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 18/757,534 application filed on 06/28/2024.
Claims 1-18 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 § 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) 1-3, 6-7 and 9-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Otsuka et al. (US 2025/0158037).
Addressing claims 1-3 and 18-20, Otsuka discloses an electronic device, comprising an electrochemical device (secondary battery), comprising:
a negative electrode plate (fig. 3), wherein the negative electrode plate comprises a negative current collector 30 and a negative active material layer 31, and the negative active material layer is located on the negative current collector (fig. 3);
along a thickness direction of the negative electrode plate, the negative active material layer 31 comprises a first part 31A and a second part 31B, and the first part 31A is located between the negative current collector 30 and the second part 31B; and
the second part comprises a plurality of grooves 32, a depth of each of the grooves is 1 µm to 10 µm (5 µm to 20 µm as disclosed in paragraph [0075] that includes values that fall within the claimed range), and a porosity of the second part 31B is 3% to 30% higher than a porosity of the first part (paragraph [0065] discloses the porosity of the first part 31A is 20% to 30% and the porosity of the second part 31B is 30% to 40%, which meets the claimed limitation).
Addressing claim 6-7, fig. 2 of Otsuka shows the grooves 32 are formed along the entire axial length of the battery assembly and fig. 4 shows the grooves 32 are formed in undulating configuration with the width of each groove equals to half of the width of the pitch W1; therefore, the ratio of an orthogonal projection area of the groove to an orthogonal projection area of the negative active material layer is the ratio between the width of the grooves (W/2) and the width of the negative active material layer or W1. Therefore, the orthogonal projection area of the groove to the orthogonal projection area of the negative active material layer is 0.5 as claimed.
Addressing claims 9-12, paragraphs [0036-0037] disclose the claimed limitations.
Addressing claim 13, paragraph [0039] discloses the claimed materials.
Addressing claim 14, paragraph [0023] discloses the claimed current collector materials.
Addressing claim 15, paragraph [0023] discloses the negative active material layer includes a conductive agent and a binder.
Addressing claim 16, paragraph [0022] discloses the claimed conductive agents.
Addressing claim 17, paragraph [0022] discloses the claimed binders.
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) 4-5 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Otsuka et al. (US 2025/0158037) in view of Chen et al. (US 2024/0250268).
Addressing claims 4-5 and 8, Otsuka discloses the plurality of grooves 32 are formed as strips over the entire length of the axial direction of the electrode assembly ([0032] and fig. 2) with a width of approximately 50 µm (half of W1 as described in paragraph [0074]).
Otsuka is silent regarding the limitations of current claims.
Chen discloses grooves 2213 formed along the entire length of the negative electrode active material (figs. 4-5) similarly to that of Otsuka; alternatively, the grooves can be formed as pore channels 2213 (fig. 8, [0084]). The pore channels has diameter W greater than or equal to 40 µm [0011]. The pore channels also has rectangular cross sectional shape (fig. 5).
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 grooves of Otsuka with the known shape and dimension disclosed by Chen in order to obtain the predictable result of increasing liquid supply of the electrolyte (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143) as well as reducing lithium plating on surface of the negative electrode plate and reducing the possibility of lithium dendrites growing and piercing the separator and enhancing reliability of the battery (Chen, Abstract).
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.
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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.
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/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 10/06/2026
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