DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/19/26 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claims 15-19, 21, and 22 are currently pending. Claims 1-14 and 20 are cancelled. New claims 21 and 22 have been added.
The Declaration under 37 CFR 1.132 filed 8/31/26 is insufficient to overcome the rejection of claims 15-19 based upon Sugaya et al applied under U.S.C. 103 as set forth in the last Office action because: the statement that “Although Sugaya states that W "may be present" on the surface and/or in the surface layer at a high proportion, Sugaya also states that W is usually present uniformly in the primary particles. Sugaya's statement that W may be present on a surface or surface layer does not establish that Sugaya forms a compound containing both tungsten and lithium, such as lithium tungstate, in a concentrated state on the surface layer of primary particles and at grain boundaries between primary particles. Nor does it establish that Sugaya forms the tungsten-concentrated precursor layer required by claim 15”, even if considered to be an expert opinion, was inadequate to overcome the rejection based on that prior art because there was no factual evidence supporting the statement (In re Carroll, 601 F.2d 1184, 202 USPQ 571 (CCPA 1979). (see MPEP 716.01(c), Section III, “Opinion Evidence”). The Sugaya teaching of “W may be present in the surface layer (in the vicinity of the surface in the inside of the primary particle) at a high proportion” is sufficient to show that the surface layer of the primary particle is a tungsten-concentrated layer. Since the primary particle is made from lithium transition metal oxide, a surface layer of W (tungsten) would necessarily result in a compound containing tungsten and lithium, present in a concentrated state on a surface layer of the primary particles. The Declaration does not provide any factual evidence to show that firing conditions taught by Sugaya does not form a compound containing both tungsten and lithium in a concentrated state on the surface layer of primary particles and at grain boundaries between primary particles. Since Sugaya also discloses W (tungsten) present in the surface layer of the base particle which is a secondary particle at a high proportion (see para. [0019]), this disclosure provides sufficient teaching of “secondary particles formed by aggregation of a plurality of primary particles and a compound containing tungsten and lithium that is present in a concentrated state on a surface layer of primary particles” as recited in claim 15.
Therefore, upon further consideration, claims 15-19, 21, and 22 are rejected under the following 103 rejections.
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 15, 17-19, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al (US 2016/0006029) in view of Ito et al (JP 2004210560 A).
Regarding claims 15 and 17-19, Sugaya et al discloses a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; a separator; and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises: a lithium transition metal oxide represented by LixNiaCobMnc Al(1-y-a-b)WyO2 where 0.9 < x < 1.2, 0.001 ≦ y ≦ 0.01, 0.30 ≦ a ≦ 0.95, 0 ≦ b ≦ 0.5, and a-c > 0.03 (M is Al and has a ratio of the number of atoms of the respective metal elements represented by Li : Ni : Mn : Co : W : M = 1 + u : x : y : z : a : b (x+y+z= 1, -0.05 ≤ u ≤ 0.50, 0.3 ≤ x ≤ 0. 95, 0.05 ≤ y ≤ 0.55, 0 ≤ z ≤ 0.4, 0 ≤ a ≤ 0.1); wherein the lithium transition metal oxide is composed of primary particles and secondary particles formed by aggregation of primary particles, wherein a compound containing lithium and tungsten is formed on the surface of the primary particles; wherein the aggregation of primary particles forms voids (hollow parts) between the primary particles; wherein W (tungsten) is present in the primary particle uniformly but may be present on the surface and in the surface layer (in the vicinity of the surface in the inside of the primary particle) at a high proportion which corresponds to a tungsten-concentrated layer having a thickness in the direction from the surface toward the center; wherein the surface of the primary particles includes the surface of the primary particles exposed on the outer surface of the secondary particles, in the inside of the secondary particles, and even the grain boundaries between the primary particles; wherein an amount of the compound containing tungsten and lithium present on the surface of the secondary particles is inherently larger than an amount of the compound containing tungsten and lithium present inside the secondary particles; and wherein the secondary particles have voids (hollow parts) at a center thereof as the hollow structure ([0019],[0021],[0031],[0055], [0058]-[0066] and Fig. 2). Examiner’s note: the Office takes the position that “a compound containing tungsten and lithium that is present in a concentrated state, on a surface layer of primary particles present on a surface or inside of the secondary particles and at a grain boundary between the primary particles … wherein the metal composite hydroxide has a tungsten-concentrated layer having a thickness in the direction from the surface toward the center within the metal complex hydroxide” is an inherent characteristic of the Sugaya positive electrode active material based upon the sectional view of the positive electrode active material shown in Fig. 2 and the corresponding description in para. [0019].
However, Sugaya et al does not expressly teach a hollow structure having a tap density of 1.2 g/cm3 or more and 1.99 g/cm3 or less (claim 15).
