Problem Solution Approach Analysis

8/19/2019 Problem Solution Approach Analysis

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1. The examination of the present search case has been carried out on the set of 18claims, the pages 1-39 of the description and sheets 1/6-6/6 of figures originally filed.

2. CLARITY (ARTICLE 84 EPC).1 The !ordings of independent product claim 1, method producing the product

claim 1 and method of filling a gap of claim 1" are in breach !ith the re#uirementsof clarity of $ule "3%1& and respecti'ely of (rticle 8" )*+ since they do not containany single of the technical features %composition of the substrate layer andrespecti'ely composition of the pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e, kind of fluid to beused for deforming the substrate layer , etc...& essential for obtaining the functionalor desired results to be achie'ed desired referred to %see in particular deforming in alongitudinal direction !hen in contact !ith a fluid and pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e&in the cited !ordings of the claims.

. n the same !ay, neither of the dependent claims contain any single realtechnical feature %see compositions of both the substrate layer and *( , the fluid to

be used in the process for deforming the substrate layer in the !ording of alldependent claims as !ell as in particular the composition of the “non-pressure- sensitie !"hesie m!teri!#$ in the %or"in& of "epen"ent c#!ims ' !n" & for obtaining the functional or desired results to be achie'ed explicitly referred to therein%see, all claims but in particular, the terms the modification rate of 10 at claim 32the peeling strength at room temperature at claim 10 presently on file&, renderingtherefore them in breach !ith the re#uirements of clarity of $ule "3%& and (rticle 8")*+.

. *+,ELTY (ARTICLE 4 EPC)The !ording of independent claims 1, 1, 1" as !ell as the !ordings of dependentclaim 8 contain unclear technical features %see non-pressure-sensiti'e adhesi'eregion& !hich are hereby interpreted according to the page 18, lines 1-18 of theapplication documents originally filed as meaning 4a region in !hich a pressure-sensiti'e adhesi'e layer is not formed on a substrate layer4 conse#uently a 5one!herein no pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e is present4 .

$eference is made to the follo!ing documents

71

7 *73 )*3.1 71 %see, in particular paragraph :000;, table 1 and claims 1-& explicitlydiscloses a composition comprising a three dimensional deformable substratecomprising either any of a poly'inylidene fluoride %*<7=&, polyethylene terephthalate%*)T&, poly'inyl chloride %*<+& or a polymethylmethacrylate %*>>(& polyester polymers on one side of !hich a composition comprising a polyacrylic acid polymer pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e is added. The bac? of the cited substrate is free of pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e. The thic?ness of the polymeric substrate range from0.000@ to 0.00@ inches %0.01 to 0.1 mm& as explicitly disclosed at paragraph:0009;. The abo'e compositions are used for filling a gap bet!een t!o elements %see

figures 1, and paragraphs :001;-:00; namely metallic items 10 and 62 item 10is surrounded by band 6 %see metallic piece 6 at paragraph :008&;. The peeling



strength of the compositions disclosed therein range from .9 lib/in %see claim 1"& upto really obtained 'alues of .1 lbs/in %see table 1-continued, last example&.

t is e'ident that all substrate layers used in 71 are three dimensional deformable incontact !ith some particular compositions of fluids as presently re#uested in the

!ording of the claims on file and as it can be seen from the state of the artdocuments %see. e.g. 7 paragraph :00@; or e'en 73 paragraphs :00"3; and:00""; and claims 1%ii&, and 3 &.

The abo'e disclosure of 71 is preAudicial for at least the no'elty of the subAect-matter of independent claims 1 and 1 as !ell as that of dependent claims -, 10and 11 presently on file, rendering them in breach !ith the re#uirements of no'elty of (rticle @" )*+.1-

The !ording of dependent claims 8 %stripped pattern or sea island patter of *( &9 %adding a mas? of non-*(-material on the *(& and 13 %printing a non *(

component on the *(&, as !ell as independent method claim 1" and dependentmethod claim 1@ %adding a s!elling fluid of un?no!n nature& and electrode/batteryclaims 16-18 differ from the composition of 71 due to the fact that it %71& does notexplicitly refers to the technical features contained therein.

3. 7 %see, in particular paragraph :001;, !or?ing example2 paragraphs :00;-:0033; and paragraphs :00"3;, :00"9;-:00@; and :006"; and claims 1-32 of theannexed translation of 7& discloses a three dimensional by s!elling deformablepolymeric substrate %*<7= or polyester films& of @ micrometres thic?nesscontaining on one side of it an acrylic resin adhesi'e !hich is used as a !rappingcoating layer for an electrode of a secondary battery. n particular, 7 explicitly refersto the coefficient of cubical expansion of the substrate layers used therein as rangingfrom @ up!ards %preferably being at least 10& in paragraph :006;.

The claimed subAect-matter of independent claims 1,1,1" differs from 7 due to thefact that it %7& does not explicitly discloses the pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e natureof acrylic resin disclosed therein and meets therefore the re#uirements of no'elty of (rticle @" )*+ in 'ie! of 7.

see, in particular paragraph :001;, !or?ing example2 paragraphs :00;-:0033;,

paragraphs :00"3;, :00"9;-:00@; and :006";2 see claims 1-32 see also paragraph:006;.

