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 .
Claims
The preliminary amended claims submitted May 17, 2024, have been entered and fully considered.
Claims 1-11 are pending.
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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FUJI, US 2010/0216027 A1 in view of TAKE et al., US 2011/0165449 A1.
Regarding claims 1-3, FUJI teaches a negative electrode mixture member accommodated in a bag-like separator which includes a negative electrode provided with a negative electrode current collector and a metal lithium foil (abstract). The described separator and negative electrode meet the limitations for the same. As depicted in the annotated Figure 3 of FUJI, the top portion of separator 18a meets the current limitations for the first separator and the bottom portion of separator 18a meets the current limitations for the second separator. The top and bottom portions are joined together at the edge to form the claimed sealing portion ([0030]). The negative electrode terminal is reference number 25 ([0020]).
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FUJI does not teach the claimed air permeability of the separator of instant application. However, TAKE et al. teaches a porous film battery separator disposed between a positive and negative electrode (abstract). TAKE et al teaches the air permeability of the separator is higher than that of the substrate alone preferably by 10000 sec/100 cc or more when a non-porous crosslinked polymer is used ([0014]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to incorporate a crosslinked polymer layer on the surface of at least one of the separator layers of FUJI et al. with the understanding that doing so would allow a person of ordinary skill in the art to customize the air permeability of the separator. Applicant is reminded of MPEP 2144.05 I and that a prima facie case of obviousness exists when claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art.
Regarding claims 4, 8-11, the separator of FUJI may be sealed by means of an adhesive tape or by a heat sealing process ([0031]).
Regarding claim 5, the negative electrode current collector of FUJI meets the present broad limitations of a coating layer as it is provided with through holes ([0023]).
Regarding claims 6 and 7, the positive electrode active layer of FUJI is discussed in detail wherein FUJI makes clear the positive electrode active material contained in the positive electrode mixture layer can be a sulfide or a sulfur containing lithium oxide ([0041]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2015/0162584 A1, UEMATSU et al. teach a secondary battery including an organic fiber layer accumulated on at least one of the positive and negative electrodes wherein the organic fiber layer intersects with itself (abstract; Figure 3B).
US 2020/0176809 A2, TANAKA et al. teach a lithium ion secondary battery.
US 8,486,160 B2, HWANG et al. teach a rechargeable battery comprising a plurality of separators.
US 2014/0363729 A1, KIM et al. teach a bi-cell for a secondary battery wherein edges of an upper separator and edges of a lower separator are attached to each other to form fused portions (abstract).
WO 2012/060604 A2, SEO et al teach a heat-resistant separator.
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BARBARA L GILLIAM
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/BARBARA L GILLIAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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