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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu (US 2020/0274166; listed in the IDS filed 2 April 2025), in view of Onodera et al. (US 2022/0393252; hereinafter “Onodera”).
Regarding claim 1, Shimizu teaches a power storage device (lithium ion secondary battery 100, see Fig. 1; [0055]) comprising:
an electrolytic solution which contains ethylene carbonate (see [0188]), a solvent having a lower melting point than ethylene carbonate (see [0190]), and a supporting electrolyte containing P (see [0184], and [0198]-[0199]);
a case which houses the electrode body and the electrolytic solution (see [0202]-[0203]), wherein
regarding the amount of P contained in the SEI film which is formed in the negative active material layer (see [0005], [0016], [0020]-[0023], and [0055]-[0057] – since an SEI film is formed on the surface of the negative electrode 30 (see [0055]-[0057]) it would be obvious for the amount of P in the SEI film to also coincide with the relationship of the phosphorus content as discussed in [0020]-[0023]),
with respect to an end portion P (P2, see [0020]-[0023]) see amount in an end portion in a width direction of the negative active material layer (P2, see [0020]-[0023]),
a center portion P (P1, see [0020]-[0023]) amount in a center portion in the width direction is 90 to 105% of the end portion P amount (ratio of P1/P2 is 1 < P1/P2 ≤ 1.30, see [0020]-[0023]).
Shimizu is silent to an electrode body of a wound type in which the electrolytic solution permeates to the inside, the electrode body including a strip-shaped positive electrode plate, a strip-shaped negative electrode plate including a strip-shaped negative active material layer in which an SEI film is formed, and strip-shaped separators, and the electrode body including the negative active material layer having a width dimension of 180 mm or larger.
Onodera teaches an electrode body of a wound type (see Fig. 4) in which the electrolytic solution permeates to the inside (see [0052]-[0054]), the electrode body including a strip-shaped positive electrode plate (positive electrode plate 22, see Fig. 4; [0044), a strip-shaped negative electrode plate (negative electrode plate 24, see Fig. 4; [0044]) including a strip-shaped negative active material layer (negative electrode active material layer 24a, see Fig. 4; [0047]) in which an SEI film is formed (see [0049]-[0050]), and strip-shaped separators (separator 26, see Fig. 4; [0044]), and the electrode body including the negative active material layer having a width dimension of 180 mm or larger (at least 20 cm, equivalent to 200 mm, or more; see [0048] and Fig. 8). Onodera teaches that these dimensions and structures aid in suppressing degradation of battery performance (see [0008]).
In view of Onodera’s teachings, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the power storage device of Shimizu to include an electrode body of a wound type in which the electrolytic solution permeates to the inside, the electrode body including a strip-shaped positive electrode plate, a strip-shaped negative electrode plate including a strip-shaped negative active material layer in which an SEI film is formed, and strip-shaped separators, and the electrode body including the negative active material layer having a width dimension of 180 mm or larger, because they are known dimensions and structures for a wound electrode body and can help to suppress degradation of battery performance.
In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. See MPEP §2144.05(I).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Shimizu and Onodera teaches wherein a middle portion P amount in a middle portion disposed in the middle between the end portion and the center portion of the negative active material layer in the width direction is 96 to 104% of the end portion P amount (Shimizu: ratio of P1/P2 is 1 < P1/P2 ≤ 1.30, see [0020]-[0023]; see also [0069], wherein the first end portion 342 and the second end portion 343 include the middle portion disposed in the middle between the end portion and the center portion of the negative active material since each end portion is (1/3) of the entire length L).
In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. See MPEP §2144.05(I).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Applicant is reminded that the patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. See MPEP §2113.
Conclusion
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/S.S.H/Examiner, Art Unit 1735 1 June 2026
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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