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 Group I, claims 1 and 2 in the reply filed on 9/11/2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 5/6/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed 2/23/2024 has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received 2/23/2024 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
The limitation “a lithium layers” does not make sense.
Correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Okada (JP 2002-032953).
Regarding claim 1, Okada discloses a solid battery comprising an electrode laminate including a porous substrate having a meandering shape, wherein
the porous substrate includes adjacent flat portions that are connected by folded portions that are interposed therebetween (see figure 3),
the flat portions each include a solid electrolyte layer that is filled with a solid electrolyte (page 5 and 6 of translation), and
in the electrode laminate, each of the flat portions has a positive electrode disposed on one surface thereof and a negative electrode disposed on the other surface thereof, the positive electrode including a positive electrode current collector sandwiched between positive electrode mixture layers, the negative electrode including a negative electrode current collector sandwiched between negative electrode mixture layers (page 4 of translation).
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okada (JP 2002-032953) as applied to claim 1, in view of Londarenko (US 2021/0043911).
Regarding claim 2, Okada does not disclose each of the negative electrode mixture layers includes a lithium metal layers. Okada discloses carbon as negative electrode layer (page 4 of translation). Londarenko teaches a lithium ion battery negative electrode active material as lithium metal [0029]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to use lithium metal as the negative electrode active material of Okada, as taught by Londarenko, since either carbon or lithium metal would operate in a lithium ion battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO WALLS whose telephone number is (571)272-8699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F until 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at 571-270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
Prosecution Insights