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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/08/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 01/08/2026 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner. Claims 1 and 15 have been amended. Claims 4-5 and 18 have been canceled. Claims 1-3, 6-17, and 19 are currently pending in the instant application.
The rejection of claims 1-3, 6-17, and 19 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koyama (WO 2021201003 Al) in view of Lee (US 2015/0364766 A1) is maintained for the reasons of record.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 01/08/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and has been considered by the examiner. An initialed copy accompanies this Office Action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 01/08/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Initially, the amendment to independent claim 1 to include a limitation of “wherein the conductive material slurry has a viscosity equal to or less than 3,400 cP at 50 s-1 and 23°C” has been considered by the Examiner. The amendment to claim 15 to depend from claim 1 is noted.
Applicant’s primary argument is neither Koyama nor Lee alone or in combination disclose or suggest the feature of “wherein the conductive material slurry has a viscosity equal to or less than 3,400 cP at 50 s-1 and 23°C”. The Examiner respectfully disagrees with the Applicant’s remark.
Koyama discloses a desire to obtain a positive electrode composition having low viscosity (See Abstract). Koyama also discloses that the positive electrode composition having a preferred viscosity of 1 Pa·s or more and 5 Pa·s or less (See [0082]). This viscosity equates to 1,000 cP and 5,000 cP and overlaps with the claimed viscosity range of equal to or less than 3,400 cP as required in amended claim 1. Based on this disclosure, the rejection is maintained for the reasons of record.
Conclusion
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/KHANH T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761