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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on 30 July 2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-20 are currently presented in the instant application.
Information Disclosure Statement(s)
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 7/30/2024 and 7/8/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (Publication No.: US 2022/0399607 A1, herein known as D1).
With respect to claim 1, D1 discloses a method of estimating an electrode density in secondary batteries ([0118]-[0120]), the method comprising:
preparing an electrode comprising a current collector and first and second coating layers coated on the current collector ([0118]; the method is directed towards a single-sided or double-sided coated electrode sheet);
measuring first characteristic values of the electrode ([0118]; die-cutting the sheet into a small disc with an area of S1 and weighting the small disc to be recorded as M1);
removing the first coating layer of the electrode ([0118]; if it is a double-sided coated electrode sheet a negative film layer is wiped off);
measuring second characteristic values of the electrode from which the first coating layer has been removed (testing a thickness of the native film layer to be recorded as H);
removing the second coating layer of the electrode from which the first coating layer has been removed ([0118]; wiping off the negative film layer);
measuring third characteristic values of the electrode from which the first coating layer and the second coating layer have been removed ([0118]; weighing the negative current collector to be recorded as M2); and
estimating at least one of a density of the first coating layer, a density of the second coating layer, a thickness of the current collector, or a weight of the current collector, based on the first characteristic values, the second characteristic values, and the third characteristic values ([0118]; the compacted film density of the negative film layer dc=(M1-M2)/S1/H).
With respect to claim 2, D1 further discloses a method wherein the first characteristic values, the second characteristic values, and the third characteristic values each comprise a weight value and a thickness value (see above, all use measures of thickness and weight).
With respect to claim 3, D1 further discloses a method wherein the current collector comprises at least one of an aluminum (Al) foil and a copper (Cu) foil ([0056]; “In the battery cell of the present application, the negative current collector may be a metal foil or a composite current collector. For example, the metal foil may be a copper foil, a silver foil, an iron foil, or a foil composed of an alloy of the foregoing metals.”, Examiner’s emphasis).
With respect to claim 20, see the rejection of claim 1 above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 4 and 13-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1.
With respect to claim 4, D1 does not disclose a method wherein the electrode is cut to a set size using a punching machine or a laser cutter (the method is described as using a die-cut to cut a small disk of size S1 as described in the method above).
However, D1 further teaches in [0128] regarding a test of porosity, using a punching machine to punch small and predetermined sized discs.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of D1 by utilizing a punching machine to cut the small disk with an area of S1 as opposed to a die-cut to accomplish the same task as two known methods of performing pre-set cuts on a metal piece.
With respect to claims 13-16, D1 appears to further disclose a method wherein the estimating comprises estimating the density of the first coating layer based on the first characteristic values and the second characteristic values [Claim 13], wherein the estimating comprises estimating the density of the second coating layer based on the second characteristic values and the third characteristic values [Claim 14], and wherein the estimating comprises estimating the weight and thickness of the current collector based on the third characteristic values [Claim 15] or wherein the estimating comprises: estimating the weight and thickness of the first coating layer based on the first characteristic values and the second characteristic values; estimating the weight and thickness of the second coating layer based on the second characteristic values and the third characteristic values; estimating the weight of the current collector based on at least a portion of the first characteristic values, the weight of the first coating layer, and the weight of the second coating layer; and estimating the thickness of the current collector based on at least a portion of the first characteristic values, the thickness of the first coating layer, and the thickness of the second coating layer [Claim 16] (some of these values, such as the weight of the current collector are directly measured, and utilizing the known variables and the equation given, these values could all be derived; [0121]-[0123] further teaches a method of determining the coating mass per unit area of the negative electrode sheet using many of the same variables and steps; see also all the tables of D1 which shows the values being determined).
However, if this is not the case, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to be able to calculate these values through similar methods or through routine calculations and experimentation.
With respect to claim 17, D1 appears to further disclose a method further comprising: estimating the density of the current collector based on the weight of the current collector and the thickness of the current collector (see above rejection of claims 13-16); and comparing the density of the current collector to a normal density range ([0115]-[0116] describes the desire for a good range and the values used, such as 1.0g/cm3).
With respect to claim 19, D1 does not explicitly disclose a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing instructions for executing the method as claimed in claim 1 on a computer.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize a processor/CPU as is well-known in the art in order to automate and perform the method described above as automating a manual activity has been held to be an obvious variant over the prior art.
Claim(s) 5-6 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Xe et al. (Publication No.: US 20230207804 A1, herein known as D2).
With respect to claim 5 and 6, D1 appears to disclose the first coating layer or the second coating layer comprises at least one of nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) [Claim 5] or wherein the first coating layer or the second coating layer comprises graphite or silicon (Si) [Claim 6] (D1 [0016] discloses the negative active substance of the electrode sheet can be a graphite material, and [0056] discloses that the metal layer formed on the polymer base layer of the current collector may be nickel; as discussed in the method above, double-sided coatings are known and utilized).
D1 does not disclose that both coating layers are made of these materials or specifically that the coatings are on opposite sides of the current collector.
D2 teaches a negative electrode sheet that places a negative-electrode film layer on both surfaces of the negative-electrode current collector ([0064]), forming a metal material such as nickel on the collector ([0065]) and the negative electrode film layer can include graphite ([0070]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of D1 by arranging the coatings and materials of the electrode on both sides of the collector as taught by D2 as a known arrangement to make a double-sided coating as taught in the method of D1.
With respect to claim 18, D1 does not explicitly disclose a method wherein a first side of the current collector is coated with the first coating layer, and a second side of the current collector opposite the first side is coated with the second coating layer (as discussed above with claims 1 and 5-6, D1 teaches double-coatings but not specifically the arrangement of the double-coating).
D2 teaches a negative electrode sheet that places a negative-electrode film layer on both surfaces of the negative-electrode current collector ([0064]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of D1 by arranging the coatings and materials of the electrode on both sides of the collector as taught by D2 as a known arrangement to make a double-sided coating as taught in the method of D1.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Xu et al. (Publication No.: WO 2023137748 A1, herein known as D3, a machine translation is provided herewith).
With respect to claim 7, D1 does not disclose a method wherein the removing of the first coating layer comprises removing the first coating layer by repeatedly emitting a pulsed laser toward the first coating layer (the method describes removing it by other means).
D3 teaches removing a layer by utilizing a fiber pulse laser to remove a part of the coating through thermal burn and thermal expansion (“The laser cleaning is carried out by making the non-metallic coating absorb laser energy through a fiber pulse laser or a carbon dioxide laser, and removing a part of the coating through thermal burn and thermal expansion.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of D1 by utilizing a fiber pulse laser to perform the removal of the coating as taught by D3 as a known alternative to wiping to remove the layer as described in the method of D1 above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kishimi et al. (Publication No.: US 2026/0243838 A1)
Song et al. (Patent No.: US 12,308,417 B2)
Leng et al. (Publication No.: US 2021/0167366 A1)
Kashiwazaki et al. (Publication No.: US 2019/0190072 A1)
Kim et al. (Publication No.: US 2019/0033380 A1)
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANA HANCOCK whose telephone number is (571)270-7547. The examiner can normally be reached on 10AM-6PM EST M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached on (571) 272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/D.H/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
9/4/2026
/STEPHANIE E BLOSS/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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