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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-3, 6 and 9-13 in the reply filed on 10/05/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 4-5, 7-8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10/05/2026.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-13 are currently pending in the application, of claims 4-5 and 7-8 are withdrawn from consideration.
Claims 1-3, 6 and 9-13 are being examined on the merits in this Office Action.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line
In claim 3, line 1, it is suggested to amend “the fluorinated monomer unit contained in the polyvinylidene fluoride (A)” to - - the fluorinated monomer unit contained in (A2) the polymer containing vinylidene fluoride unit and a fluorinated monomer unit- - to conform to prior recitation.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6, and 9-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukahori et al. (JP2012048917A).
The Examiner has provided a machine translation of JP2012048917A. The citation of the prior art in this rejection refer to the machine translation.
Regarding claim 1, Fukahori teaches a positive electrode mixture (P1:L11) comprising:
a polyvinylidene fluoride (A) (i.e., first polymer) (P2:L12-22);
a fluorine-containing copolymer (B) containing vinylidene fluoride unit and tetrafluoroethylene unit (i.e., second polymer) (P2:L12-22);
a positive electrode active material (C) encompassed by the general formula (C): LiyNi1-xMxO2, wherein x is 0.01 ≤ x ≤ 0.7, y is 0.9 ≤ y ≤ 2.0, and M represents a metal atom excluding Li and Ni (P4:L6-21); and
an additive (D),
wherein the additive (D) is a carboxylic acid (i.e., oxalic acid, organic acid anhydrous) (P9:L25-31; P18:L25-26).
It is noted that Fukahori differ in the exact same atomic numbers range as recited in the instant claim however, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have considered the invention to have been obvious because the atomic numbers of Fukahori overlap the instant claimed numbers and therefore is considered to establish a prima facie case of obviousness. It has been held in the courts that in the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Regarding claim 2, Fukahori teaches the polymer the polyvinylidene fluoride (A) is (A1) a polymer containing only vinylidene fluoride unit.
Regarding claim 6, Fukahori teaches the fluorine-containing copolymer (B) has a content of tetrafluoroethylene unit of 20.0-50.0 mol% based on all monomer units (P5:L15-20).
Regarding claim 9, Fukahori teaches wherein a content of the additive (D) is 0.01 to 1% by mass based on a total mass of the polyvinylidene fluoride (A), the fluorine-containing copolymer (B), and the positive electrode active material (C) (P9:L25-31).
Regarding claim 10, Fukahori teaches wherein a mass ratio (A/B) of the polyvinylidene fluoride (A) to the fluorine-containing copolymer (B) is 70/30 (P2:L39-47) (i.e., the mixing ratio of the first polymer and the second polymer is 30%).
Regarding claim 11, Fukahori teaches an organic solvent (P8:L31).
Regarding claims 12-13, Fukahori teaches a secondary battery with a positive electrode having the positive electrode mixture of claim 1 (P8:L37-30).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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. In other words, claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form to incorporate:
all the limitations of claim 1 and claims 2-3, or
Applicant is encouraged to consider amending claim 1 accordingly to place the application in condition of allowance.
The prior art whether alone or in combination do not teach or fairly suggest the limitations “the fluorinated monomer unit contained in the polyvinylidene fluoride (A) is at least one selected from the group consisting of hexafluoropropylene unit, a fluoroalkyl vinyl ether unit, chlorotrifluoroethylene unit, and 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene unit” as recited in claim 3 in combination with the features of claims 1-2.
Pertinent Prior Art
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Muroya et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0355969). Muroya teaches a (A2) a polymer containing vinylidene fluoride unit and a fluorinated monomer unit used for a positive electrode active material (i.e., EFP, VDF-HFP, VDF-HFP-TFE).
Yoo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0020902). Yoo teaches a positive electrode active material with the formula that encompasses the claimed formula (paragraph [0036]-[0037]) with a polymer having PVDF-co-HFP) (paragraph [0071]).
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTIAN ROLDAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5098. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 9:00 am - 7:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TONG GUO can be reached at 571-272-3066. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTIAN ROLDAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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