DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
Applicant’s amendment filed 11 March 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1, 12, 28, and 40 have been amended, claims 3, 5, 8, 11, 16, and 18 are canceled, and claims 12, 13, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38-41 remain withdrawn, and claims 1, 2, 12, 13, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38-41 remain pending.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
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 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamo (JP H1167210 A; using the attached English machine translation for citations).
Regarding claim 1, Kamo teaches an electrode comprising:
an alkali metal or a substrate for alkali metal deposition (copper foil, see [0010]); and
an interface material on a surface of the alkali metal or the substrate (equated to the slurry, which includes the active material discussed in [0006], applied onto the substrate of the copper foil, see [0010]),
the interface material comprises Li2TeS3, Li2CS3, LixMySz, wherein M is Mo, W, In, Sn, or Bi and x, y, and z are independently between 0 and 1 (LixWSy, wherein x = 0 to 3, y = 0.5 to 3, see [0006]). Applicant is reminded that in the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. Similarly, a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close. See MPEP §2144.05(I).
Regarding claim 2, Kamo teaches wherein the interface material (LixWSy, wherein x = 0 to 3, y = 0.5 to 3, see [0006]) comprises, corresponds to, or acts as an artificial solid-electrolyte interphase (The proportions of Kamo either overlap or are so close that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties as the claimed invention, and so Kamo’s interface material must also comprise, correspond, or act as an artificial solid-electrolyte interphase; see MPEP §2144.05(I)).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2 have been considered but are moot 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.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN HA whose telephone number is (571)270-5934. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00 EST.
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/S.S.H/Examiner, Art Unit 1735 28 May 2026
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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