3.3 n the same !ay, the claimed subAect-matter differs from the cross-lin?edpolyacrylate %see paragraph :00"";& coated s!elling polymer %*<7=, *B7, and **cited at paragraph :00"3;& due to the fact that in 73 it is not explicitly cited that thecross-lin?ed polyacrylate adhesi'e is a pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e.

see in particular paragraphs :00"3; and :00"";



3." n the absence of at least one differentiating technical feature in the !ording of independent claims 1, 1 and respecti'ely dependent claims -,10 and 11 theno'elty of the claimed subAect-matter thereof cannot be ac?no!ledged in 'ie! of 71.

4. I*,E*TI,E TEP (ARTICLE / EPC)

".1 The analysis of in'enti'e step before the )*C must follo! the problem solutionapproach of the guidelines %D-<, @ and ff.& !hich re#uires that the e'idence bepro'ided that a technical problem has effecti'ely been sol'ed in a non-ob'ious !ayas the conse#uence of a differentiating technical feature present in the !ording of allindependent claims.n particular, the attention of the applicants is dra!n to the fact that 4=eatures !hichcannot be seen to ma?e any contribution, either independently or in combination !ithother features, to the technical character of an in'ention are not rele'ant for assessing in'enti'e step4 and respecti'ely to the fact that 4( technical problem maybe regarded as being sol'ed only if it is credible that substantially all claimedembodiments exhibit the technical effects upon !hich the in'ention is based4 %see D-

<,@.&.

". The absence of a differentiating technical feature %see points 3.1 and 3.3 abo'e&in 'ie! of 71 does not allo! starting the reasoning according to the problem solutionapproach of the guidelines impeaching therefore any argument concerning thein'enti'e step of the claimed subAect-matter concerning the claimed products of independent claim 1, the process of claim 1 and dependent product claims -11and process claim 13.

".3 n the same !ay, for the !ording of independent process claim 1", it isconsidered that the teachings of 7 constitute the closest prior art since it disclosesall the essential features of the presently claimed subAect-matter namely the tri-dimensional deformation of the polymeric substrate layer in contact !ith anelectrolyte. The application documents originally filed "o not cont!in !n0 sin&#ecomp!r!tie e1!mp#es sho!ing that the presence of a *( acrylic adhesi'e%"ifferenti!tin& technic!# fe!ture in ie% of 2 & is responsible for the solution of aposed technical problem in a non-ob'ious !ay o'er the disclosure of 2 t!3en!#one %using a non-defined acryl adhesi'e& !hich could not ha'e been sol'edpre'iously. n fact, the s?illed person ha'ing ?no!ledge of the properties of adhesi'es ha'ing pressure sensiti'e adherence %*(& and respecti'ely nonpressure sensiti'e adherence %EC-*(& properties is in a position of using one or

the other in the processes and products of 7 !ithout implying for that any in'enti'eheight, rather an ob'ious modification of 7 de'oid of in'enti'e s?ill, according to theproblem solution approach of the guidelines D-<, @ ff. %anuary 01& and (rticle @6)*+.

"." The application documents originally filed do not contain any single comparati'eexample that using a combination of pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e and deformablepolymeric substrate layer including furthermore any of the only real technicalfeatures presently in the !ording of the dependent claims, namely- combination of EC-*( and *(/different patterns of dependent claims 8,9,13

- using an un?no!n s!elling electrolyte fluid of process claim 1"-1@#et !#one !n0 other re!# technic!# fe!ture of the "escription,



!ould be of help for sol'ing a technical problem !hich could not ha'e beenpre'iously sol'ed in a non- ob'ious !ay by 7 ta?en alone.

".@. The s?illed person ha'ing ?no!ledge of the #uite normal features of a pressuresensiti'e adhesi'e in combination !ith an polymeric substrate %as from e.g. 71& is in

a position to use this combination as a part of a coating of an electrode explicitlydisclosed in 7 %the terms acrylic resin used therein is in any case the normaldefinition for a pressure sensiti'e adhesi'e& and respecti'ely 73 %coated acrylicresins are ine'itably pressure sensiti'e adhesi'es as explicitly cited at page 0, line to page 1, line 1" of the originally filed documents of the present application&!ithout implying for that any in'enti'e s?ill, ob'iously rather a normal ob'ious slightmodification of the state of the art.

".6 $eference is made to the follo!ing rele'ant documents7" )* 1"86@"87@ Aournal of applied polymer science 'ol @@ %003& pages 11@-13

76 materials science poland 'ol 3 Eo @ %003&

)ach of 7" %see in particular paragraphs :00; and :0111;&, !hich disclose differentcombinations of foams and *(s and respecti'ely 7@ %see in particular page 119,4preparation of acrylic resin4 and 4preparation of the psa4& and 7@ %see in particular figure 102 page 100 and points . to ."& each of !hich explicitly discloses theuse of different compositions comprising pressure sensiti'e adhesi'es, can be usedby the s?illed person as ob'ious modifications of the prior art !ithout implying anyin'enti'e s?ill %Duidelines D-<, @ ff. and (rticle @6 )*+&.

". n the absence of at least one differentiating technical feature present in the!ording of the only independent product and each process claims on file, !hichcould be considered responsible for the solution in a non-ob'ious !ay of a technicalproblem posed in the application documents originally filed %TRLY C+5PARATI,E E6A5PLE ARE EE*TIAL 7+R +9I*: I*,E*TI,E TEP &, in 'ie! of 71-7-73 each ta?en alone, only auxiliarily in 'ie! of their combination !ith 7"-76, thein'enti'e step of the claimed subAect-matter cannot be ac?no!ledged %Duidelines D-<.@ff and (rticle @6 )*+&.

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Problem Solution Approach Analysis