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 .
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kawasaki et al (JP 2020087918 A).
Regarding Claim 1,Kawasaki teaches a solid-state battery (all-solid-state lithium ion secondary battery; [0001]) comprising an active material layer including an active material ([0013]), and an electrode (positive electrode and negative electrode [0013]), the electrode comprising a resin current collector ([0013]), a spherical carbon material (acetylene black; [0017]), and a fibrous carbon material (carbon nanofiber; [0017]).
Regarding Claim 2,Kawasaki teaches the solid-state battery according to claim 1, wherein the active material may contain a Si-based active material such as silicon, silicon carbide, silicon oxides, and silicon alloys ([0015]).
Regarding Claim 3,Kawasaki teaches the solid-state battery according to claim 1, but does not expressly teach the softening temperature of the resin. It is reasonable to presume that the softening temperature is inherent to the resin taught by Kawasaki. Support for said presumption is found in that Kawasaki teaches polymethyl methacrylate as a polymer material which may be used for a resin current collector ([0020]). As mentioned in paragraph [0056] of the instant specification, polymethyl methacrylate was used as the resin for preparation of the resin current collector. The polymethyl methacrylate taught by Kawasaki is the same polymer material used in the instant invention and therefore is expected to have the same properties of the claimed invention. See MPEP 2112.
Regarding Claim 4,Kawasaki teaches the solid-state battery according to claim 1, wherein Production Example 2 contains a composition comprising acetylene black at 11% by weight ([0050]) which falls between the claimed range of 2% by mass to 13% by mass relative to the total solid content of the resin current collector.
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawasaki in view of Ikeda et al (US 20210257625 A1).
Regarding Claim 5,Kawasaki teaches the solid-state battery according to claim 1 and teaches a fibrous carbon material may be used as a conductive filler (carbon nanofibers [0017]), but is silent on the fibrous carbon being specifically vapor-grown carbon fiber (VGCF). However, Ikeda teaches a resin current collector for a lithium ion battery in which the current collector contains 15% by weight of the carbon nanofiber VGCF-H along with 10% by weight of a spherical carbon material (Comparative Example 3; Table 1). Ikeda describes the combination of conductive fillers (in the case of Comparative Example 3, spherical carbon and fibrous carbon) as functioning to reduce the resistance value of the resin current collector and providing excellent cycle characteristics ([0016]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the resin current collector taught by Kawasaki to include the VGCF-H carbon nanofibers disclosed by Ikeda as a conductive filler to reduce the resistance value of the current collector and improve performance.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN M KNOWLAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0913. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00am - 4:30pm.
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/KEVIN M KNOWLAN/Examiner, Art Unit 1783
/MARIA V EWALD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1783
