DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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 § 103
2. 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.
3. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Izumi et al. (US-20240145721-A1, provided in IDS received on 4 December 2024) in view of Umeyama et al. (JP-6206259-B2, machine translation used for rejection below).
As to claim 1, Izumi discloses a method for manufacturing an electrode [0040], the method comprising the steps of:
kneading active material particles [0044] and electrically conductive material [0044] to fix the electrically conductive material to at least part of a surface of the active material particles [0044];
mixing the active material particles having the electrically conductive material fixed to the active material particles with polytetrafluoroethylene to obtain a mixture [0045]; and
causing the polytetrafluoroethylene in the mixture to fibrillate [0046].
However, Izumi does not disclose wherein an adhesive is mixed with the active material particles and the electrically conductive material to fix the electrically conductive material to the active material particles.
Umeyama discloses a method for producing a positive electrode, wherein an adhesive (thickener, page 5 lines 1-5) is included when mixing the active material particles and the electrically conductive material (page 5 lines 35-39) to secure a desired contact ratio between the active material and the conductive material.
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method for manufacturing an electrode as disclosed within Izumi to further include that an adhesive is mixed with the active material particles and the electrically conductive material to secure a desired contact ratio between the active material and the conductive material as disclosed within Umeyama.
As to claim 2, Izumi discloses the method for manufacturing an electrode of claim 1, and Izumi further discloses wherein a coverage of the active material particles with the electrically conductive material is 10% or more [0008].
As to claim 3, Izumi discloses an electrode (figure 1, electrode 10) comprising a current collector (figure 1, core 11) and an electrode layer (figure 1, electrode mixture 12), wherein the electrode layer contains active material particles [0030] and fibrous polytetrafluoroethylene [0030], the active material particles having an electrically conductive material fixed to at least part of a surface of the active material particles [0030]. However, Izumi does not disclose using an adhesive to fix the electrically conductive material to the active material particles.
Umeyama discloses a method for producing a positive electrode, wherein an adhesive (thickener, page 5 lines 1-5) is included to fix the electrically conductive material to the active material particles (page 5 lines 35-39) to secure a desired contact ratio between the active material and the conductive material.
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electrode as disclosed within Izumi to further include that an adhesive is included to fix the electrically conductive material to the active material particles to secure a desired contact ratio between the active material and the conductive material as disclosed within Umeyama.
As to claim 4, Izumi discloses the electrode of claim 3, and Izumi further discloses wherein a coverage of the active material particles with the electrically conductive material is 10% or more [0008].
As to claim 5, Izumi discloses the electrode of claim 3, and further discloses wherein the electrode is used within a battery [0030].
Conclusion
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/J.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1727
/Maria Laios/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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