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 .
Response to Amendment
Amendments have been entered as filed 03/17/2026. Amendments necessitate new grounds of rejection, see rejection below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1,6 8-9, 11, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by (US-20200343582-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Li’
Regarding Claim 1,
Li teaches a lithium metal battery cel (Li, “wherein the anode layer contains at least one selected from the group consisting of a lithium metal and a lithium alloy”, see Abstract), comprising: a lithium-containing cathode active material layer; an electrolyte (Li, “wherein the all-solid-state battery comprises a cathode comprising a cathode layer, an anode comprising an anode layer, and a solid electrolyte layer disposed between the cathode layer and the anode layer “, see [0012]); and prior to charging, an anode consisting of: an anode current collector; and a thin film metal layer formed on the anode current collector and directly between the anode current collector and the electrolyte, the thin film metal layer consisting of one or both of Mg and Pt, the thin film metal layer configured to promote dense lithium deposition between the thin film metal layer and the electrolyte during charging (Li, “First, using an electron beam evaporation device, a metal layer containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Mg, Au, Al and Sn, is formed by vacuum deposition of the metal on one surface of the solid electrolyte layer or anode current collector”, see [0049]), wherein, during charging, metallic lithium deposits between the thin film metal layer and the electrolyte (Li, “at least one of the lithium metal and the lithium alloy is further precipitated on the protective layer to form the anode layer.”, see [0050]).
Regarding Claim 6,
Li teaches the lithium metal battery of claim 1, wherein the electrolyte is a solid electrolyte (Li, “and a solid electrolyte layer disposed between the cathode layer and the anode layer”, see [0012])
Regarding Claim 8,
Li teaches the lithium metal battery of claim 1, further comprising a cathode current collector (Li, current collector, 14, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 9,
Li teaches an anode-free battery cell(Li, “at least one of the lithium metal and the lithium alloy is further precipitated on the protective layer to form the anode layer.”, see [0050]), comprising: a cathode comprising a lithium-containing cathode active material; a solid electrolyte; an anode current collector (Li, “wherein the all-solid-state battery comprises a cathode comprising a cathode layer, an anode comprising an anode layer, and a solid electrolyte layer disposed between the cathode layer and the anode layer” , see [0012]); and a thin film metal layer formed on the anode current collector, in direct contact with both the anode current collector and the solid electrolyte, and consisting of one or both of Pt and Mg, wherein the anode-free battery cell is manufactured without an anode active material layer and/or a lithium metal layer (Li, “First, using an electron beam evaporation device, a metal layer containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Mg, Au, Al and Sn, is formed by vacuum deposition of the metal on one surface of the solid electrolyte layer or anode current collector”, see [0049]), wherein, during charging, metallic lithium deposits between the thin film metal layer and the electrolyte (Li, “In the charging of the precursor battery, once the protective layer is formed, using the protective layer as a precipitation starting point, at least one of the lithium metal and the lithium alloy is further precipitated on the protective layer to form the anode layer.”, see [0050]).
Regarding Claim 11,
Li teaches the anode-free lithium metal battery cell of claim 9, wherein the metal forms a solid solution with lithium metal (Li, “at least one of the lithium metal and the lithium alloy is further precipitated on the protective layer to form the anode layer.”, see [0050]). .
Regarding Claim 14,
Li teaches the anode-free battery of claim 9, wherein the electrolyte is a solid electrolyte (Li, “and a solid electrolyte layer disposed between the cathode layer and the anode layer”, see [0012])
Claims 1 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by (US-20220223868-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Choi’
Regarding Claim 1,
Choi teaches a lithium metal battery cell (Choi, “The present disclosure describes an “anode-less” solid state lithium battery (e.g., a solid-state battery that does not include a lithium metal anode)”, Abstract) comprising: a lithium containing cathode active material layer (Choi, cathode, 120, Fig. 1) an electrolyte (Choi, SSE, 110, Fig. 1); and prior to charging an anode consisting of: an anode current collector; and a thin film metal layer formed on the anode current collector (Choi, Interlayer, 104, Fig. 1) the thin film metal layer the thin film metal layer configured to promote dense lithium deposition between the thin film metal layer and the electrolyte during charging (Choi, “The interlayer may improve the deposition of Li on the current collector during battery cycling..”see [0047] )(Choi, Li layer, 824, see Fig. 8B)(The examiner notes that the TMD layer is considered part of the electrolyte) Wherein during charging, metallic lithium deposits between the thin film metal layer (Choi, Li layer, 824, see Fig. 8B)(The examiner notes that the TMD layer is considered part of the electrolyte) (Choi, “In some implementations, the SSE 110 may include one or more layers of 2D TMD material”, see [0031])(Choi, “a thickness of the Li metal of the counter electrode 702 may be reduced from approximately 120 μm to approximately 110 μm, and the Li metal stored between the MoS2 coating 708 and the current collector 706 may increase from 0 μm”, see [0055]) and the electrolyte. Choi teaches a thin metal layer consisting of Mg (Choi, “In some implementations, the interlayer 104 includes metal particles or one or more thin films, such as thin films of magnesium (Mg), silver (Ag), zinc (Zn), aluminum (Al), carbon (C), silicon (Si), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), molybdenum (Mo), tellurium (Te), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti),” see [0031]) where the lithium metal can be cycled with magnesium to form a lithium-rich or lithium-deficient alloy anode. (Choi, “and/or other metals suitable for forming Li alloys when a battery is cycling”, see [0041])
Regarding Claim 6,
Choi teaches the lithium metal battery of claim 1, wherein the electrolyte is a solid electrolyte (Choi, “A solid state electrolyte material may be disposed within the battery between the layer(s) ”, see Fig. 1)
Regarding Claim 7,
Choi teaches wherein the electrolyte is a liquid or gel electrolyte (Choi, “the SSE 110 may include an aqueous electrolyte or a non-aqueous electrolyte”, see [0032])
Regarding Claim 8,
Choi teaches the lithium metal battery of claim 1, further a cathode current collector (Choi, current collector, 314, Fig. 3)
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by (US-20220223868-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Choi’ as evidenced by ‘Fundamental Thermodynamic, Kinetic, and Mechanical Properties of Lithium and Its Alloys’ hereinafter referred to as ‘Behara’.
