass (0115) based on a total weight of the active material layer (0115).
Regarding claim 9, Hinoki et al., teaches a weight ratio of the sum of the polyethylene particles and the inorganic particles to the binder is 80:20 to 99:1 (0029; 0074; 0111).
Regarding claim 11, Hinoki et al., teaches a rechargeable lithium battery comprising the electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery of claim 1 (abstract).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/10/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant argues that:
“In the interest of advancing prosecution of the present application, and without acquiescing to the rejections, claim 1 is amended herein to delete "boehmite," and to recite, in part, "wherein the flake-shaped polyethylene particles have a thickness of 0.2 µm to 4 µm, and wherein a weight ratio of the flake-shaped polyethylene particles to the inorganic particles is 95:5 to 10:90." Applicant submits that the cited references do not disclose, teach, or suggest the remaining features of claim 1.”
However, a new reference, Lee et al., US 2017/0309915, teaches inorganic particles comprising CeO2 (0016), CaO2 (0016), Y2O3 (0016), BaTiO3 (0016).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to insert the teachings of Lee into the teachings of Hinoki modified by Kawakami because “an electrode that is surface-coated with inorganic particles…shut down does not take place at high temperature, leading to thermal runaway (0008).
Hinoki et al., teaches an electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery (abstract), comprising:
the polyethylene particles are included in at least one selected from the active material layer (0079; 0083; 0087) and the polyethylene particles have a ratio of a major axis length to a minor axis length of 2.00 (0223); and polyethylene particles have a thickness of 0.3 μm to 4 μm (0032; 0074; 0104).
Hinoki et al., does not teach flake-shaped polyethylene particles.
Kawakami teaches a battery electrode comprising polyethylene particles in the shape of flakes (col. 10, lines 35-47).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to insert the teachings of Kawakami into the teachings of Hinoki et al., because although Hinoki et al., does not teach the shape of the polyethylene particles, Kawakami teaches the various shapes of particles, including flake-shaped (col. 10, lines 35-47), which would provide more variety in the shape of the particles.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELA J MARTIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1288. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-4pm.
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ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
/BARBARA L GILLIAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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