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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5-7-2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5-7-2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The rejection of claims 1, 4, 6-7, 9 and 12-14 remain rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph because in claim 1, a porous layer would inherently have a porosity greater than the porosity of the compact layer because a ‘porous’ layer is used because of the porosity of the layer having pores and has “porous” in the name of the layer versus a compact layer which would not have many pores or be porous because the layer is used to separate the porous layer from the cathode electrode plate and the negative electrode plate. Therefore, this phrase does not add an additional limitation to the claim. The rejection of claim(s) 1, 4, 6-7, 9 and 14 remain are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wachsman et al. (US 2014/0287305) in view of He et al. (US 2022/0263070) remains because Wachsman et al. teaches a battery comprising a positive electrode comprising a positive electrode plate where positive active material particles are positioned in the porous region of the solid electrolyte layer where the solid electrolyte layer comprising the porous region on the cathode side / a dense region / porous region on the anode side. He et al. teaches coating graphene on the surface of the positive active material particle is a well-known concept. In addition, Wachsman et al. teaches it is known to also have a negative electrode plate where negative active material particles are positioned in the porous region of the solid electrolyte layer where the solid electrolyte layer comprising the porous region on the anode side.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 4, 6-7, 9 and 12-14 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, drawn to a secondary battery comprising a negative electrode plate comprising a negative electrode current collector and a primer layer disposed thereon a solid electrolyte layer comprising a compact layer and a porous layer positioned on one side of the compact layer wherein positive active material comprising a polyanionic compound comprising particles coated with a coating layer comprising ZrO2 located in the pores of the porous layer and a negative electrode active material comprising sodium metal particles located in the pores of the porous layer in the reply filed on 6-6-2025 and 9-5-2025 are acknowledged.
Claims 3, 8 and 10-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 9-5-2025.
Claims 15-20 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 6-6-2025. Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: In [0217], lines 27-28, the specification should cite “then punched to obtain a negative electrode plate with no negative electrode structure, wherein…” instead of “a positive electrode plate and positive electrode structure.
Appropriate correction is required. Claim Objections
Claim 1, 4, 6-7, 9 and 12-14 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 is objected to because the claim should cite “comprising a positive electrode plate comprising a current collector, a negative electrode plate comprising a current collector and a solid electrolyte layer comprising a porous layer facing the positive current collector and a compact layer positioned on the porous layer…wherein the positive electrode active material particle is located in …wherein a coating layer is provided on a surface of the positive electrode active material particle, wherein”. Claims 4, 6-7, 9 and 12-13 are objected to because the claim should cite “The uncharged secondary battery according to claim 1, …” because claim 1 has been changed to “An uncharged secondary battery”. Claim 7 is objected to because the claim should cite “wherein the …further comprises a porous layer on the other side of the compact layer facing the negative electrode current collector, a negative electrode … wherein the negative electrode active material particle is located in the pores…”. Claim 12 is objected to because the claim should cite “wherein the electrode plate further comprises a primer layer disposed on the current collector, wherein the primer layer faces the compact layer…” because no porous layer has been formed on the compact layer on the negative electrode plate side. Claim 14 is objected to because the claim should cite “An electric apparatus comprising at least one of the uncharged secondary battery according to claim 1”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1, 4, 6-7, 9 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 is rejected because a porous layer would inherently have a porosity greater than the porosity of the compact layer because a ‘porous’ layer is used because of the porosity of the layer having pores and has “porous” in the name of the layer versus a compact layer which would not have many pores or be porous because the layer is used to separate the porous layer from the cathode electrode plate and thenegative electrode plate. Therefore, this phrase does not add an additional limitation to the claim. Claims 7 and 9 are rejected because the claim cannot be drawn to an uncharged battery because the negative electrode active material only forms after the battery is charged where the battery comprises a positive active material and an inorganic solid electrolyte material comprising sodium ions in which sodium metal deposits on a surface of the negative electrode current collector to form a sodium metal phase. This makes the claims vague and indefinite. Claim 12 is rejected because there is no porous layer that the primer layer on the negative electrode current collector side is present in the claim or in claim 1 in which the claim depends from.