Regarding Claim 4,
Choi teaches the lithium metal battery of claim 1, wherein the metal satisfies formula I:
η-Li_depo=-432.76*Eformation(eV)-0.3037
wherein η-Li_depo is lithium deposition overpotential and Eformation is formation energy at 1 %/eV of Li99A, wherein A is the metal. and η-Li_depo is between 0 mV and 8 mV. Inclusive Mg (Choi, “In some implementations, the interlayer 104 includes metal particles or one or more thin films, such as thin films of magnesium (Mg), silver (Ag), zinc (Zn), aluminum (Al), carbon (C), silicon (Si), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), molybdenum (Mo), tellurium (Te), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti),” see [0031]) Additionally, as evidenced by Behara see Figure 5, 0.99 Li is approximately -0.01 eV with Mg, which when using the equation above is 4 mV)
Regarding Claim 5,
Choi teaches η-Li_depo is between 0 mV and 5 mV. Inclusive (Choi, “In some implementations, the interlayer 104 includes metal particles or one or more thin films, such as thin films of magnesium (Mg), silver (Ag), zinc (Zn), aluminum (Al), carbon (C), silicon (Si), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), molybdenum (Mo), tellurium (Te), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti),” see [0031]) (Additionally, as evidenced by Behara see Figure 5, 0.99 Li is approximately -0.01 eV for Mg, which when using the equation above is 4 mV)
Response to Arguments
Arguments filed on have been entered. Arguments are fully considered.
On pg. 4, the applicant argues:
“The examiner contends that the 2D TMD layer is part of the electrolyte. There is no teaching ot suggestion in Choi to support this interpretation.”
However, the examiner does not find this convincing. There are embodiments which teach the layers separate, but Choi highlights that the TMD layers can be including within the SSE layers in other embodiments (Choi, “A dense, solid-state electrolyte (SSE) layer may be formed on the 2D TMD material. In some implementations, the SSE layer includes one or more layers of 2D TMD materials, preferably having a thickness between 10 nm and 200 micrometers (μm)”, see [0008]).
On pg. 5, the applicant argues:
“If one were to consider the optional interlayer disclosed in Choi as the claimed thin film metal layer, Choi still does not anticipate the claim. The optional interlayer of Choi is not ‘directly between the anode current collector and the electrolyte’ as required by the claim. Rather, it is between the anode current collector and the 2D TMD coating layer.”
However, the examiner does not find this convincing. The TMD layer is treated in embodiments of Choi as included in the SSE layer (Choi, “A dense, solid-state electrolyte (SSE) layer may be formed on the 2D TMD material. In some implementations, the SSE layer includes one or more layers of 2D TMD materials, preferably having a thickness between 10 nm and 200 micrometers (μm)”, see [0008]). In an embodiment where there is an interlayer and TMD in the SSE, the interlayer would be directly in contact and would contain the metals as claimed.
On pg. 5, the applicant argues:
“Claim 9 is amended to claim a thin film metal layer formed on the anode current collector, in direct contact with both the anode current collector and the solid electrolyte.”
The examiner finds this amendment persuasive, and although it could be argued that Choi meets this with its inclusion in the SSE layer, as outlined above, for the sake of expediting prosecution, the examiner has added to the record (US-20200343582-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Li.’ Li teaches a protective layer including a metal compounds (Li, “First, using an electron beam evaporation device, a metal layer containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Mg, Au, Al and Sn, is formed by vacuum deposition of the metal on one surface of the solid electrolyte layer or anode current collector.”, see [0049]). The examiner notes that even though Li appears to include an anode layer, the anode layer as described is a precipitated lithium metal layer in the same way that the layer is formed in the instant application (Li, “at least one of the lithium metal and the lithium alloy is further precipitated on the protective layer to form the anode layer.”, see [0050]). Li teaches that the metal layer on contact with the electrolyte prevents the reactions between the lithium metal layer and the electrolyte (Li, “The composite metal oxide layer is more stable than the lithium metal, functions as the protective layer for suppressing a reaction between the lithium metal and the solid electrolyte”, see [0050]). Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art, considering both references, would be motivated to set a metal layer between the current collector and the electrolyte in order to prevent side reactions with the later formed lithium metal layer.
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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/S.P.M./Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/NICHOLAS A SMITH/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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