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 .
Response to Amendment
The preliminary amendment filed on 12/30/2024 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner. Claims 6 and 8-10 have been amended. New claims 14-19 have been added. Claims 1-19 are currently pending in the instant application.
Priority
This application is a 371 of PCT/JP2023/035026 (filed on 09/26/2023). Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on 09/26/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) filed on 12/30/2024 and 03/12/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and have been considered by the examiner. An initialed copy accompanies this Office Action.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 12/30/2024 have been considered.
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)(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 1-3 and 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by CN 114300686 A (hereinafter Chen).
Initially, it should be noted that the Chen reference is cited in the IDS on 12/30/2024 and as an “X” reference in the internation search report filed on 12/30/2024.
Chen discloses a slurry (dispersion) useful as positive electrode active material layer (claimed electrode film) comprises a positive electrode active material, carbon material, binder and solvent such as deionized water and N-methylpyrrolidone (See [0031] and [n0023]). The carbon material includes carbon nanotube bundle contains a plurality of first carbon nanotubes (See [n0004]) having an average diameter (claimed outer diameter of carbon nanotube (X)) of the first carbon nanotube is 5-40 nm (See [0014]) where number of the first carbon nanotube n is 50≤n≤10,000 (See [n0008]) with an average diameter (claimed outer diameter) of the carbon nanotube bundle of 0.01-2.0 um (See [n0006])and an average length (claimed fiber length) of the carbon nanotube bundle of 2-10 um (See [0010]). Chen discloses that the carbon nanotube bundle has an aspect ratio of 5-100 (See [n0024]).
The reference specifically or inherently meets each of the claimed limitations in their broadest interpretations. The reference is anticipatory.
In view of the foregoing, the above claims have failed to patentably distinguish over the applied art.
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 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 and 14-19 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: currently, there is no prior art alone or in combination that teaches or fairly suggests a carbon nanotube dispersion comprises a mixture of bundle-type of carbon nanotubes (X) with bundle-type of carbon nanotubes (Y) and bundle-type of carbon nanotubes (Z) as required in the instant claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHANH TUAN NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-8082. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew can be reached at (571) 272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KHANH T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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