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 arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are not found persuasive 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.
Status of Application
Claims 1-5, 7-11 are currently pending. Claims 8-11 are new. Claim 6 is canceled. Claim 1 is currently amended.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (JP2014157817A which was cited in IDS 11/23/2021, US equivalent US20140234714A1 was used for citation, previously cited).
Regarding claim 1, Cho discloses a negative-electrode active material for a secondary battery, comprising:
a core particle having a core surface, the core surface including a basal surface, and containing a material that intercalates and releases a metal ion (i.e., composite core powder comprising porous spherical graphite [0095-0099]) {claim 2}
a first layer consisting of amorphous carbon,
having a first layer internal surface located directly on the core surface including the basal surface, and having a first layer external surface lacking direct contact with the core surface including the basal surface (i.e., 10wt% pitch coating [0105]; “amorphous carbonaceous coating” [0030)
a second layer including containing titanium dioxide [0106], which is an inorganic oxide as claimed {claims 4, 5} and
having a second layer internal surface located directly on the first layer external surface and directly on the core surface including the basal surface
having a second layer external surface lacking direct contact with the first layer internal surface, the first layer external surface, and the core surface including the basal surface, (i.e., the pitch-coated composite core powder is mixed with titanium isopropoxide and isopropyl alcohol [0106]).
Cho further discloses wherein the core surface is coated with coal tar pitch [0105] but does not explicitly disclose wherein “a first coverage of the core surface including the basal surface of the core particle with the first layer internal surface is 60% or more”.
However, Cho further discloses wherein the amorphous carbonaceous coating may be coated using dipping [0041] which would cover about 100% of the core surface of the core particle, which meets the claim range of “60% or more”.
Cho further discloses wherein the second layer (i.e., the titanium dioxide layer) is formed by mixing the pitch-coated composite core powder with titanium isopropoxide and isopropyl alcohol in a stirrer [0106], which is expected to form a uniform coating of the titanium dioxide on the pitch-coated composite core. A skilled artisan would expect the uniform coating formed by mixing in the stirrer to cover “50% or more” of the core.
Cho further discloses wherein after mixing the pitch-coated composite core powder, titanium isopropoxide, and isopropyl alcohol, the mixture was agitated and heated to remove the solvent and calcined in a nitrogen atmosphere [0106], where a skilled artisan would expect pores or gaps to form during removal of solvents via calcination in a nitrogen atmosphere. Thus, a skilled artisan would expect the titanium dioxide layer to cover most of the external surface of the first layer.
However, Cho doesn’t explicitly disclose “a third coverage of the first layer external surface with the second layer internal surface is from 60% to 95%” as claimed.
In this regard, Cho discloses that when the metal oxide coating layer forms an external surface of the composite core, it may prevent side reactions with electrolyte, and may effectively improve battery life characteristics, in particular, at high temperatures. Cho further discloses that when the amorphous carbonaceous coating layer forms an external surface of the composite core, it may reduce expansion rate of the composite core during charging/discharging and may improve surface conductivity of the negative active material, and consequently may improve battery life of the lithium battery [0043]. Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have controlled the coverage rate of metal oxide coating layer such that some of the amorphous carbonaceous coating layer is exposed to form an external surface of the core, thus arriving at the claimed coverage rate of 60 to 95%, to balance between preventing side reaction with electrolyte and reducing expansion rate of the composite core during charging/discharging [0043-0044].
the second layer is absent from between the first layer and the core particle (i.e., the titanium dioxide layer is formed after pitch coating the core [0106]
Regarding claim 3, Cho discloses the negative-electrode active material for a secondary battery according to claim 1, wherein the first layer has a thickness of about 1.5 µm which is substantially close to the claimed range of “1 µm or less”, where the difference between the claimed ranges was virtually negligible absent any showing of unexpected results or criticality (MPEP 2144.05 I).
Regarding claim 7, Cho disclose a secondary battery, comprising: a negative electrode including the negative-electrode active material according to claim 1 [0122, 0114-0115];a positive electrode [0117]; and an electrolyte [0118].
Regarding claim 8, Cho discloses the negative-electrode active material for a secondary battery according to claim 1, wherein the first layer is formed directly on the core surface including the basal surface (i.e., pitch coating [0105]), and the second layer is subsequently formed on the first layer and the core surface including the basal surface (i.e., mixing the pitch coated core with titanium isopropoxide [0106]).
Regarding claim 9, Cho discloses a negative-electrode active material for a secondary battery (title), comprising:
a core particle including a material that intercalates and releases a metal ion (i.e., composite core powder comprising porous spherical graphite [0095-0099]),
a first layer consisting of amorphous carbon, and formed directly on a surface, including a basal surface, of the core particle (i.e., 10wt% pitch coating [0105])
a second layer including at least one inorganic compound (i.e., titanium dioxide coating [0106]).
Cho further discloses wherein the core surface is coated with coal tar pitch [0105] but does not explicitly disclose wherein “a first coverage of the core surface including the basal surface of the core particle with the first layer internal surface is 60% or more”.
However, Cho further discloses wherein the amorphous carbonaceous coating may be coated using dipping [0041] which would completely cover the core surface of the core particle, which meets the claim range of “60% or more”.
