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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on January 10, 2024, March 11, 2024, and September 3, 2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6-8, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2015/0125746, hereinafter Sonobe.
Regarding claims 1 and 10-12, Sonobe teaches a negative electrode [0122] (instant claim 11) for a lithium ion secondary battery [0122] (instant claim 12) that comprises a binder resin, negative electrode active material, a preservative, and an electrical conductivity imparting material [0101]. The active material of the negative electrode is silicon based (silicon monoxide [0095] and [0194]) (instant claim 10). The preservative (reads on claimed dispersant C) is particularly a benziothiazoline-based compound [0106]. The binder resin consists of a styrene-butadiene copolymer latex and an acryl polymer latex where the acryl polymer latex (reads on claimed dispersant B) consists of methacrylic acid (an unsaturated carboxylic acid), N-methylolacrylamide, water as a solvent, as well as other monomers [0191] (instant claim 1). One would appreciate that the presence of the claimed monomers (acid and amide) as the acryl latex polymer provide a copolymer. While the art does not explicitly call them dispersants, one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the preservative and the acryl polymer latex will act as a dispersant when in solution because they are the same claimed materials. The examiner notes that the specific example of [0191] does not include all the claimed particulars in the same example and is therefore not anticipated.
However, it would have been obvious to combine embodiments selecting from the finite
number of options in each of the conductive material and preservative lists described with an expectation of each material in each list performing its function and described as art recognized equivalents for that purpose barring evidence to the contrary (MPEP 2143-2144).
Regarding claim 2, Sonobe teaches the conductive material paste for a non-aqueous electrolyte solution secondary battery [0122] according to claim 1, wherein the copolymer constituting the dispersant (B) (‘acryl polymer latex’) further comprises an aromatic sulfonic acid monomer unit (‘monomers copolymerizable with an acrylic acid ester and/or a methacrylic acid ester include monomers having a hydrophilic group’ [0060] ‘such as styrenesulfonic acid’ [0065]).
Regarding claim 4, Sonobe teaches the conductive material paste for a non-aqueous electrolyte solution secondary battery [0122] according to claim 1, wherein content of the (meth)acrylamide group-containing monomer unit is not less than 25 parts by mass and not more than 400 parts by mass (‘1 part of N-methylolacrylamide’ [0216]) when content of the unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer unit is taken to be 100 parts by mass (‘1 part of methacrylic acid’ [0216]) in the copolymer constituting the dispersant (B) (Because the amount of N-methylolacrylamide and methacrylic acid are equivalent, the content of the (meth)acrylamide group is 100 parts by mass when the content of the unsaturated carboxylic acid is taken to be 100 parts by mass. This value falls within the claimed range).
Regarding claim 6, Sonobe teaches the conductive material paste for a non-aqueous electrolyte solution secondary battery [0122] according to claim 1, wherein the thiazoline or derivative thereof constituting the dispersant (C) (‘preservative’ [0101]) is an isothiazoline or derivative thereof (‘preservative is particularly a benzisothiazoline-based compound’ [0106]).
Regarding claim 7, Sonobe teaches the conductive material paste [0101] for a non-aqueous electrolyte solution secondary battery according to claim 1, further comprising carbon black (‘as the electrical conductivity imparting material, conductive carbons such as carbon black and carbon nanotubes can be used. These electrical conductivity imparting materials may be used in combination of two or more thereof’ [0111]).
Regarding claim 8, Sonobe teaches the conductive material paste for a non-aqueous electrolyte solution secondary battery [0122] according to any one of claim 1, further comprising a particulate polymer (‘styrene-butadiene copolymer latex is a suspension of fine particles’ [0021]), wherein the particulate polymer comprises at least an unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer unit (‘for the styrene-butadiene copolymer latex, the monomer component such as unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer may be copolymerized’ [0022]), an aromatic vinyl monomer unit (‘styrene’ [0021]), and a diene monomer unit (‘1,3-butadiene’ [0021]) as polymer constitutional units.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2015/0125746, hereinafter Sonobe as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2020/0136145, hereinafter Ohta.
