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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claim 2-8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7/27/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 2 in the reply filed on 7/27/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 9-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, lines 12-13, “the active material” should be “the material mixture”
Claim 1, line 12, “production” should be removed.
Claim 13, line 2, “is arranged stacked” should be removed.
Claim 14, line 1, “the stack” should be “a stack formed from stacking the first electrode with at least one second electrode”
Claims 9-12 and 15 are objected to because they are dependent on claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 and 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “partially” in claim 1, line 15, is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “at least partially removed” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The use of this term renders the limitation of "wherein the pore-forming material is at least partially removed from the base body prior to the wetting of the base body” indefinite. For examination purposes, the examiner has interpreted this limitation as “wherein the pore-forming material is removed from the base body prior to the wetting of the base body”.
Claims 9-15 are also rejected due to being dependent on claim 1.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 9-10, and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Yong et al. (US 20050266150 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yong teaches a method of manufacturing a first electrode of a battery cell, the method comprising:
producing a base body of the first electrode, the base body including at least an active material of the first electrode and a copolymer [0030]; and
wetting the base body with a liquid electrolyte to form a gel polymer electrolyte [0051] by reaction of the copolymer with the liquid electrolyte [0049], to create the first electrode, wherein the copolymer is:
applied as a coating to the active material during the production of the base body [0030],
wherein the coating is wetted with a pore- forming material during the production of the base body ([0074] - [0075] organic solvent),
wherein the pore-forming material is at least partially removed from the base body prior to the wetting of the base body ([0074], drying the coated electrode).
Regarding the limitation wherein the coating is wetted with a pore- forming material during the production of the base body, Yong teaches that the organic solvent is pore forming because it is used to form the porous coating layer stated in [0078].
Regarding claim 9, Yong teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the base body is calendered prior to the formation of the gel polymer electrolyte [0093].
Regarding claim 10, Yong teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the base body is free of gel polymer electrolyte immediately before formation of the gel polymer electrolyte [0051]. Yong states that the electrode is gelled when swelled with a liquid electrolyte, meaning that it is not gelled before.
Regarding claim 12, Yong teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising drying the first electrode between the production of the base body and the formation of the gel polymer electrolyte [0074].
Regarding claim 13, Yong teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising stacking the first electrode is arranged stacked with at least one second electrode after the production of the base body and before the formation of the gel polymer electrolyte to form a stack [0099].
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong et al. in view of Kitazawa et al. (US 20030068554 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Yong teaches the method of claim 1, but does not specifically teach that it further comprises trimming the first electrode to a geometry predetermined for operation in a battery cell before formation of the gel polymer electrolyte.
Kitazawa, however, teaches of a method of producing electrodes for an alkaline storage battery (Abstract). Kitazawa also teaches of trimming the first electrode to a geometry predetermined for operation in a battery cell before formation of the gel polymer electrolyte [0032].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date to modify the Yong method by including a step of trimming the first electrode because this allow the electrode to conform with design of the battery to be constructed (Kitazawa et al. [0032]).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong et al. in view of Kitazawa et al. as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Yong et al. (US 20070054184 A1), hereinafter Yong 2.
Regarding claim 14, modified Yong teaches the method of claim 11, but does not specifically teach that the stack is arranged in a housing of the battery cell before the formation of the gel polymer electrolyte.
Yong 2, however, teaches a method of creating a battery, electrodes for that battery [0062], and a gel electrolyte for that battery [0021]. Yong 2 also teaches that the electrode stack is arranged in a housing of the battery cell before the formation of the gel polymer electrolyte [0062].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date to modify the Yong method to include a step of arranging the electrode stack in housing before the formation of the gel polymer electrolyte in order to be able to inject the liquid electrolyte in the battery housing (Yong 2 [0062]).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong et al. in view of Kawamoto (JP 2000030746 A, cited in the IDS, machine translation provided).
Regarding claim 15, Yong teaches the method of claim 1, but does not specifically teach that the method further comprises supplying at least thermal or mechanical energy to activate the reaction that forms of the gel polymer electrolyte.
Kawamoto, however, teaches of a method of producing a bipolar lithium-ion secondary battery [0046]. Kawamoto also teaches that the method further comprises supplying at least thermal or mechanical energy to activate the reaction that forms of the gel polymer electrolyte [0049].
Therefore, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date to modify the Yong method to include a step of supplying thermal energy to activate the reaction that forms of the gel polymer electrolyte because this heat pressing process causes the gel electrolytes within the positive electrode active material, separator, and negative electrode active material to melt and then regel, eliminating voids between the gels and improving ion conductivity (Kawamoto [0049]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Badding et al. (US 11777145 B2) teaches a method of forming a cathode for a battery by mixing active material with a polymer bunder, and then adding an alcohol reagent, and a liquid electrolyte (Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YVONNE WEI whose telephone number is (571)270-0870. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30am-5pm, Friday 7:30am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Niki Bakhtiari can be reached at (571) 272-3433. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YVONNE WEI/Examiner, Art Unit 1722
/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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