Cho further discloses wherein the second layer (i.e., the titanium dioxide layer) is formed by mixing the pitch-coated composite core powder with titanium isopropoxide and isopropyl alcohol in a stirrer [0106], which is expected to form a uniform coating of the titanium dioxide on the pitch-coated composite core. A skilled artisan would thus expect the uniform coating formed by mixing in the stirrer to cover “50% or more” of the core.
Cho further discloses wherein after mixing the pitch-coated composite core powder, titanium isopropoxide, and isopropyl alcohol, the mixture was agitated and heated to remove the solvent and calcined in a nitrogen atmosphere [0106], where a skilled artisan would expect pores or gaps to form during removal of solvents via calcination in a nitrogen atmosphere. Thus, a skilled artisan would expect the titanium dioxide layer to cover most of the external surface of the first layer.
However, Cho doesn’t explicitly disclose “a third coverage of the first layer external surface with the second layer internal surface is from 60% to 95%” as claimed.
In this regard, Cho discloses that when the metal oxide coating layer forms an external surface of the composite core, it may prevent side reactions with electrolyte, and may effectively improve battery life characteristics, in particular, at high temperatures. Cho further discloses that when the amorphous carbonaceous coating layer forms an external surface of the composite core, it may reduce expansion rate of the composite core during charging/discharging and may improve surface conductivity of the negative active material, and consequently may improve battery life of the lithium battery [0043]. Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have controlled the coverage rate of metal oxide coating layer such that some of the amorphous carbonaceous coating layer is exposed to form an external surface of the core, to balance between preventing side reaction with electrolyte and reducing expansion rate of the composite core during charging/discharging [0043-0044].
the second layer is absent from between the first layer and the core particle (i.e., the titanium dioxide layer is formed after pitch coating the core [0106]
Regarding claim 10, Cho discloses the negative-electrode active material for a secondary battery according to claim 9, wherein the first layer is formed directly on the surface of the core particle including the basal surface [0105], and the second layer is subsequently formed on the first layer and the surface of the core particle including the basal surface [0106].
Regarding claim 11, Cho discloses a negative-electrode active material for a secondary battery, comprising:
a core particle including a material that intercalates and releases a metal ion (i.e., composite core powder comprising porous spherical graphite [0095-0099];
a first layer consisting of amorphous carbon, and formed directly on a surface, including a basal surface, of the core particle (i.e., 10wt% pitch coating [0105]; “amorphous carbonaceous coating” [0030])
a second layer subsequently formed on the first layer (i.e., titanium dioxide layer [0106])
However, Cho does not disclose wherein the second layer (i.e., the metal oxide layer) is formed directly on the surface of the core particle.
In this regard, Cho discloses wherein the metal oxide serves as a conductive path and a protective layer for preventing side reactions with an electrolyte solution [0036].
Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the composite structure such that the second layer comprising the metal oxide to be on the surface of the core particle, with a reasonable expectation to provide conductive path while also preventing side reactions with the electrolyte solution [0036].
Cho further discloses wherein the core surface is coated with coal tar pitch [0105] but does not explicitly disclose wherein “a first coverage of the core surface including the basal surface of the core particle with the first layer internal surface is 60% or more”.
However, Cho further discloses wherein the amorphous carbonaceous coating may be coated using dipping [0041] which would completely cover the core surface of the core particle, which meets the claim range of “60% or more”.
Cho further discloses wherein the second layer (i.e., the titanium dioxide layer) is formed by mixing the pitch-coated composite core powder with titanium isopropoxide and isopropyl alcohol in a stirrer [0106], which is expected to form a uniform coating of the titanium dioxide on the pitch-coated composite core. A skilled artisan would thus expect the uniform coating formed by mixing in the stirrer to cover “50% or more” of the core.
Cho further discloses wherein after mixing the pitch-coated composite core powder, titanium isopropoxide, and isopropyl alcohol, the mixture was agitated and heated to remove the solvent and calcined in a nitrogen atmosphere [0106], where a skilled artisan would expect pores or gaps to form during removal of solvents via calcination in a nitrogen atmosphere. Thus, a skilled artisan would expect the titanium dioxide layer to cover most of the external surface of the first layer.
However, Cho doesn’t explicitly disclose “a third coverage of the first layer external surface with the second layer internal surface is from 60% to 95%” as claimed.
In this regard, Cho discloses that when the metal oxide coating layer forms an external surface of the composite core, it may prevent side reactions with electrolyte, and may effectively improve battery life characteristics, in particular, at high temperatures. Cho further discloses that when the amorphous carbonaceous coating layer forms an external surface of the composite core, it may reduce expansion rate of the composite core during charging/discharging and may improve surface conductivity of the negative active material, and consequently may improve battery life of the lithium battery [0043]. Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have controlled the coverage rate of metal oxide coating layer such that some of the amorphous carbonaceous coating layer is exposed to form an external surface of the core, to balance between preventing side reaction with electrolyte and reducing expansion rate of the composite core during charging/discharging [0043-0044].
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./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/Haroon S. Sheikh/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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