DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Preliminary Amendment
2. The preliminary amendment filed on February 13, 2025 has been entered in the above-identified application. Claim 6 has been amended. Claims 1-9 are pending and under consideration.
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.
3. Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al. (US 2018/0309108 A1).
FIG. 1 of Shin et al. schematically depicts a cross section of the separator 100 (equivalent to the laminate of the claimed invention as recited in claims 8 and 9). The separator 100 includes a porous substrate 110 (equivalent to the substrate of claim 8), a porous coating layer 120a, (equivalent to the heat resistant particle layer as recited in claim 7), and an adhesion layer 130a. In a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the adhesion layer has a layered structure in which a first adhesion layer (or a first layer) 131a, and a second adhesion layer (or a second layer) 132a (equivalent to the functional layer of the claimed invention), are stacked in a sequential order. The porous coating layer including a mixture of inorganic particles (equivalent to the heat resistant particles of the claimed invention as recited in claims 5 and 7) and a binder resin. The second layer includes a polymer resin having a lower dissolution rate in an electrolyte solution for an electrochemical device than the polymer resin included in the first layer. The adhesion layer is formed to coat at least part of the surface of the porous substrate (meeting the limitations of claim 7 and 8). The second layer is a polymer resin having a lower dissolution rate in an electrolyte solution for an electrochemical device than the polymer resin included in the first layer, and the polymer resin is a particulate polymer (equivalent to the particulate polymer of the claimed invention). In a specific embodiment, the low dissolution rate polymer resin is a polymer resin with a monomer derived from unsaturated carboxylic acid ester. Specific examples of the monomer include (meth)acrylic acid ester, methyl (meth)acrylate, ethyl (meth)acrylate, n-propyl (meth)acrylate, i-propyl (meth)acrylate, n-butyl (meth)acrylate, i-butyl (meth)acrylate, n-amyl (meth)acrylate, i-amyl (meth)acrylate, hexyl (meth)acrylate, cyclohexyl (meth)acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl (meth)acrylate, n-octyl (meth)acrylate, nonyl (meth)acrylate, decyl (meth)acrylate, hydroxymethyl (meth)acrylate, hydroxyethyl (meth)acrylate, ethyleneglycol (meth)acrylate, ethyleneglycol di(meth)acrylate, propyleneglycol di(meth)acrylate, trimethylolpropane tri(meth)acrylate, pentaerythritol tetra(meth)acrylate, dipentaerythritol hexa(meth)acrylate, allyl (meth)acrylate, ethylene di(meth)acrylate, and acrylonitrile (meeting the composition limitations of the claimed invention). (See Abstract and paragraphs 0007-0070).
With regards to the property limitations that the particulate polymer has a glass-transition temperature of not lower than 0°C and not higher than 90°C. and that the particulate polymer has a degree of swelling in electrolyte solution of not less than 100% and not more than 500%, the Examiner takes the position that such property limitations are inherent in the particulate polymer taught by Shin et al. given that the composition of the particulate polymer as taught by Shin et al. and that of the claimed invention are identical.
With regards to the limitations that the particulate polymer has a volume-average particle diameter of not less than 1.0 µm and not more than 10.0 µm, that the particulate polymer includes the cycloalkyl group-containing monomer unit in a proportion of not less than 51 mass% and not more than 99 mass%, and that the ratio of a number-average particle diameter of the particulate polymer relative to thickness of the heat-resistant particle layer is not less than 1.0 and not more than 5.0, the Examiner would like to point out that workable properties such as sizes and concentrations are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties.
Conclusion
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEEBA AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-1504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CALLIE SHOSHO can be reached at 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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/SHEEBA AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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