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 Status
This office action is in response to the filing of claims of 7/24/2024.
Claims 1-4 are currently pending.
Drawings
Figure 4 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Yoshida et al. (US 2003/0064284 A1).
As to claim 1, Yoshida et al. discloses an electrode laminate (1 - electric power generating element) in which a fixing member (5-resin) including a curable resin [0091] is disposed on at least one side face portion (figure 3, or 7), wherein the fixing member is made of two or more partial fixing members (5, figure 3) that are disposed spaced apart from one another (figure 3).
As to claim 4, Yoshida et al. discloses a battery comprising: the electrode laminate (1 - electric power generating element) according to claim 1; and a laminate film (3- baglike container) sealing the electrode laminate [0029] (heat sealed).
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.
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshida et al. (US 2003/0064284 A1) in view of Araki et al. (JP 2020-119810).
As to claim 2, Yoshida et al. discloses the electrode laminate according to claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the following relational expression thickness of the fixing member ≤ (1/width of the partial fixing member) × 100 is satisfied.
Araki et al. discloses a battery with a laminated electrode body (3) with spacers (14) at the side edges of the electrode body (see figure 2). Arkai et al. teaches the spacer 14 fills a portion of the gap between the laminated electrode body 3 and the rectangular outer casing 1. Therefore, when external vibrations or shocks are applied, the spacer 14 can narrow the range of vibration of the laminated electrode body 3, thereby suppressing damage to the electrode tabs 6 that suspend the laminated electrode body 3 due to friction [0018]. Araki et al. teaches the thickness of the fixing member (d1). The gap thickness is 0.5-3 mm [0014] and the thickness of the spacer 14 is more than half the distance d1 of the gap [0040]. Thus 0.25-1.5 mm).
Araki et al. further teaches the shape, number, and placement of the spacers 14 are not particularly limited. The shape of the spacer 14 can be, for example, a cylindrical or conical shape and the number of spacers can be provided [0029]. Since the shape (this would include the size, such as height and width) and number are variables that can be adjusted to suppress the deformation of the electrode body [0005, 0037], it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to optimize the fixing member in size in order to suppress the deformation of the electrode body by placing the spacers around the electrode body and preventing the electrode body from moving and prevent damage to the electrode tabs [0007]
.
As to claim 3, Yoshida et al. discloses the electrode laminate according to claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the thickness of the fixing member is no less than 50 μm and no more than 5 mm.
Araki et al. discloses a battery with a laminated electrode body (3) with spacers (14) at the side edges of the electrode body (see figure 2). Arkai et al. teaches the spacer 14 fills a portion of the gap between the laminated electrode body 3 and the rectangular outer casing 1. Therefore, when external vibrations or shocks are applied, the spacer 14 can narrow the range of vibration of the laminated electrode body 3, thereby suppressing damage to the electrode tabs 6 that suspend the laminated electrode body 3 due to friction [0018]. Araki et al. teaches the thickness of the fixing member (d1). The gap thickness is 0.5-3 mm [0014] and the thickness of the spacer 14 is more than half the distance d1 of the gap [0040]. Thus 0.25-1.5 mm) thus overlapping the claimed range of 50 micrometer to 5 mm.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was effectively filed to have the thickness of the spacer be from 0.25-1.5 mm because this would suppress damage from external vibrations or shocks to the battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIA J LAIOS whose telephone number is (571)272-9808. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 10am-6pm.
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/Maria Laios/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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