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 .
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(s) 1-4, 7-15 and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0287304 to Netz (“Netz”). Regarding claims 1-3, 8, 9, 11-15, 17, and 18, Netz discloses a dry method of making electrodes for lithium ion battery comprising forming a first free-standing electrode active material layer by mixing a first electrode active material, a first conductive additive, and a binder followed by calendaring or pressing in a press; forming a second free-standing electrode active material layer in a similar manner, optionally a third electrode active material layer in a similar way. In some embodiments, the first active material layer is first applied directly to a current collector via calendaring and/or pressing, followed by application of the second active material layer directly onto the first active material layer, followed by any additional layers. Netz at paragraphs [0033]-[0038].
Further regarding claim 19, in other embodiments, the active material layers are laminated first, followed by laminating the pre-laminated active material layers to the current collector. Id. At paragraph [0039]
Further regarding claim 4, when the electrode made is a cathode, the active material used is a lithium metal oxide. Id. At paragraph [0033].
Further regarding claim 7, Netz discloses that in some embodiments at least two layers have the same thickness. Id. At paragraph [0021].
Further regarding claim 10, in some embodiments, the surface of the current collector is pretreated to create an adhesion layer, such as through electroplating. Id. At paragraph [0042].
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) 5 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Netz. Netz is applied as described above. Netz discloses that the thickness of each of its active material layers can be tuned as a means of tuning the storage capacity of each layer, with inner layers benefiting from having higher energy storage capacity. Netz provides exemplary, non-limiting ranges of thickness for each layer ranging from 2 microns to 100 microns. Netz is silent regarding the total thickness of the combined layers. Regarding claim 5, although Netz doesn’t expressly disclose a total electrode thickness of 200 microns, the Office finds that such a thickness amounts to nothing more than the adjustment of the total storage capacity of the electrode based on the needs of a given application. Regarding claim 6, although Netz doesn’t expressly disclose a layer thickness ranging from 120 to 200 microns, it does provide an exemplary thickness up to 100 microns. Because this is merely an exemplary thickness and not a limiting thickness, and because Netz provides a reason to tune the thickness of the active material layers, the Office finds that the recited range amounts to nothing more than the product of routine experimentation with a result effective variable. Netz at paragraph [0021].
Further regarding claims 16, 20, and 22, Netz is silent regarding applying active material layers on both sides of the current collector. Nonetheless, Netz discloses lithium-ion battery electrodes for use in commonly known lithium-ion batteries where the novel feature is providing the active material in a gradient manner. Otherwise, the binder, conductive additive, current collector and active materials are those commonly used in lithium ion batteries. Moreover, application of active material on one or both sides of a current collector was commonly known in such lithium ion batteries. See, e.g., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0006304 at paragraph [0036] in support of this proposition. Accordingly, the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have found adding a first, second, and optional third electrode active material layer laminate onto both sides of the current collector to be nothing more than the obvious implementation of the teachings of Netz in a common manner for fabricating lithium ion batteries. Such a structure is symmetric.
Further regarding claims 21, 23, and 25, another commonly known way to fabricate a lithium ion battery is to provide a bipolar current collector with positive electrode applied to one side and negative electrode applied to the other in an asymmetric manner. See, e.g., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0280210 at paragraph [0035]. Netz discloses methods of making both positive and negative electrodes via its methods. The Office finds that applying those techniques to a bipolar current collector with negative electrode active material layers on one side (graphite active material) and positive electrode active material layers (lithium metal oxide active material) on the opposite side to similarly be nothing more than the obvious implementation of the teachings of Netz in a common manner for fabricating lithium ion batteries. Further regarding claim 24, as noted above, Netz discloses using the number and thickness of layers to tune a concentration gradient of active material to optimize the performance of the active materials. In the bipolar/asymmetric approach, the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have reason to tune each side as the active material needs, including providing different number of layers to achieve the needed gradient for each side.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WYATT P MCCONNELL whose telephone number is (571)270-7531. The examiner can normally be reached 9am to 5pm M-F.
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, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at 571-272-1330. 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.
/WYATT P MCCONNELL/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
Prosecution Insights