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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP-2021-212706, filed on 6/04/2024.
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 1-6, and 8-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (JP2018067416 JPO machine translation), and further in view of Horiuchi, et al. (JP2006324190A, JPO machine translation).
Claim 1: Hata teaches an electrolyte sheet for solid oxide fuel cells (¶ 0001), where at least one main surface includes first depressions and second depressions (first recesses and second recesses), where the second depressions have a smaller average equivalent circle diameter (diameter), i.e., the diameter of the depression opening projected onto the depression base, than the first depressions (¶ 0008). The lowest points of adjacent first depressions are spaced apart from each other at a preferably constant interval, such that they do not overlap (¶ 0022). Hata does not teach explicitly that second depressions may be present on side and bottom faces of first depressions, or between depressions. However, Horiuchi teaches a solid electrolyte sheet with coarse (first recesses) and fine (second recesses) concavo-convex portions, with the fine portions distributed on the sides and bottom faces of the coarse portions, and between the coarse portions (Figs. 1, 2, Element 11; ¶¶ 0013-0015). One of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have been motivated to use the distribution of fine portions taught by Horiuchi with and between the first depressions taught by Hata in order to improve mechanical bonding strength of electrodes to the electrolyte sheet (¶ 0012). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to use the fine portions taught by Horiuchi with and between the first depressions taught by Hata because Horiuchi teaches fine portions distributed on the sides and bottom faces of the coarse portions. Further, Hata fails to teach explicitly that at least one of the first recesses has an opening of 60 µm or more. However, Hata does teach a most preferable range of diameters of basal surfaces (bottom faces) of 15-1500 μm, with greater than 2500 µm causing extreme reduction in electrolyte sheet strength (¶ 0029). Applicant’s claimed range of greater than 60 µm, accounting for this decrease in sheet strength for diameters of 2500 µm above, is consistent with Hata’s most preferable range of diameters. Hata does teach that ratio of the average equivalent circle diameter to projected circle diameter at the base will be 100% (¶ 0029).
Claim 2: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 above but fail to teach explicitly a ratio of a depth of at least one first depression to a thickness of the electrolyte sheet of 20% or less. Hata does teach a most preferred range of first depression depth of 3-30 μm (¶ 0032) and a most preferred range of electrolyte sheet thickness of 50-200 μm (¶ 0050). Computing a range of ratios of first depression depth to electrolyte sheet thickness from minima and maxima of these ranges yields a range of 1.5-60%; the applicant’s claimed ratio range of 20% or less is entirely encompassed within this range. One of ordinary skill at the time of filing would have been motivated to choose specific diameters from the ranges taught by Hata, which would result in applicant’s claimed ratio range, because Hata teaches that roughening the surface of a solid electrolyte by forming specific depressions in it permits increasing the number of sites for electrode reaction and enhancing the adhesion of electrodes to it while avoiding weakening of the electrolyte sheet, or cracking of the sheet during power generation in a fuel cell (¶¶ 0006-0007). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to use combinations of the ranges taught by Hata with a reasonable expectation of success, naturally resulting in the applicant’s claimed ratio range of 20% or less.
Claim 3: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 above. Hata also teaches that the basal plane shape was specified from the shape of the outermost peripheral contour of the first depression, and when the basal plane shape of the first depression was a circle, the distance between two intersection points of the outermost peripheral contour of the photographed image and the first depression shape profile was defined as the equivalent circle diameter of the basal plane (¶¶ 0111, 0112). Thus, when the basal plane shape of the first depression was a circle, the ratio of the equivalent circle diameter to the diameter of the basal plane, the ratio of the two was 100%.
Claim 4: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1. Hata further teaches that the solid electrolyte sheet may contain sintered zirconia (¶ 0068).
Claim 5: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 above. Hata further teaches that first and second depressions may both be present on both surfaces (main surfaces) of the solid electrolyte sheet (¶ 0020).
Claim 6: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 above. Hata further teaches that first depressions are preferably arranged regularly to make the surface roughness more uniform and may be in a lattice pattern (¶ 0023). The same uniform pattern of first depressions on each side of the electrolyte sheet will necessarily result in first depressions on both surfaces of it overlapping each other. Further, see discussion of Claim 5 above.
Claim 8: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 above but fail to explicitly teach at least one average equivalent circle diameter of basal surfaces (diameter of opening) of the first depressions in the range of 60-200 µm. Hata does teach a most preferred range of opening diameters of the first depressions of 15-1500 μm (¶ 0029). Applicant’s claimed range of 60-200 µm is entirely encompassed by this range. One of ordinary skill at the time of filing would have been motivated to choose specific diameters from the range taught by Hata, which would also be within the applicant’s claimed range of opening diameters, because Hata teaches that roughening the surface of a solid electrolyte by forming specific depressions in it permits increasing the number of sites for electrode reaction and enhancing the adhesion of electrodes to it while avoiding weakening of the electrolyte sheet, or cracking of the sheet during power generation in a fuel cell (¶¶ 0006-0007). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to use a first depression opening diameter in the range of 60-200 µm for at least one of the first depressions in the electrolyte sheet with a reasonable chance of success because Hata teaches that 15-1500 μm is an operative range for first depression opening diameters for use with solid electrolyte sheets.
