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 .
Summary
This is the initial Office Action based on the 18/683,865 application filed on 02/15/2024.
Claims 1-12 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamakawa et al. (US 2006/0251966) in view of Otsuka et al. (US 2016/0079007).
Addressing claims 1 and 4, Yamakawa discloses a binder composition (Abstract), comprising:
a polymer (binder polymer, [0009])
a liquid medium (water, [0009]),
wherein when a total of repeating units in the polymer (A) is defined as 100 mass%, the polymer (A) comprises:
45 mass% to 90 mass% of a repeating unit (a1) derived from an unsaturated carboxylic acid ester having an aliphatic hydrocarbon group (50 to 98% by mole, which overlaps with the claimed mass%, of monomer units (a) derived from the formula 1 with R2 represents an alkyl group having 2 to 18 carbon atoms, that qualifies as the claimed unsaturated carboxylic acid ester having an aliphatic hydrocarbon group) excluding the unsaturated carboxylic acid ester having an alicyclic hydrocarbon group (the monomer unit (a) does not have any alicyclic hydrocarbon group).
Yamakawa is silent regarding the claimed 1mass% to 40 mass% of a repeating unit (a1) derived from an unsaturated carboxylic acid ester having an alicyclic hydrocarbon group.
Otsuka discloses a binder composition for electrode of an electrical storage device similarly to that of Yamakawa; wherein, the binder composition comprises 3 to 40 mass% of an unsaturated carboxylic acid ester having an alicyclic hydrocarbon group [0029].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the binder of Kamakawa with the unsaturated carboxylic acid ester having an alicyclic hydrocarbon group in the mass% range disclosed by Otsuka in order to control dissolution by an electrolyte when it serves as a binder in an active material layer of an electrode and minimizes performance deterioration during use or storage at high temperature (Otsuka, [0029]).
With regard to the limitation “wherein the polymer (A) shows a swelling ratio of 120 mass% or more and 200 mass% or less when immersed in a solvent, which is formed of propylene carbonate and diethyl carbonate at a volume fraction of 1:1, under conditions of 70oC and 24 hours”, the limitation is drawn to the property of the polymer A, which is met by the modified polymer A of Kamakawa in view of Otsuka because the modified polymer of Kawakawa in view of Otsuka has all of the claimed ingredients of the claimed polymer (A); therefore, the modified polymer A of Kawakawa in view of Otsuka has all of the associated properties as those of the claimed polymer (A), including the claimed swelling ratio property.
Addressing claim 2, paragraph [0027] of Kamakawa discloses monomer units (c) derived from unsaturated carboxylic acid ester between 0.1 to 10% by mole that corresponds to the claimed repeating unit (a5). Likewise, Otsuka discloses in paragraph [0039] compound a3 between 3 to 10 mass% of unsaturated carboxylic acid that also corresponds to the claimed repeating unit (a5). Therefore, the limitation of current claim would have been obvious based on the teaching of Kamakawa in view of Otsuka.
Addressing claim 3, Otsuka discloses in paragraph [0056] the polymer material further comprises compound (a6) of aromatic vinyl compound for resistance reduction [0058]. Therefore, at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the polymer A of Kamakawa with the aromatic vinyl compound disclosed by Otsuka and would have arrived at the claimed mass% when perform routine experimentation with the amount of aromatic vinyl compound in the polymer A in order to optimize resistance reduction.
Addressing claim 5, the limitation is drawn to the property of the polymer A, which is met by the modified polymer A of Kamakawa in view of Otsuka because the modified polymer of Kamakawa in view of Otsuka has all of the claimed ingredients of the claimed polymer (A); therefore, the modified polymer A of Kamakawa in view of Otsuka has all of the associated properties as those of the claimed polymer (A), including the property of current claim.
Addressing claim 6, Kamakawa discloses in paragraph [0035] the polymer is polymer particles having a diameter of 100 to 500 nm, which falls within the claimed range.
Addressing claim 7, current application states that when the polymer (A) is particles, the surface acidity is in the claimed range, this is realized by the modified polymer A particles of Kamakawa in view of Otsuka because the polymer A particles of Kamakawa in view of Otsuka has the claimed composition as well as dimensions. Therefore, the polymer particles A of Kamakawa in view of Otsuka have all of the associated properties as those of the claimed particles, including the claimed surface acidity.
Addressing claim 8, Kamakawa in view of Otsuka discloses a slurry for an electrical storage device electrode (Kamakawa, [0038]), comprising:
a binder composition of claim 1 (please see the rejection of claim 1 above); and
an active material [0038-0039].
Addressing claim 9, the limitation citing that the active material is a positive electrode active material does not structurally differentiate the claimed active material from that of the prior art because the phrase “positive electrode” is drawn to the intended use of the active material. The claim does not recite any specific ingredients of the active material in order to structurally differentiate the claimed active material from that of the prior art.
Addressing claim 10, Kamakawa discloses in paragraph [0038] the active material comprises carbonaceous; however, Kamakawa is silent regarding the claimed silicon material. Otsuka discloses active material comprises carbon materials, similarly to those of Kamakawa and silicon [0116]. At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the slurry of Kamakawa with the silicon material disclosed by Otsuka in order to improve electron conductivity, strength and adhesion force to the binder (Otsuka, [0119]).
Addressing claims 11-12, Kamakawa in view of Otsuka discloses an electrical storage device (electric double layer capacitor, Kawakawa [0048]; power storage device, Otsuka, [0174]) comprising the electrical storage device electrode (Kamakawa, [0045]; Otsuka [0139]), comprising:
a current collector (Otsuka, [0139]; Kamakawa, [0046]); and
an active material layer (Kamakawa, [0039]; Otsuka, [0116]),
wherein the active material layer is formed on a surface of the current collector by applying and drying the slurry of claim 8 (please see the rejection of claim 8 above, Otsuka [0134-0138]; Kamakawa [0045-0047]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BACH T DINH whose telephone number is (571)270-5118. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 8:00 - 4:30 EST.
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, Jeffrey Barton can be reached at (571)-272-1307. 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.
/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 07/08/2026
Prosecution Insights