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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shibata et al. (WO 2019044839 A1). It is noted that the disclosures of Shibata et al. are based on a machine translation of the reference included with this action.
Regarding claim 1:
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636
453
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271
762
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Shibata et al. teaches in Figure 5 above, a lithium-ion secondary battery in which multiple positive and negative electrodes are stacked alternately. Of the stacked positive and negative electrodes, all electrodes except the outermost electrode consist of an electrode current collector and an electrode composite layer formed on both sides of the electrode current collector (0017). The lithium-ion battery comprises a separator 13, a positive electrode current collector 21, a positive electrode composite layer 22, a negative electrode current collector 31, and a negative electrode composite layer formed on both sides of the negative electrode current collector 32a (0089).
Shibata et al. also teaches in Table 2 above that "outer weight" refers to the weight, i.e. outer basis weight, of the electrode composite layer on the outer surface in the stacking direction of the electrode current collector, and "inner weight", i.e. inner basis weight, refers to the weight of the electrode composite layer on the inner surface in the stacking direction of the electrode current collector. As shown in Table 2, the inner weight of the positive electrode active material 22 of the positive electrode A2, i.e. upper position, is larger than the outer weight of the negative electrode active material 32a of the negative electrode B1, i.e. lower position (0048).
Regarding claim 2:
Shibata et al. teaches a lithium-ion secondary battery as set forth above.
Given that Shibata et al. discloses an assembled battery as presently claimed and basis weight and density are directly proportional while holding the layer thickness constant, it is clear that a density (g/cm3) of the positive electrode active material 22 of the positive electrode A2, i.e. upper position, would be larger than the density (g/cm3) of the negative electrode active material 32a of the negative electrode B1, i.e. lower position.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MADISON E. BROWN whose telephone number is (571)775-5984. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8am-6pm.
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/MADISON ELIZABETH BROWN/Examiner, Art Unit 1787
/CALLIE E SHOSHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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