Claim 9: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 above. Further, see the discussion of Claim 3 above.
Claim 10: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 but fail to teach explicitly a ratio of the depth of at least one of the first recesses to a thickness of the electrolyte sheet of 10-20%. Refer to the discussion of Claim 2 above; the applicant’s claimed range of ratios of 10-20% for the depth of at least one of the first recesses to the thickness of the electrode sheet is entirely encompassed within the range of 1.5-60% computed from the ranges taught by Hata.
Claim 11: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 but do not teach explicitly that a ratio of a depth of each of the first depressions to a thickness of the electrolyte is 20% or less. Hata does teach that the stamper which produces the first depressions by pressing into the solid electrolyte sheet preferably has first protrusions with a uniform size and shape (¶¶ 0080, 0081). Further, refer to the discussion of Claim 2 above.
Claim 12: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 above. Hata further teaches that the projections of the stamper, which are used to form the first recesses, may be of uniform shape (Figs. 1,2; ¶¶ 0024-0028).
Claim 13: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 but do not teach explicitly an interval between adjacent second depressions of 1-5 µm. Hata does teach a most preferred range of intervals between opening diameters of second depressions of 1-10 µm (¶ 0039). Applicant’s claimed range of 1-5 µm is entirely encompassed within this range. One of ordinary skill at the time of filing would have been motivated to choose specific intervals from the range taught by Hata, which would also be within the applicant’s claimed range of intervals, because Hata teaches that roughening the surface of a solid electrolyte by forming specific depressions in it permits increasing the number of sites for electrode reaction and enhancing the adhesion of electrodes to it while avoiding weakening of the electrolyte sheet, or cracking of the sheet during power generation in a fuel cell (¶¶ 0006-0007). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to use an interval between average opening diameters of second depressions of 1-5 µm with a reasonable expectation of success because Hata teaches that a range of intervals between opening diameters of second depressions of 1-10 µm is an operative range for use with solid electrode sheets.
Claim 14: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 but fail to teach explicitly a range of 1-5 µm for second depression average opening diameters. Hata does teach that a most preferred range of second depression opening diameters of 1-150 µm (¶ 0043). Applicant’s claimed range of 1-5 µm is entirely encompassed within this range. One of ordinary skill at the time of filing would have been motivated to choose specific opening diameters from the range taught by Hata, which would also be within the applicant’s claimed range, because Hata teaches that roughening the surface of a solid electrolyte by forming specific depressions in it permits increasing the number of sites for electrode reaction and enhancing the adhesion of electrodes to it while avoiding weakening of the electrolyte sheet, or cracking of the sheet during power generation in a fuel cell (¶¶ 0006-0007). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to use an opening diameter from the range of 1-5 µm for at least one second depression with a reasonable expectation of success because Hata teaches that a range of second depression opening diameters of 1-150 µm is an operative range for use with solid electrode sheets.
Claim 15: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 but do not explicitly teach a range of 0.5-8.5% for the ratios of the opening diameters of at least one second depression to at least one first depression. Hata does teach a most preferred range of opening diameters of the first depressions of 15-1500 μm (¶ 0029), and a most preferred range of second depression opening diameters of 1-150 µm (¶ 0043). Computing a range of ratios of second depression opening diameter to first depression opening diameter from minima and maxima of these ranges yields a range 0.07-10%. Applicant’s claimed range of 0.5-8.5% is entirely encompassed within this range. One of ordinary skill at the time of filing would have been motivated to choose specific diameters from the ranges taught by Hata, which would result in applicant’s claimed ratio range, because Hata teaches that roughening the surface of a solid electrolyte by forming specific depressions in it permits increasing the number of sites for electrode reaction and enhancing the adhesion of electrodes to it while avoiding weakening of the electrolyte sheet, or cracking of the sheet during power generation in a fuel cell (¶¶ 0006-0007). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to use combinations of the ranges taught by Hata with a reasonable expectation of success, naturally resulting in the applicant’s claimed ratio range of 0.5-8.5%.
Claim 16: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 above. Hata further teaches a single cell (unit cell) for a solid oxide fuel cell, comprising a fuel electrode, an air electrode, and an electrolyte sheet between them (¶¶ 0014-0016).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata and Horiuchi as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Satake, et al. (JP2012069418A, JPO machine translation).
Claim 7: Hata and Horiuchi combined teach all the limitations of Claim 1 but fail to teach intervals between adjacent first depressions of 50-200 µm. One of ordinary skill at the time of filing would have looked to prior art for operative ranges of spacing between depressions. Satake teaches intervals between average equivalent circle shapes of depressions (opening diameters of first recesses) of preferably 500 µm or less (¶ 0033). Thus, one of ordinary skill at the time of filing would have been motivated to use intervals between first depressions within the range of 50-200 µm because Satake teaches intervals between average equivalent circle shapes of depressions (opening diameters of first recesses) of preferably 500 µm or less.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TREVOR MICHAEL SACCUCCI whose telephone number is (571)270-1867. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael B Cleveland can be reached at (571)272-1418. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TREVOR MICHAEL SACCUCCI/Examiner, Art Unit 1712
/MICHAEL B CLEVELAND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1712
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