Ito et al discloses a manganese nickel mixed hydroxide particle (hollow structure) having a tap density of 0.6 to 1.4 g/ml with examples of 1.27 g/ml and 1.37 g/ml (pg. 6, lines 243-245 and Table 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the Sugaya positive electrode active material to include a tap density of 1.27 g/cm3 to 1.37 g/cm3 in order to increase initial capacity, while exhibiting excellent battery characteristics (pg. 6, lines 242-243).
Examiner’s note: It is noted that claim 15 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).
Regarding claim 21, Sugaya et al also discloses a positive electrode active material that is represented by LiNi0.545Co0.20Mn0.25W0.005O2 (Formula, where u=0, x=0.545, y=0.25, z=0.20, a=0.005, b=0) ([0055]).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al in view of Ito et al as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Mori et al (US 2015/0188136).
However, Sugaya et al as modified by Ito et al does not expressly teach a crystallite diameter of (003) plane attained by powder x-ray diffraction measurement that is 120 nm or more.
Mori et al discloses a positive electrode active material that contains a lithium nickel complex oxide having a crystallite diameter as calculated from the peak for the (003) plane in x-ray diffraction that is 50 to 300 nm ([0038]) with examples having a crystallite diameter from 128 to 169 nm (Table 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Sugaya/Ito positive electrode active material to include a crystallite diameter of (003) plane attained by powder x-ray diffraction measurement that is 120 nm or more in order to provide high initial discharge capacity and an initial charge/discharge efficiency of at least 94% (Table 2 and [0147]).
Claims 15, 17-19, 21, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al (US 2016/0006029) in view of Ito et al (JP 2004210560 A), and further in view of Yokoyama et al (US 2017/0054147).
Regarding claims 15, 17-19, and 22, Sugaya et al discloses a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; a separator; and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises: a lithium transition metal oxide represented by LixNiaCobMnc Al(1-y-a-b)WyO2 where 0.9 < x < 1.2, 0.001 ≦ y ≦ 0.01, 0.30 ≦ a ≦ 0.95, 0 ≦ b ≦ 0.5, and a-c > 0.03 (M is Al and has a ratio of the number of atoms of the respective metal elements represented by Li : Ni : Mn : Co : W : M = 1 + u : x : y : z : a : b (x+y+z= 1, -0.05 ≤ u ≤ 0.50, 0.3 ≤ x ≤ 0. 95, 0.05 ≤ y ≤ 0.55, 0 ≤ z ≤ 0.4, 0 ≤ a ≤ 0.1); wherein the lithium transition metal oxide is composed of primary particles and secondary particles formed by aggregation of primary particles; wherein the aggregation of primary particles forms voids (hollow parts) between the primary particles; wherein W (tungsten) may be present on the surface and in the surface layer (in the vicinity of the surface in the inside of the primary particle) at a high proportion which corresponds to a tungsten-concentrated layer having a thickness in the direction from the surface toward the center; wherein the surface of the primary particles includes the surface of the primary particles exposed on the outer surface of the secondary particles, in the inside of the secondary particles, and even the grain boundaries between the primary particles; and wherein the secondary particles have voids (hollow parts) at a center thereof as the hollow structure ([0019],[0021],[0031],[0055], [0058]-[0066] and Fig. 2).
However, Sugaya et al does not expressly teach a hollow structure having a tap density of 1.2 g/cm3 or more and 1.99 g/cm3 or less (claim 15).
Ito et al discloses a manganese nickel mixed hydroxide particle (hollow structure) having a tap density of 0.6 to 1.4 g/ml with examples of 1.27 g/ml and 1.37 g/ml (pg. 6, lines 243-245 and Table 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the Sugaya positive electrode active material to include a tap density of 1.27 g/cm3 to 1.37 g/cm3 in order to increase initial capacity, while exhibiting excellent battery characteristics (pg. 6, lines 242-243).
However, Sugaya et al as modified by Ito et al does not expressly teach a compound containing tungsten and lithium (claim 15); wherein the compound containing tungsten and lithium is in the surface layer of the primary particles which is present on the surface of the secondary particles and inside the secondary particles, and an amount of the compound containing tungsten and lithium present on the surface of the secondary particles is larger than an amount of the compound containing tungsten and lithium present inside the secondary particles (claim 18); wherein the compound containing tungsten and lithium that is lithium tungstate (claim 22).
