DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-5 are currently pending. Claims 6-12 are cancelled. The amended claim 1 does overcome the previously stated 103 rejections. However, upon further consideration, claims 1-5 are rejected under the following new 103 rejection. This action is made FINAL as necessitated by the amendment.
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US 2013/0089784) in view of Hwang et al (US 2017/0047584), and further in view of Zhamu et al (US 2009/0117467).
Regarding claims 1 and 5, Cho et al discloses a negative electrode (anode) comprising: a negative active material (powder mass / anode active material), a conductive agent (conductive additive), a binder (resin binder); wherein the negative active material is a primary particle “100” (powder mass) comprising multiple Si nanowires intermixed with a crystalline carbonaceous core “110” (multiple graphene sheets); wherein the Si nanowires have an average diameter of about 30 to about 50 nm and an average length of about 1.5 µm and Si nanowires that are in an amount of 7.15 wt% based on the total weight of the carbonaceous core and the Si nanowires combined; wherein the Si nanowires contain 100 wt% of Si ([0060]); wherein the primary particle (powder mass) may be agglomerated to form secondary particles, wherein at least one of the secondary particles comprises a core and a shell embracing the core, wherein the core comprises a single graphene sheet “110” and a plurality of Si nanowires “120” and the graphene sheet and the Si nanowires are mutually bonded into the core; wherein the graphene refers to a single layer sheet of pristine graphene ([0048],[0051],[0072], [0075],[0099] and Fig. 1).
However, Cho et al does not expressly teach a shell comprising one or a plurality of graphene sheets (claim 1).
Hwang et al discloses a silicon-carbon composite including a core including a plurality of active particles and a first shell layer which is coated on the core and includes graphene, wherein the first shell layer is formed in a single-layered or multilayer structure including one or more graphene layers ([0035]-[0039],[0065]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the Cho negative active material to include a shell comprising one or a plurality of graphene sheets in order to improve the movement of lithium ions and the electrical conductivity of the active particles ([0065]).
However, Cho et al as modified by Hwang et al does not expressly teach a core that further comprises a conductive material selected from conducting polymer (claim 1).
Zhamu et al discloses an electrochemically active material (core), if in fine powder form, that may be further bonded by a binder material … An electrically conductive binder material may be selected from … conjugate chain polymer (intrinsically conductive polymer) … to form an integral anode member ([0119]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the Cho/Hwang negative active material to include a core that further comprises a conducting polymer in order to further bond the primary particles (core) together to form an integral anode member ([0119]), thereby providing high cycle life, high reversible capacity, and low irreversible capacity ([0016]).
Examiner’s note: it is noted that claim 1 is being construed as product-by-process and that the product itself does not depend on the process of making it. Accordingly, in a product-by-process claim, the patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. In that, it is further noted that the product in the instant claim is obvious over the product of the prior art. The claim is obvious as it has been held similar products claimed in product-by-process limitations are obvious (In re Brown 173 USPQ 685 and In re Fessman 180 USPQ 324, See MPEP 2113: Product-by-Process claims). Burden is on applicants to show difference in product comparison.
Regarding claim 2, Cho et al does not expressly teach Si nanowires having a diameter from 10 nm to 40 nm.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the Cho negative active material to include Si nanowires having a diameter from 10 nm to 40 nm because in a case where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art a prima facie case of obviousness exists. (In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ 2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990)). There is no evidence of criticality of the claimed diameter of the Si nanowires.
Regarding claim 3, Cho et al also discloses Si nanowires having at least a portion that may be linear, gently or sharply curved, or branched ([0060]).
However, Cho et al does not expressly Si nanowires that are curly having a radius of curvature from 100 nm to 10 µm.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the Cho negative active material to include Si nanowires that are curly having a radius of curvature from 100 nm to 10 µm because it has been held that the discovery of an optimum value of a result effective variable in a known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454. 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955)). In addition, Zhu et al (US 2018/0019468) discloses that during the lithiation (charging) and delithiation (discharging), the high surface curvature (i.e. small diameter) of the Si-nanowires provides a lower energy barrier for lithium insertion and allows for an easier release of mechanical stress due to lithium ions disrupting the silicon structure ([0006]). Therefore, the radius of curvature of the Si nanowires is known in the art as a result effective variable of optimizing the size to provide a lower energy barrier of lithium insertion as well as allowing for an easier release of mechanical stress due to lithium ions disrupting the silicon structure.
Regarding claim 4, the Office takes the position that the graphene sheets taught by Cho et al inherently contain pristine graphene material having less than 0.01% by weight of non-carbon elements.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5 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.
Conclusion
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.
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/T.S.C/Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 10/7/2026
