DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 15 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bian et al. (WO 2017/171289), machine translation.
Regarding claims 1 and 7, Bian discloses a bipolar plate and redox flow cell comprising:
bipolar plates 118 and 119 including a plate-shaped body 152 (Fig. 6a); and
partition wall 154 (negative electrode spacer comprising an array of discrete structures protruding from the surface of the bipolar plate).
Various other shapes are also envisaged (Fig. 7). Figures 6A and 7 to Bian are provided below.
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Regarding claims 4 and 5, Bian discloses wherein the array of discrete structures is spaced apart from one another along a first axis and a second axis of the bipolar plate, the first axis parallel with a direction of predominant electrolyte flow across the bipolar plate and the second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and wherein the array of discrete structures is not mechanically coupled to one another (Fig. 6A).
Regarding claim 8, Bian discloses wherein the array of discrete structures extends between the surface of the bipolar plate and a membrane separator of the electrode assembly, and wherein the membrane separator is maintained a uniform distance away from the surface of the bipolar plate by the array of discrete structures (Fig. 4).
Regarding claims 15 and 17-19, Bian discloses raised portions interpreted as a square peg (Fig. 7h).
Claims 1, 3-5, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Markiewicz et al. (US 2018/0205067).
Regarding claims 1 and 7, Markiewicz discloses additive manufactured electrode for flow battery comprising:
bipolar plate 150 and may include electrode 10 (para 0091); and
negative electrode spacer comprising an array of discrete structures protruding from the surface of the bipolar plate (Figs. 5A-8B).
Exemplary example 6B is provided below.
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Regarding claim 3, Markiewicz discloses additive manufacturing techniques (para 0014).
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Markiewicz discloses wherein the array of discrete structures is spaced apart from one another along a first axis and a second axis of the bipolar plate, the first axis parallel with a direction of predominant electrolyte flow across the bipolar plate and the second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and wherein the array of discrete structures is not mechanically coupled to one another (Figs. 5A-8B).
Regarding claim 8, Markiewicz discloses wherein the array of discrete structures extends between the surface of the bipolar plate and a membrane separator of the electrode assembly, and wherein the membrane separator is maintained a uniform distance away from the surface of the bipolar plate by the array of discrete structures (Fig. 12B).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-14 are allowed.
Claims 2, 6, 16, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/CARLOS BARCENA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723
