DETAILED ACTION
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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/4/2026 has been entered.
The pending claims are claims 1-10, 12-17, 19, 20.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. Claim(s) 1-10, 12-14, 16, 17, 19, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yue et al., WO 2013178059, in view of Tranchot et al., J Electrochem Society.
Regarding claim 1, Yue et al., teaches an electrode (0004-0005; 0019) for an electrochemical cell (abstract), the electrode comprising electrode material (0004-0005;0019), a current collector (graphite support) (0019), and a binder composition (0022-0024), wherein the binder composition (5% PVDF) (0039) adheres (“substance that is capable of holding materials together in a functional manner by surface attachment that resists separation” (Google definition) the electrode material to the current collector (graphite surface) (0022-0024); composition comprising water-soluble lignin (0012; 0029; 0060).
Yue et al., does not teach composition comprising from 5 to 95% weight by weight of at least one water-soluble lignin and said composition further comprising from 5 to 95% weight by weight of carboxymethyl cellulose, wherein the % weight by weight are based on the overall dry weight of the composition, "[W]here 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).
Tranchot et al., teaches a carboxymethyl cellulose binder (pg. A1020, col. 1-2) in a lithium battery.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to insert the teachings of Tranchot into the teachings of Yue because Tranchot teaches carboxymethyl cellulose as the binder, wherein “the role of the binder is very critical for Si electrodes to maintain the electrode architecture” and CMC “has been shown to significantly improve the cycling performance of Si electrodes.”
Regarding claim 2, Yue et al., teaches the water- soluble lignin is a sulfonated lignin (0012), or a lignosulfonate (0012; 0029).
Regarding claim 3, Yue et al., teaches the composition comprises at least one further component selected from the group consisting of at least one water soluble polymer, at least one water dispersible polymer and a mixture thereof (0028).
Regarding claim 4, Yue et al., teaches an electrode wherein the at least one further component is selected from the group consisting of polyetherimide (0012).
Regarding claim 5, Yue et al., teaches a negative electrode (0008; 0019-0024).
Regarding claim 6, Yue et al., teaches the electrode material comprises an electrochemically active material is selected from silicon or a silicon- carbon composite (0019; 0022) either separately or combined with other negative active materials or other forms of electrochemically active carbon, (0019-0022), as well as mixtures of one or more of these compounds, also in the form of composites with carbon (0006; 0012).
Regarding claim 7, Yue et al., teaches the electrode material further comprises at least one conductive agent (0019-0020).
Regarding claim 8, Yue et al., teaches a method for producing a negative electrode for an electrochemical cell, the method comprising the step of mixing the binder composition according to claim1 with at least one electrode active material (0008) and adhering the electrode active material with the binder composition to a current collector (carrier; graphite support) (0005).
Regarding claim 9, Yue et al., teaches an electrochemical cell (abstract) comprising the negative electrode according to claim 5 (abstract; 0008; 0019-0024).
Regarding claim 10, Yue et al., teaches a battery, comprising at least one electrochemical cell, according to claim 9 (0019).
Regarding claim 12, Yue et al., teaches a method of manufacturing an electrochemical cell, in particular a negative electrode of a lithium ion battery, the method comprising dispersing an electrochemically active material in a slurry comprising the composition (0026-0029) according to claim1 (0008) and adhering the electrode active material with the binder composition to a current collector (carrier; graphite support) (0005; 0019).
Regarding claim 13, Yue et al., teaches the battery is a lithium ion battery (abstract).
Regarding claim 14, Yue et al., teaches the at least one electrochemical cell is a plurality of electrochemical cells (0038-0039; 0047).
Regarding claim 16, Yue et al., teaches the composition is for a negative electrode of an electrochemical cell (abstract).
Regarding claim 17, Yue et al., teaches the water-soluble lignin (0029; 0060) is a sulfonated lignin (0012) or a lignosulfonate (0012; 0029).
Regarding claim 19, Yue et al., teaches active material comprises silicon or silicon-carbon composite (0019; 0022).
Regarding claim 20, Yue et al., teaches the electrode material further comprises at least one conductive agent (graphite) (0019-0020).
6. Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yue et al., WO 2013178059, in view of Luski et al., US 2017/0365882.
Regarding claim 15, Yue et al., teaches the electrode material comprises an electrochemically active material is a silicon or a silicon-carbon composite (0022).
Yue et al., does not teach silicon or a silicon-carbon composite combined with lithium titanate.
Luski et al., teaches a lithium ion battery comprising a negative electrode comprising silicon or silicon-carbon composites and lithium titanate (0042).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to insert the teachings of Luski into the teachings of Yue because:
The negative electrode 12 may include any lithium host active material that can sufficiently undergo lithium intercalation and deintercalation while functioning as the negative terminal of the lithium ion battery 10. Examples of the lithium host active material include graphite or a low surface area amorphous carbon. Graphite is widely utilized to form the negative electrode 12 because it exhibits favorable lithium intercalation and deintercalation characteristics, is relatively non-reactive, and can store lithium in quantities that produce a relatively high energy density… Other materials can also be used to form the negative electrode including, for example, lithium titanate (LTO), silicon or silicon-carbon composites (0042).
Response to Arguments
7. Applicant's arguments filed 2/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Examiner requested a human translation of the reference Yue et al., WO 2013178059, and it is included in this Office Action. If the Applicant would prefer an emailed copy of the Yue et al., human translation, the Examiner can email the reference (translation).
The Applicant argues that “Yue does not teach an electrode that includes a lignin-based species and that any lignin-based species used in Yue is necessarily burned off during formation of an electroactive material such that it is not present in the final electroactive material and therefore not present in the electrode of Yue.”
However, in both the machine translation (filed 11/6/2020) and in the newly filed human translation, Yue et al., teaches an electrode that incorporates a lignin-based species (0012; 0029; 0060).
The Applicant argues that “The discussion also touched on Applicant's belief that the rejection of record may have resulted from, in part, difficulty in understanding the machine translation of Yue. Regardless, there is no possible interpretation of the machine translation of Yue in which Yue teaches an electrode that includes a lignin-based species. The Examiner indicated she would order a human translation of Yue from the USPTO to confirm for herself that Applicant's arguments are correct.”
The Examiner ordered a human translation from the USPTO and the translation is submitted with this Office Action.
The Applicant argues that “The only mentions of lignin-based species in Yue are as anionic dispersing agents. No other use of lignin is taught or suggested in Yue. The only use of anionic dispersing agents taught in Yue is as part of a mixture of precursor materials from which a "silicon-carbon composite negative electrode material" (i.e., a silicon-carbon based electroactive material) is formed. Yue does not teach or suggest any other use for anionic dispersing agents.”
However, Yue et al., teaches sulfonated lignin (0012) and lignonsulfonate (0012; 0029) in a lithium ion battery having silicon-carbon composite electrode material (0001- 0005).
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELA J MARTIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1288. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at 571-272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
Prosecution Insights