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 .
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 10 August 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 6-9 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10 August 2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
Non-Patent Literature documents in the Information Disclosure Statements filed 07 August 2025 and 13 January 2026 have been lined through because they are not in the English language and there is no concise explanation of their relevance, as it is presently understood by the individual designated in 37 CFR 1.56(c) most knowledgeable about the content of their information.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference characters not mentioned in the description: 50 and 70. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). 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.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 / 103
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.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Wang (CN 116837426).
Wang is directed to a copper foil for use in a lithium battery (paragraph 0001). The foil is produced by an electrolytic process comprising first electroplating a cathode plate with an electrolytic solution to form a copper foil followed by peeling the copper foil off the cathode plate (paragraph 0008-0012). In the embodiment of Example 4, the electrolytic solution comprises 118g/L of sulfuric acid, 86 g/L of copper ions, 53 ppm of chloride ions, 5 ppm of collagen, 2 ppm of gelatin, as well as the non-ionic water soluble polymers polypropylene glycol and polyethylene glycol and the sulfonic acid salts sodium dithiodipropane sulfonate, sodium 3-mercaptoinidazolium propane sulfonate, and sodium thiopropane sulfonate (paragraphs 0050-0051). The electroplating is performed at 27 A for 50 seconds (paragraph 0052), and the film is annealed for 10 min at 150 oC after being peeled off the cathode plate (paragraph 0053).
Wang does not recite that their copper foil includes a matte surface and a shiny surface. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect a foil formed through electrodeposition onto a surface would result in the copper surface in contact with the surface to be smoother than the other surface. As such, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the copper foil of Wang to inherently have one side that corresponds to a matte surface and the other to a shiny surface, particularly since the claims as written do not require any quantitative degree of gloss.
Wang is silent regarding the hydrogen vacancy density and depth of a hydrogen component of their copper foil. However, the electrolyte solution used by Wang in Example 4 has copper ions, sulfuric acid, chloride ions, collagen, and gelatin at concentrations that all fall within the ranges recited in paragraph 0016 on page 4 of the specification, as well as also containing sulfonic acid metal salts (i.e., sodium dithiodipropane sulfonate, sodium 3-mercaptoinidazolium propane sulfonate, and sodium thiopropane sulfonate) and non-ionic water soluble polymers (i.e., polypropylene glycol and polyethylene glycol). As such, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the resulting copper foil to have hydrogen vacancy density and depth of a hydrogen component satisfying the limitations of claims 1-3, particularly since paragraph 0079 on page 14 of the specification explicitly recites a connection between the concentrations of collagen and gelatin and the hydrogen vacancy density.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (CN 116837426) in view of Kim (US 2018/0102546).
Wang teaches or suggests all the limitations of claims 4 and 5, as outlined above, except for the presence of a protective layer on the copper foil. However, the copper foil is intended to be used in a lithium battery (paragraph 0001).
Kim is directed to a copper foil for use in a lithium battery (paragraphs 0002-0006). protective layers comprising at least one of a chromium, silane, or a nitrogen compound are applied to the surfaces of the copper foil to prevent corrosion, improve heat resistance, and suppress the reduction of charge/discharge efficiency of the copper foil (paragraphs 0045 and 0049).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply a protective film including at least one of a chromium, silane, or a nitrogen compound to the copper foil of Wang to prevent corrosion, improve heat resistance, and suppress the reduction of charge/discharge efficiency of the resulting copper foil.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMSEY E ZACHARIA whose telephone number is (571)272-1518. The best time to reach the examiner is weekday mornings, Eastern time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Callie Shosho, can be reached on 571 272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAMSEY ZACHARIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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