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. 2. Claims 1- 20 are pending in this office action. Priority 3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f), which papers have been placed of record in the file. Information Disclosure Statement 4. Information disclosure statement s (IDS), submitted October 4 , 2023 ; October 3, 2024; and, October 29, 2025 , ha ve been received and considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. Claim s 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Sugita et al. (US 2016/0254545 A1) . With regard to Claim 1 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, a current collector for a rechargeable lithium battery (10) , comprising: a substrate , called a positive electrode current collector (30) ; and a functional layer , called an intermediate layer (32), on the substrate (30) (paragraphs 0020-0022) , wherein the functional layer (32) includes a flame retardant, a conductive material, and a binder (paragraphs 0026-0027) . With regard to Claim 2 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the flame retardant includes a nitrogen-based flame retardant, a phosphorus based flame retardant, or a combination th ereof (paragraph 0031) . With regard to Claim 3 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the nitrogen-based flame retardant includes melamine, melamine polyphosphate (MPP), melamine cyanurate, a melamine-based copolymer, melamine sulfate, melamine pyrophosphate, melamine borate or a combination thereof (paragraph 0031) . With regard to Claim 4 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the flame retardant is included in an amount of 5% to 70% by weight (paragraph 0032), which meets the claimed limitation of about 50 to about 90 wt% based on a total amount of the functional layer (32) (paragraph 0032). With regard to Claim 5 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the conductive material is included in an amount of 1% to 20% by weight (paragraph 0034), which meets the claimed limitation of an amount of greater than about 0 wt% and less than or equal to about 30 wt%. With regard to Claim 6 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the binder is included in an amount of 0.1% to 10% by weight (paragraph 0035), which meets the claimed limitation of greater than about 0 wt% and less than or equal to about 30 wt%. With regard to Claim 7 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein a weight ratio of a content of the flame retardant; and a sum of the contents of the conductive material and the binder is about 50:50 to about 90:10 (paragraphs 0032-0035) . With regard to Claim 8 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the functional layer (32) has a thickness of about 1 µm to about 5 µm (paragraph 0028) . With regard to Claim 9 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein a ratio of a thickness of the functional layer (32) (1% to 10% by weight) ; and a thickness of the substrate (30) (10% to 50% by weight) is about 1:10 to about 2.5:10 (paragraphs 0022, 0028) . With regard to Claim 1 0 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, a n electrode , called a positive electrode (11), comprising: a current collector , called a positive electrode current collector (30) , and an electrode active material layer , called positive electrode mix layers (31), on at least one surface of the current collector (30) ; and wherein: the current collector includes a substrate (30) and a functional layer , called an intermediate layer (32), between the substrate (30) and the electrode active material layer (31) , and the functional layer (32) includes a flame retardant, a conductive material, and a binder (paragraphs 0020-0027) . With regard to Claim 11 , Sugita et al . disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the electrode active material layer (31) is a positive electrode active material layer, the positive electrode active material layer (31) includes a nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM)-based composite oxide, a nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA)-based composite oxide, a nickel-manganese (Ni-Mn)-based composite oxide, or a combination thereof (paragraph 0023). With regard to Claim 1 2, Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the flame retardant includes a nitrogen-based flame retardant, a phosphorus based flame retardant, or a combination th ereof (paragraph 0031) . With regard to Claim 1 3, Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the nitrogen-based flame retardant includes melamine, melamine polyphosphate (MPP), melamine cyanurate, a melamine-based copolymer, melamine sulfate, melamine pyrophosphate, melamine borate or a combination thereof (paragraph 0031) . With regard to Claim 1 4, Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the flame retardant is included in an amount of 5% to 70% by weight (paragraph 0032), which meets the claimed limitation of about 50 to about 90 wt% based on a total amount of the functional layer (32) (paragraph 0032). With regard to Claim 1 5, Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the conductive material is included in an amount of 1% to 20% by weight (paragraph 0034), which meets the claimed limitation of an amount of greater than about 0 wt% and less than or equal to about 30 wt%. With regard to Claim 1 6, Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the binder is included in an amount of 0.1% to 10% by weight (paragraph 0035), which meets the claimed limitation of greater than about 0 wt% and less than or equal to about 30 wt%. With regard to Claim 1 7, Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein a weight ratio of a content of the flame retardant; and a sum of the contents of the conductive material and the binder is about 50:50 to about 90:10 (paragraphs 0032-0035) . With regard to Claim 1 8, Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein the functional layer (32) has a thickness of about 1 µm to about 5 µm (paragraph 0028) . With regard to Claim 1 9, Sugita et al. disclose in Figures 1-2, wherein a ratio of a thickness of the functional layer (32) (1% to 10% by weight) ; and a thickness of the substrate (30) (10% to 50% by weight) is about 1:10 to about 2.5:10 (paragraphs 0022, 0028) . With regard to Claim 20 , Sugita et al. disclose in Figure 1, a rechargeable lithium battery (10) , comprising: a positive electrode (11) ; a negative electrode (12) ; a separator (13) between the positive electrode (11) and the negative electrode (12) , and an electrolyte solution, wherein the positive electrode (11) , the negative electrode (12) , or both of the positive electrode (11) and the negative electrode (12) are the electrode noted above (paragraphs 0016-0017, 0020-0027). Conclusion 8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT KARIE O APICELLA whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-8614 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 5:00PM 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Nicole Buie-Hatcher can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-270-3879 . 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. /KARIE O'NEILL APICELLA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725