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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3/28/22, 5/19/23, 7/13/23, 10/9/23 and 3/14/24 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “wherein comprising”. Examiner suggests “comprising”. Appropriate correction is required. See also claims 5 and 10 that recite “wherein comprising”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the zinc salt" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Note claim 5 recites “a zinc salt solution”.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the zinc salt" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Note claim 5 recites “a zinc salt solution”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5-8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liang et al., CN 103094557 A.
Liang teaches a method for preparing a metal oxide-coated cathode material for a lithium ion battery. The surface of the cathode material is coated with ZnO to prepare a lithium ion battery with excellent electrochemical performance. The cathode material may be LiMnxNi1-xO2 wherein 0<x<1. The weight percentage of ZnO in the positive electrode material coated with ZnO on the surface is 0.1-5 wt%.The ZnO is coated on crystal grains of the cathode material. The zinc oxide may be coated on the cathode material using a zinc salt solution. The cathode material is added to the zinc salt solution and then stirred for 0.5-2 hours until the sol was completely volatilized. The product was completely dried in an oven at 80-150°C and then placed in a high temperature furnace for calcination at a temperature of 400-800°C at a heating rate of 1-10°C/min. The sintering time is 0.5-3 hours. The temperature is naturally reduced to room temperature (additional time). The concentration of zinc2+ in the solution is 0.4-1.5 mol/L. The zinc salt may be zinc acetate. Thus, the claims are anticipated.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al., CN 109811412 A .
Wang teaches a layered nickel lithium manganate cathode material having a single crystal morphology and a preparation method thereof. The layered nickel lithium manganate cathode material has the formula LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2. The material structure is further modified by doping, coating and other technical means to reduce the Ni-Li mixing degree in the lattice structure and improve the conductivity of the material. The doping/coating may an M source additive such as zinc oxide. The M source is added in an amount of 0.3-3 wt%. The nickel manganate may have an average particle size of about 4.7 mm. A method for preparing a single-crystal layered lithium nickel manganate cathode material comprises mixing a nickel manganese oxide precursor with a lithium source and an M source additive, and then calcining to obtain a layered lithium nickel manganese oxide cathode material having a single crystal morphology. The M is at least one of Al, Mg, Zr, La, Ce, Ti, Mo, Sr, Y, Zn, Nd, and Ca. The sintering is in an air or oxygen atmosphere. The calcination temperature is 800 ° C to 1100 ° C, and the calcination time is 9 h to 20 h.
Wang does not explicitly teach the general formula recited by claim 1 wherein 0.55 ≤ x ≤ 0.95. However, the invention as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made because the lithium nickel manganate of the presently claimed invention and the LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 as disclosed by Wang both have a lamellar monocrystal morphology structure. The background of Wang teaches in a multi-element cathode material LiMO2, nickel is the main electrochemical active material, which gives high capacity to the material and manganese can improve the structural and thermal stability of the material. One of skill would have been motivated to increase the amount of nickel of the lithium nickel manganate of Wang in order to improve the capacity of the cathode material.
Conclusion
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/TRACY M DOVE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727