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 Groups I, Embodiment 7 – Figure 13 in the reply filed on 9/23/2026 is acknowledged. Full consideration was given to claims 1-4, 6-10, 12-16, 18. Claims 5, 11, 17, 20 are withdrawn from consideration.
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 4/23/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed 3/11/2024 has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received 3/11/2024 are acceptable for examination purposes.
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)(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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 12-14, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a2) as being anticipated by Kato (WO 2021/132504, using US 2022/0328882 as translation).
Regarding claim 1, Kato discloses a battery comprising: a power-generating element including a plurality of battery cells each including an electrode layer 22, a counter-electrode layer 12, and a solid electrolyte layer 3 located between the electrode layer 22 and the counter-electrode layer 12, the plurality of battery cells being electrically connected in parallel and laminated (fig. 1A, [0115]);
an electrode insulating member 4 covering the electrode layer on a first side surface of the power-generating element;
a counter-electrode lead 51, electrically connected to the counter-electrode layer, that covers the first side surface and the electrode insulating member;
a counter-electrode insulating member 4 covering the counter-electrode layer on a second side surface of the power-generating element;
an electrode lead 52, electrically connected to the electrode layer, that covers the second side surface and the counter-electrode insulating member;
a counter-electrode collector terminal 61 connected to the counter-electrode lead; and
an electrode collector terminal 62 connected to the electrode lead,
wherein the counter-electrode collector terminal 61 and the electrode collector terminal 62 are provided at an identical principal surface 4 (fig. 1) of the power-generating element.
Regarding claim 2, further comprising an intermediate layer 51a, 52a disposed between at least either the counter-electrode collector terminal 61 or the electrode collector terminal 62 and the principal surface 4.
Regarding claim 4, a height of the counter-electrode collector terminal from the principal surface and a height of the electrode collector terminal from the principal surface are equal to each other. Figs. 1, 3B, 5A.
Regarding claim 6, the first side surface and the second side surface face away from each other, and the counter-electrode collector terminal and the electrode collector terminal are arranged in this order along a direction from the first side surface toward the second side surface. Fig. 1A.
Regarding claim 7, the counter-electrode layer includes a counter-electrode collector 11, and a counter-electrode active material layer 12 located between the counter-electrode collector and the solid electrolyte layer 3, at the first side surface, the counter-electrode collector 11 projects further than the counter-electrode active material layer 12, and the counter-electrode lead 51 is in contact with a principal surface of the counter-electrode collector 11. Fig. 1.
Regarding claim 12, the electrode insulating member 4 covers the electrode layer 2 of each of the plurality of battery cells on the first side surface, and the counter-electrode lead 51 is electrically connected to the counter-electrode layer 1 of each of the plurality of battery cells.
Regarding claim 13, the electrode insulating member has a striped shape in a planar view of the first side surface. Fig 1A.
Regarding claim 14, the electrode layer 2 includes an electrode collector 21, and an electrode active material layer 22 located between the electrode collector 21 and the solid electrolyte layer 3, at the second side surface, the electrode collector 21 projects further than the electrode active material layer 22, and the electrode lead 52 is in contact with a principal surface of the electrode collector 21.
Regarding claim 16, the counter-electrode insulating member 4 covers the counter-electrode layer of each of the plurality of battery cells on the second side surface 52, and the electrode lead 52 is electrically connected to the electrode layer 2 of each of the plurality of battery cells.
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.
Claims 3, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato (WO 2021/132504, using US 2022/0328882 as translation) as applied to claim 1,
Regarding claim 3, the intermediate layer is an insulating layer, Kato’s principle surface 4 is an insulating layer 4. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add another insulating layer between the insulating layer 4 and the terminals 61 and 62 for the benefit of further insulating the terminals from their respective counter electrodes.
Regarding claim 18, the electrode insulating member or the counter-electrode insulating member contains resin, Kato discloses the insulating layer comprises a layer having no electron conductivity [0062]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to use resin for the electrode insulating member of Kato since resin is commonly known as electron insulating material.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato (WO 2021/132504, using US 2022/0328882 as translation) as applied to claim 1, in view of Hayashi (US 2013/0149593).
Regarding claim 10, the electrode insulating member covers at least part of the solid electrolyte layer on the first side surface. Hayashi teaches a solid electrolyte battery comprising an electrode insulating member 6 that covers at least part of the solid electrolyte layer 3 on the first side surface. See figure 7. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to reduce the length of the solid electrolyte, as taught by Hayashi, for the benefit of synchronizing the available surface area of the electrolyte with the available surface area of the electrodes for electrochemical reaction.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9, 15 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art is Kato (WO 2021/132504, using US 2022/0328882 as translation). Kato does not disclose nor suggest:
Regarding claim 8, at the first side surface, the counter-electrode active material layer recedes further than the electrode layer. There is no motivation to dispose the counter-electrode active material layer to recede further than the electrode layer, as claimed.
Regarding claim 9, an end face of the counter-electrode collector located at the first side surface and an end face of the electrode layer located at the first side surface are even with each other when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the principal surface. There is no motivation to dispose an end face of the counter-electrode collector and an end face of the electrode layer to be even with each other, as claimed.
Regarding claim 15, at the second side surface, the electrode active material layer recedes further than the counter-electrode layer. There is no motivation to dispose the electrode active material layer to recede further than the counter-electrode layer, as claimed.
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.
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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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