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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A (Claims 1-6) in the reply filed on July 27, 2026, is acknowledged.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kota et al. (JP2017188541A) in view of Hirose et al. (US Publication 2009/0310281).
In re claim 1, Kota discloses a manufacturing method of an electrochemical device (¶2) that includes a wound body (2 – Figure 1, ¶25) constituted of a belt-shaped positive electrode (6 – Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, ¶25), a belt-shaped negative electrode (8 – Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, ¶25), and a belt-shaped separator (4a, 4b – Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, ¶25) interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (Figure 1),
wherein the manufacturing method comprises:
sandwiching a portion of one end side of the negative electrode (8 – Figure 1) and a portion of one end side of the separator (4a, 4b – Figure 1, Figure 2) between a first winding shaft and a second winding shaft (20a, 20b – Figure 2, ¶28); and
forming the wound body by rotating the first winding shaft and the second winding shaft (20a, 20b – Figure 2, Figure 3) while the portion of the negative electrode (8 – Figure 2, Figure 3) and the portion of the separator (4a, 4b – Figure 2, Figure 3) are sandwiched between the first winding shaft and the second winding shaft (20a, 20b – Figure 2, Figure 3) (¶28-29), thereby to wind the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the separator, the sandwiching and the forming being performed in this order (¶35-40), and
during the forming of the wound body, the positive electrode (6 – Figure 2, Figure 3), the negative electrode (8 – Figure 2, Figure 3), and the separator (4a, 4b – Figure 2, Figure 3) are wound such that both surfaces of the positive electrode face the negative electrode (Figure 2, Figure 3).
Kota does not disclose positive electrode containing active carbon as a positive electrode material.
Hirose discloses the positive electrode (102 – Figure 2A, ¶69) containing active carbon as a positive electrode material (¶69).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate an activate material having good electrical conductivity and high specific surface area as described by Hirose to provide for a device having high capacitance.
In re claim 2, Kota in view of Hirose discloses the manufacturing method according to claim 1, as explained above. Kota further discloses wherein during the sandwiching, the portion of the negative electrode (8 – Figure 2) and the portion of the separator (4a, 4b – Figure 2) are sandwiched between the first winding shaft and the second winding shaft (20a, 20b – Figure 2) such that the one end of the negative electrode protrudes from between the first winding shaft and the second winding shaft (See Figure 2; Element 8 protrudes from the winding shaft in Figure 2.).
In re claim 3, Kota in view of Hirose discloses the manufacturing method according to claim 1, as explained above. Kota further discloses wherein during the sandwiching (¶31-32), the positive electrode (6 – Figure 2) is not sandwiched between the first winding shaft and the second winding shaft (20a, 20b -Figure 2) (¶32-33).
In re claim 4, Kota in view of Hirose discloses an electrochemical device (¶2) comprising a wound body (2 – Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3) that is constituted of a belt-shaped positive electrode (8 – Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3), a belt-shaped negative electrode (6 – Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3), and a belt-shaped separator (4a, 4b – Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3) interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (Figure 1) (¶28-29),
wherein the wound body includes a winding shaft part (8, 4a, 4b between 20a, 20b – Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 1), that is formed by being sandwiched between winding shafts and a winding part that is connected to the winding shaft part (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3),
the winding shaft part includes a portion of one end side of the negative electrode (8 – Figure 2, Figure 3) and a portion of one end side of the separator (4a, 4b – Figure 2, Figure 3), and the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the separator are wound in the wound body such that both surfaces of the positive electrode face the negative electrode (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3) (¶35-40).
Kota does not disclose positive electrode containing active carbon as a positive electrode material.
Hirose discloses the positive electrode (102 – Figure 2A, ¶69) containing active carbon as a positive electrode material (¶69).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate an activate material having good electrical conductivity and high specific surface area as described by Hirose to provide for a device having high capacitance.
In re claim 5, Kota in view of Hirose discloses the electrochemical device according to claim 4, as explained above. Kota further discloses wherein the wound body (2 – Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3) further includes a protrusion (protrusion of 8 – Figure 2) that is connected to the winding shaft part on a side opposite to the winding part (Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4) and the protrusion includes the one end of the negative electrode (8 – Figure 2).
In re claim 6, Kota in view of Hirose discloses the electrochemical device according to claim 4, as explained above. Kota further discloses wherein the winding shaft part (part between 20a and 20b – Figure 2) does not include the positive electrode (6 – Figure 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Takahashi et al. (US Publication 2018/0108494) Figure 3
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/ARUN RAMASWAMY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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