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 .
Summary
This is the response to the Response to Election/Restriction filed on 07/20/2026.
Claims 1-12 remain pending in the application and have been fully considered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
The Applicants’ arguments regarding the restriction requirement are persuasive. The restriction has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2018/0175370).
Addressing claims 1-3, Kim discloses a resin composition [0161] for secondary battery electrodes, which contains carbon nanotube, a dispersing agent (dispersant) and a dispersion medium (dispersion medium), but does not contain active material, and has a product (X x Y) of a complex elastic modulus X (Pa) and a phase angle Y (o) at 25 oC [0028] and 1 Hz [0012] obtained by dynamic viscoelastic measurement [0026] that is 30 or more and 5,000 or less (Table 3 shows Examples 2-1 and 2-2 having the phase angle and complex elastic modulus that result in a product that falls within the claimed range).
In examples 2-1 and 2-2, Kim does not disclose that the resin composition contains fluororesin.
Kim discloses in paragraph [0097] dispersion stabilizer that includes fluorinated polymers and paragraph [0100] states “the conductive material dispersed liquid having the above-described composition”, which includes the fluorinated polymer as dispersion stabilizer described in the preceding paragraph [0097], “.. then milling such that a phase angle is in a range of 3o to 18o”. In other words, Kim discloses that the inclusion of the dispersion stabilizer still allows the resin composition to maintain the desired properties such as the phase angle and the complex elastic modulus.
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the resin composition in examples 2-1 and 2-2 of Kim with the fluorinated polymer dispersion stabilizer in order to prevent aggregation of the carbon nanotubes [0096]. Furthermore, one would have arrived at the product between the complex elastic modulus and the phase angle that falls within the claimed range when perform routine experimentation with the molecular weight and the amount of dispersion stabilizer within the ranges disclosed by Kim in order to optimize the lapping effect the dispersion stabilizer has on the carbon nanotubes [0096] while maintaining the desired phase angle and elastic modulus.
Addressing claim 4, paragraph [0161] discloses the weight percentage of carbon nanotube is 5.
Addressing claim 5, paragraph [0161] discloses the dispersant is added at 1 wt.% and the carbon nanotubes are added at 5 wt.%, which results in a mass proportion that falls within the claimed range.
Addressing claim 6, paragraph [0093] discloses carbon nanotubes are included between 1 and 33 wt% and paragraph [0099] discloses the fluororesin is added between 1 to 10 wt%, which results in mass proportions of the fluororesin with respect to the carbon nanotubes that fall within the claimed range.
Addressing claim 7, paragraph [0039] discloses the carbon nanotubes include single-walled carbon nanotubes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes.
Addressing claim 9, Kim discloses a method for producing a mixture slurry for secondary battery electrodes, comprising adding an active material to the resin composition for secondary battery electrodes according to claim 1 [0168].
Addressing claim 11, Kim discloses a method for producing an electrode film, comprising:
producing a mixture slurry by adding an active material to the resin composition for secondary battery electrodes according to claim 1 [0168], and
producing an electrode by applying the mixture slurry [0129].
Addressing claim 12, Kim discloses a method for producing a secondary battery including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an electrolyte [0176], comprising:
producing a mixture slurry by adding an active material to the resin composition for secondary battery electrodes according to claim 1 [0168]; and
producing at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode by forming an electrode film by applying the mixture slurry to a current collector [0129].
Claim(s) 8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2018/0175370) in view of Kim et al. (US 2019/004150 or ‘150).
Addressing claims 8 and 10, Kim is silent regarding the resin composition further containing carbon black.
Kim ‘150 discloses a resin composition including carbon nanotubes, a dispersant, a dispersant medium (Abstract) and fluorinated polymers as dispersion stabilizer [0097] similarly to that of Kim. Kim ‘150 further discloses the resin composition contains carbon black [0088, 0091, 0093, 0096].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the resin composition of Kim with the known carbon black disclosed by Kim ‘150 in order to improve the conductivity of the resin composition and obtain the predictable result of forming a resin composition for producing electrode for secondary battery (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BACH T DINH whose telephone number is (571)270-5118. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 8:00 - 4:30 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, Jeffrey Barton can be reached at (571)-272-1307. 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.
/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 09/02/2026
Prosecution Insights