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 Arguments
Applicant’s amendments and arguments with respect to the 112 rejections of the previous office action have been fully considered and are persuasive. Those rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments with regard to the prior art have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection below.
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)(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.
(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.
Claim 1-3, 6-8, 11, 12 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1 or 2) as being anticipated by Okada et al. (JP 32112090 newly cited, a copy and machine translation of which are attached).
In regard to claim 1, 19 and 20, Okada et al. teach battery 1 and a battery cell(technical field, page 1 of machine translation) comprising an electrode sheet (laminated electrode group 20), comprising: a current collector (positive electrode plate, negative electrode plate and leads 30, 40), a first insulating layer 51 and a second insulating layer 52, wherein: the current collector comprises a main body part (electrode plate within laminate electrode group) and tabs (leads 30, 40), the tabs extend from a first end of the main body part, and the first end is one end of the main body part in a first direction; each tab 30, 40 comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion is close to the main body part with respect to the second portion, and surfaces of the two sides of the first portion are respectively provided with the first insulating layer 51 and the second insulating layer 52, the surfaces of the two sides of the first portion are two opposite surfaces of the first portion in a thickness direction of the current collector, and the thickness direction is perpendicular to the first direction, and a thickness d1 of the second insulating layer 51, 51b is may be greater than the thickness d2 of the first insulating layer 52, 52b (see pages 2-5 of machine translation and annotated figure 1 and 2 below).
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In regard to claims 2 and 3, the thickness for layers d1, d2 are 30 microns for the thin layer and 90 microns for the thicker layer (page 5 of machine translation) such that d2/d1 may be 3.
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In regard to claim 6 and 21, the main body part comprises a coating region (electrode active material in group 20) and a transition region (uncoated portion), the transition region is provided between the coating region and the tab, and the surfaces of the two sides of the transition region are provided with the first insulating layer 51 and the second insulating layer 52, respectively (annotated figure 2).
In regard to claim 7, the electrode sheet (group 20) further comprises an active material layer and the active material layer is provided on a surface of at least one side of the coating region (figure 1-2, pages 3-5).
In regard to claim 8, 11 and 12, the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer comprise a thermoplastic polymer such as polyolefins (page 4 of machine translation) which are taken to have properties which overlap the claimed properties (see MPEP 2112.01 - Polyolefins typically dissolved at temperatures ranging from 130°C to 160°C).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 4, 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okada et al. as applied to claim 1 above.
In regard to claims 4 and 5, the prior art teaches a thickness for layers d1, d2 such as 30 micron (page 5 of machine translation), the ranges disclosed by the prior art are close enough in a manner which provides a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05) and changes to size and shape of the prior art electrode insulation are an obvious modification absent evidence to the contrary (see MPEP 2144.04 Part IV) as the entire battery assembly may be scaled up or down.
In regard to claim 9, the Examiner notes that the maximum particle size of the thermoplastic polymer relates to a produce by process limitation (see MPEP 2113) as the particle size of the polymer is indistinguishable in the final product (i.e. the claimed electrode sheet). In any event, changes to size and shape of the prior art polymer particles are an obvious modification absent evidence to the contrary (see MPEP 2144.04 Part IV) depending on the size and shape of the insulating layers.
Claims 10, 13-15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okada et al. as applied to claim 8, and further in view of Ansai et al. (US Pub 2020/0087546 of record).
In regard to claim 10, 13-15 and 17, Okada et al. teach the electrode sheet above which may include an insulating layer of thermoplastic but does not teach the specific compositional requirements of these claims. However, Ansai et al. teach a similar adhesive insulating sheet for lithium-ion batteries which provides good electrolyte resistance (paragraphs [0024-0026]) and the desirability to use a composite sheet including a mass content A1 of the thermoplastic polymer (methacrylic ester polymer A) of preferably 30 to 40 mass parts (paragraph [0050]), the insulating sheet further comprise inorganic particles, a mass content B1 of the inorganic particles is preferable 25 mass parts or more (paragraph [0043]) with a D50 of 0.5 micron and a D90 such as 1 micron (paragraphs [0027-0034] – see desirability to maintain particle size uniformity in a manner which obviates the claimed max particle size of 12 microns), the insulating sheet further comprises a binder (crosslinker B) in a content C1 such as 20 parts by mass (paragraphs [0063-0066]) because such forms an insulating sheet with good adhesive and insulating properties (paragraphs [0009-0012]). The prior art ranges overlap the claimed ranges in a manner which provides a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the before the effective filing date of the claimed invention filed to use the insulating sheet of Ansai et al. in the electrode sheet of Okada et al. as such has desirable adhesion and insulating properties.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Pub 2022/0231300, teaches insulated current collectors for electrode sheets (see figures and abstract).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nicholas P D'Aniello whose telephone number is (571)270-3635. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tong Guo can be reached at 571-272-3066. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NICHOLAS P D'ANIELLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723