DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA ..
Priority
2. Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) is acknowledged. 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
3. Information disclosure statements (IDS), submitted December 7, 2023, February 14, 2024, June 12, 2024, July 15, 2025, September 11, 2025, and July 17, 2026 have been received and considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
4. All “wherein” clauses are given patentable weight unless otherwise noted. Please see MPEP 2111.04 regarding optional claim language.
Claim Objections
5. Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “a copolymer comprising vinylidene fluoride unit” but this limitation is grammatically incorrect nd should be written “a copolymer comprising a vinylidene fluoride unit”. Appropriated correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
6. Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Leitner et al. J Power Sources 244 (2013) 548-551 (hereinafter “Leitner”) as evidenced by Raghavan et al. J Power Sources 184 (2008) 437-443 (hereinafter “KYNAR NPL”).
Regarding Claims 1-11, Leitner discloses in section 2-2 a composite for a positive electrode formation (and a positive electrode, meeting Claims 9 and 10) comprising a copolymer comprising vinylidene fluoride unit and a unit of an other monomer other than vinylidene fluoride, e.g. PVDF-HFP copolymer KYNAR Flex PPA 2801, having a vinylidene monomer and hexafluoropropylene monomer, meeting Claim 5, and being 12% HFP (evidenced by “KYNAR NPL”, meeting Claim 6), and a solvent represented by general formula 1 such as NEP which is N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone (specifically meeting Claim 4 and also meeting Claims 2-3 since this meets general formula 1a where R2a or R3a is H and R2a or R3a is ethyl, a monovalent substituent, and R1 is an organic group having a CO group, the total number of carbon atoms is 5 or more (it’s 6), and at least one of R1a, R2a, and R3a bond to each other to form a ring, meeting Claim 2), and meets general formula 1b-2 of Claim 3 wherein ring A is a 5 membered ring and R4b is an alkyl group with the total number of carbon atoms of ring A and R4b being 5 or more (it’s 6), and the composition further comprising a powder electrode material (LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 from BASF is a powder and a lithium transition metal composite oxide, meeting Claims 7-8), and Leitner further discloses that this positive electrode is formed by coating an electrode material layer using this composition on one side of a current collector (meeting Claim 10) and used in a secondary battery (meeting Claim 11) (see sections 2.2-2.3).
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA S PARK whose telephone number is (571)270-3597. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:30a to 3p Eastern Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ula Tavares-Crockett can be reached on 5712721481. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LISA S PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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