Regarding claim 3, Sonobe teaches, as mentioned above, a negative electrode slurry for a lithium ion secondary battery that contains a silicon based active material, a preservative that consists of benziothiazoline [0106], an electrical conductivity imparting material, and a binder resin [0122]. The binder resin includes an acryl copolymer latex that contains an unsaturated carboxylic acid and a (meth)acrylamide group [0191].
However, Sonobe fails to teach the content of the unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer unit being less than 5 parts by mass and not more than 80 parts by mass when all the monomer units are taken to be 100 parts by mass in the copolymer.
Ohta teaches a binder composition for a non-aqueous electrolyte battery that contains (B) at lest one selected from a copolymer of vinyl alcohol and ethyleneically unsaturated carboxylic acid and a neutralized salt of the copolymer (Abstract). The content ratio of vinyl alcohol and ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid in the copolymer of component (B) is preferably in the range of 100/1 to 1/100 in terms of molar ratio. When the content of the ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid is too little, adhesion property and flexibility will be reduced, and when such a content is too much, thermal and electrical stability will be reduced [0025]. Therefore, the amount of unsaturated carboxylic acid in a copolymer is considered an art recognized result effective variable.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the ordinarily skilled artist before the filing date of the claimed invention to have optimized the amount of unsaturated carboxylic acid in dispersant (B) of Sonobe in order to maintain adhesion properties, flexibility, as well as thermal and electrical stability, as taught by Ohta. In optimizing this unsaturated carboxylic acid amount, one would arrive at the claimed range, barring evidence to criticality or unexpected results.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2015/0125746, hereinafter Sonobe as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2018/0351203, hereinafter Tamai.
Regarding claim 5, Sonobe teaches, as mentioned above, a negative electrode slurry for a lithium ion secondary battery that contains a silicon based active material, a preservative that consists of benziothiazoline [0106], an electrical conductivity imparting material, and a binder resin [0122]. The binder resin includes an acryl copolymer latex that contains an unsaturated carboxylic acid and a (meth)acrylamide group [0191].
However, Sonobe fails to teach that at least a portion of the unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer unit in dispersant (B) is in a form of a neutralized salt that is an alkali metal or an ammonium salt.
Tami teaches a lithium ion secondary battery comprising a binder comprising a copolymer and a negative electrode active material containing silicon. The copolymer comprises a monomer unit based on an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid and at least a part of the carboxylic acids are alkali metal salts [0013].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the ordinarily skilled artist before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included the alkali metal salt of Tami in the copolymer of Sonobe in order to form a bond with the silicon active material in the negative electrode mixture and enhance the function of the binder. The breakage of the binding structure between the active material particles due to the expansion and shrinkage can be suppressed and the cycle characteristics of the battery can be improved [0019].
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2015/0125746, hereinafter Sonobe as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2019/0221836, hereinafter Hirose.
Regarding claim 9, Sonobe teaches, as mentioned above, a negative electrode slurry for a lithium ion secondary battery that contains a silicon based active material, a preservative that consists of benziothiazoline [0106], an electrical conductivity imparting material, and a binder resin [0122]. The binder resin includes an acryl copolymer latex that contains an unsaturated carboxylic acid and a (meth)acrylamide group [0191].
However, Sonobe fails to teach the slurry having a pH of not lower than 6 and not higher than 9.
Hirose teaches a negative electrode material including a silicon based active material, a solution C and a conductive assistant agent [0165-0172]. In the case of exhibiting a pH of 6 to 10, the time till gas generation was longer, and the stability of aqueous negative electrode slurry was high. In particular, the stability of aqueous negative electrode slurry was higher when pH of 7 to 9 was exhibited [0196].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the ordinarily skilled artist before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have adjusted the negative electrode slurry of Sonobe to the pH range of Hirose because it increases the stability of the negative electrode slurry [0196].
Conclusion
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/M.K.H./Examiner, Art Unit 1724
/MIRIAM STAGG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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