Yokoyama et al discloses primary particle that has fine particles containing W and Li on its surface, wherein the W and Li exists in the form of lithium tungstate, wherein lithium tungstate was formed on the surface of the primary particle in the form of a layer, wherein secondary particles are aggregates of the primary particles, wherein lithium tungstate is inherently present on the surface of the secondary particles and inside the secondary particles and an amount of the compound containing tungsten and lithium present on the surface of the secondary particles is larger than an amount of the compound containing tungsten and lithium present inside the secondary particles ([0029],[0044],[0096],[0211],[0343]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Sugaya/Ito positive electrode active material to include a compound containing tungsten and lithium that is lithium tungstate, wherein the compound containing tungsten and lithium is in the surface layer of the primary particles which is present on the surface of the secondary particles and inside the secondary particles, and an amount of the compound containing tungsten and lithium present on the surface of the secondary particles that is larger than an amount of the compound containing tungsten and lithium present inside the secondary particles in order to form a conduction path for Li at the interface between the primary particle and an electrolytic solution, thereby reaction resistance of an active material is lowered, and output characteristics are improved ([0044],[0085]).
Examiner’s note: It is noted that claim 15 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).
Regarding claim 21, Sugaya et al also discloses a positive electrode active material that is represented by LiNi0.545Co0.20Mn0.25W0.005O2 (Formula, where u=0, x=0.545, y=0.25, z=0.20, a=0.005, b=0) ([0055]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/19/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant argues that “Sugaya discloses that W was present inside the primary particles and at the interface between primary particles, with "75% or more" of the W present inside the primary particles in solid solution (paragraph [0058]). Thus, Sugaya teaches tungsten primarily in solid solution in the primary particles, not a distinct compound containing tungsten and lithium that is concentrated at the recited surfaces and grain boundaries. Although Sugaya states that tungsten was present "at the interface between a primary particle and a primary particle," Sugaya does not state that tungsten was concentrated in a surface portion of the primary particles, and does not identify lithium tungstate or any other compound containing both tungsten and lithium at the claimed locations. In contrast, the present specification explains that a tungsten-concentrated layer formed on the precursor produces a compound containing tungsten and lithium, such as lithium tungstate, when the precursor is mixed and fired with a lithium compound ("Tungsten-concentrated layer" section, paragraph [0038]). The claimed second crystallization process forms the tungsten-concentrated layer on first metal composite hydroxide particles by supplying a second raw- material aqueous solution having a higher tungsten content ("Second crystallization process" section, paragraphs [0085] and [0088]). The resulting lithium-metal composite oxide has the tungsten-and-lithium compound concentrated at the surface layer of primary particles and at grain boundaries ("Compound containing tungsten and lithium" section, paragraphs [0115]-[0117]). Sugaya neither discloses this precursor structure nor establishes that its materially different process necessarily yields the claimed Li-W compound distribution”.
In response, the Office first points out that the disclosure of Sugaya is not limited to the Experimental Example 1 described in para. [0054]-[0058]. As stated above, Sugaya et al discloses “W … may be present on the surface and/or in the surface layer (in the vicinity of the surface in the inside of the primary particle 33a) at a high proportion or be present on the surface and/or in the surface layer of the base particle 33, which is a secondary particle, at a high proportion. Consequently, a stable structure is formed at the contact interface and cracking of the base particle 33 in large current discharge can be suppressed. As a result, good cycle characteristics can be maintained even when charge and discharge are repeated under the condition accompanied by large current discharge”. Based upon this teaching, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that a high proportion of W in a surface layer of the primary particle and the secondary particle would read on “tungsten that is present in a concentrated state on a surface layer of primary particles present on a surface or inside of the secondary particles and at a grain boundary between the primary particles”. In addition, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to optimize the proportion of W in the surface layer in order to form a stable structure at the contact interface, thereby suppressing the cracking of the secondary particles in large current discharge and maintaining good cycle characteristics. Further, a compound containing tungsten and lithium that is lithium tungstate as a surface layer is known in the art as taught by the newly cited Yokoyama reference. So, even if Sugaya does not explicitly teach a compound containing tungsten and lithium as a surface layer, it would still be obvious in view of Yokoyama. Lastly, the Applicant has not provided any factual evidence to show that the Sugaya method of synthesizing the positive electrode active material does not inherently form the same tungsten-concentrated layer as the present invention or cannot be optimized to form a high proportion of W (tungsten) on the surface layer of the primary particles as disclosed in para. [0019].
The Applicant further argues that “Although Sugaya describes a W-containing lithium transition-metal oxide, Sugaya's claimed positive electrode active material requires a rare-earth compound attached to the base-particle surface (claim 1 and paragraphs [0018]-[0019]), and such a material is therefore not represented by the recited formula”.
In response, the Office takes the position that limitation “the positive electrode active material is represented by Formula” does not preclude the addition of a rare-earth compound. Since Sugaya discloses a positive electrode active material that includes primary particles that are made from lithium transition metal oxide containing W (see para. [0018]), it reads on claim 21.
Conclusion
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/T.S.C/Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 9/16/2026
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