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) 1, 4, 6-7, 9 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wachsman et al. (US 2014/0287305) in view of He et al. (US 2022/0263070). Wachsman et al. teaches in claim 1, a battery comprising a cathode material or anode material; a solid-state electrolyte layer comprising a porous region having a plurality of pores [porous layer] and a dense region [compact layer], wherein the cathode material or the anode material is disposed on at least a portion of the porous region [teaching a positive electrode active material in pores, claim 1 and/or negative material in pores of claim 7] and the dense region is free of the cathode material and the anode material and a current collector disposed on at least a portion of the cathode material or the anode material. Wachsman et al. teaches in claim 3, where the cathode material particles can be a lithium-containing material or a sodium-containing cathode material and teaches in claim 5, that the positive active material particles can comprise lithium-containing cathode material comprising LiCoO2, LiFePO4, Li2MMn3O8 where M can be Fe and/or Co [teaching a positive electrode material of claim 4]. Wachsman et al. teaches in claim 6, that the sodium-containing cathode material can comprise Na2V2O5, NaNi1/3Fe1/3Mn1/3PO4, Na3V2(PO4)3, etc. [teaching a positive electrode material of claim 4]. Wachsman et al. teaches in claim 8, that the anode material can be a lithium-containing or sodium-containing anode material and teaches in claim 10, wherein the anode material is a sodium-containing anode material comprising sodium metal, etc. [teaching a negative electrode material of claim 9]. Wachsman et al. discloses the claimed invention as explained above except does not teach that a coating layer is provided on the surface of the positive electrode active material particles. He et al. teaches in the abstract, a rechargeable lithium battery comprising an anode, a cathode comprising active materials and a porous separator [0103], where a lithium ion transporting medium comprising graphite, graphene, carbon, etc. and particles of the cathode active material are combined to form a cathode active material composite. He et al. teaches in Example 1, graphene encapsulated particles of a cathode active materials comprising LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, lithium iron phosphate, etc. He et al. teaches in [0089], that the graphene layer has a thickness of 1 nm to 50 um. He et al. teaches in [0012], that using the cathode in a battery provides a safe, flame/fire-resistant, solid-state lithium ion-transporting medium which is capable of storing a higher amount of charge per unit battery weight or volume. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use cathode active material particles comprising a core comprising LiCoO2 or lithium iron phosphate having a coating layer of graphene because He et al. teaches that using the cathode in a battery provides a safe, flame/fire-resistant, solid-state lithium ion-transporting medium which is capable of storing a higher amount of charge per unit battery weight or volume. Wachsman et al. discloses the claimed invention except for specifically teaching that the coating layer has a thickness of 2-1000 nm. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a coating layer of graphene having a thickness of 2-1000 nm because He et al. teaches that this is known, since it has been held that where general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art and since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05.
Claim(s) 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wachsman et al. (US 2014/0287305) in view of He et al. (US 2022/0263070) and further in view of Hong et al. (US 11,545,659). Wachsman et al. in view of He et al. discloses the claimed invention as explained above but does not specifically teach that the negative electrode current collector contains a primer layer comprising graphene on the current collector and that the primer layer has a thickness of 2 um to 10 um. Hong et al. teaches in claim 1, a negative electrode comprising a negative current collector and a primer layer positioned on the current collector where the primer layer comprises graphene and has a thickness of 0.1-10 um. Hong et al. teaches in that a primer layer is used to allow for better adhesiveness. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a primer layer on a negative current collector in a thickness of 0.1-10 um because Hong et al. teaches the benefits and since it has been held that where general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art and since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05.
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/LAURA S. WEINER/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1723
/Laura Weiner/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723
Prosecution Insights