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 § 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.
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) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Armacanqui (WO2016115016).
Regarding Claims 1-4 Armacanqui discloses an alkaline battery comprising: a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (See [0058]; positive current collector with cathode (positive electrode), negative current collector with anode (negative electrode), and separator (separator)).
In this embodiment of the alkaline battery, Armacanqui does not disclose the remainder of Claim 1, that the negative electrode contains zinc alloy powder, gelling agent, surface active agent, and electrolyte, the zinc alloy powder includes zinc alloy particles, a proportion of the zinc alloy particles with respect to the zinc alloy powder that pass through a mesh having an aperture width of 75 pm ranging from 9 mass % to 28 mass %, the zinc alloy powder has a bulk density ranging from 2.7 g/cm3 to 3.2 g/cm3, and a content of the zinc alloy powder in the negative electrode ranges from 60 mass % to 64 mass %.,
In this embodiment of the alkaline battery, Armacanqui does not disclose wherein the gelling agent contains crosslinked polyacrylic acid only, or contains crosslinked polyacrylic acid and crosslinked polyacrylic acid partial sodium salt.
In this embodiment, , Armacanqui does not disclose wherein the surface active agent contains anionic surface active agent including an ethylene oxide group.
In this embodiment of the alkaline battery, Armacanqui does not disclose wherein the anionic surface active agent includes 3 to 6 linearly bonded ethylene oxide groups and a hydrophobic group having a carbon number ranging from 5 to 15.26.
Armacanqui does however disclose that negative electrodes may contain zinc alloy powder, gelling agent, surface active agent, and electrolyte, the zinc alloy powder includes zinc alloy particles, a proportion of the zinc alloy particles with respect to the zinc alloy powder that pass through a mesh having an aperture width of 75 pm ranging from 9 mass % to 28 mass %, the zinc alloy powder has a bulk density ranging from 2.7 g/cm3 to 3.2 g/cm3, and a content of the zinc alloy powder in the negative electrode ranges from 60 mass % to 64 mass %. (See [0037], [0038], [0039], [0044], [0045], or [0046]),
Armacanqui further discloses that the gelling agent contains crosslinked polyacrylic acid only, or contains crosslinked polyacrylic acid and crosslinked polyacrylic acid partial sodium salt (See [0045] & [0046]).
Armacanqui further discloses wherein the surface active agent contains anionic surface active agent including an ethylene oxide group (See [0051]-[0052] ethylene oxide).
Armacanqui further discloses wherein the anionic surface active agent includes 3 to 6 linearly bonded ethylene oxide groups and a hydrophobic group having a carbon number ranging from 5 to 15.26 (See [0051]-[0052]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the above limitations from the other embodiments into the alkaline battery of the embodiment in paragraph 58, because according to Armacanqui these additional features/limitations have been envisioned for the sundry of embodiments disclosed for the alkaline batteries.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOBBY RAMDHANIE whose telephone number is (571)270-3240. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday.
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/Bobby Ramdhanie/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1779
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