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 .
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) 1-3, 6 and 9-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Annaka (U.S. Patent Publication 2020/0127263).
Regarding claim 1, Annaka discloses a slurry composition for a non-aqueous battery porous membrane comprising: a binder composition that comprises a particulate polymer A and particulate polymer B; a water-soluble polymer; and a dispersion medium, wherein the particulate polymer A (acting as polymer B of present invention) has a glass-transition temperature of 20°C or lower, wherein the particulate polymer B (acting as polymer A of present invention) has a glass-transition temperature of 0 to 150 °C, and wherein the solid content of the slurry is 10-50 mass% (Paragraphs 0013, 0071, 0100, 0131, 0146, 0230 and Table 1).
As to claim 2, Annaka teaches that the particulate polymer B can include a (meth)acrylic acid alkyl ester monomer unit (Paragraph 0110).
Regarding claim 3, Annaka states that the particulate polymer A can be an acrylic polymer (Paragraph 0038).
As to claim 6, Annaka discloses that the binder can also contain a defoamer or preservative (Paragraph 0029).
Regarding claim 9, Annaka teaches that the slurry is applied to a substrate to form a film that improves adhesiveness (Paragraph 0147).
As to claims 10, 11 and 13, Annaka discloses that the slurry composition is applied to a substrate using gravure coating to form an applied film for use in a non-aqueous secondary battery (Paragraphs 0147, 0158).
Regarding claim 12, Annaka teaches that the substrate can be an organic separator with the slurry composition being coated on the surface of the separator (Paragraphs 0149-0150).
Annaka teaches every limitation of claims 1-3, 6 and 9-13 of the present invention and thus anticipates the claims.
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) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Annaka (U.S. Patent Publication 2020/0127263) in view of Asai (U.S. Patent Publication 2018/0342711).
The teachings of Annaka have been discussed in paragraph 3 above.
Annaka fails to disclose that the water-soluble polymer includes an acid group-containing monomer unit in a proportion of not less than 5 mass% and not more than 50 mass%, and that the slurry composition has a pH of not lower than 7 and not higher than 9.
Asai discloses a non-aqueous secondary battery adhesive layer comprising: organic particles, a water-soluble polymer, and a dispersion medium (Paragraphs 0029, 0032). Regarding claim 4, Asai teaches that the water-soluble polymer comprises a carboxylic acid compound in an amount of 20 to 70 mass% (Paragraphs 0081, 0086). As to claim 5, Asai discloses that the pH of the mixture is adjusted to 8 and not higher than 9 (Paragraph 0094).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention that the water-soluble polymer of Annaka could contain an acid group-containing monomer unit in a proportion of 5 to 50 mass% because Asai teaches that this improves internal resistance and allows for the viscosity of the slurry to be set appropriately to improve adhesiveness. It also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the pH of the slurry of Annaka could be between 7 and 9 because Asai teaches that this allows for the different components to react efficiently to form an adhesive layer.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 8 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRITTANY L RAYMOND whose telephone number is (571)272-6545. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 am-6 pm.
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BRITTANY L. RAYMOND
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1722
/BRITTANY L RAYMOND/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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