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 .
Status of Claims
Applicant’s amendment and arguments filed 05/29/2026 have been fully considered. Claim(s) 10, 14, 16-18 is/are amended; claim(s) 1-9 11-13 and 15 remain withdrawn. Examiner affirms that the original disclosure provides adequate support for the amendment.
Upon considering said amendment and arguments, the previous rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 102 set forth in the Office action mailed 01/30/2026 has/have been maintained for the reasons presented hereinbelow.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 10, 14, 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (JP2019153443A, cited in IDS filed 11/28/2022; machine translation in 01/30/2026 Office action)
Regarding claims 10, 14, and 16, Zhang discloses an energy device (“lithium secondary battery”, [0012]) comprising:
a positive electrode capable of absorbing and releasing metal ions ([0012]);
a negative electrode capable of absorbing and releasing metal ions ([0012]); and
a non-aqueous electrolytic solution ([0012]).
Zhang discloses the selection of one or more of metallic lithium, metals or alloys that are/can be alloyed with lithium, oxides and transition metal nitrides, and carbon materials capable of doping/dedoping lithium ions as suitable types of negative electrode active material, and further names silicon, silicon alloys, tin, and tin alloys as the metals or alloys containing or capable of alloying with lithium ([0086]). Of these, silicon metal and silicon alloys are named negative electrode active materials which contain a silicon atom disclosed with sufficient specificity to anticipate the “wherein the negative electrode comprises a negative electrode active material containing a silicon atom” as claimed in claim 10 (MPEP 2131.02 II).
Furthermore, the selection of silicon metal or silicon alloys as the sole negative electrode active material (e.g., as “one selected from the group consisting of […] used alone”, [0086]) necessitates a content of this negative electrode active material to be 100% by mass relative to the total amount of negative electrode active material. This falls within and anticipates the “a content of the negative electrode active material containing a silicon atom is 5% or more relative to a total amount of the negative electrode active material” as claimed in claim 10.
Zhang further discloses the non-aqueous electrolytic solution is a non-aqueous electrolytic solution containing a compound (A) ([0020]), with one specifically disclosed structure of compound (A) being the following (pp. 10, [0041]):
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Annotated Zhang formula a-8
wherein, X2’ and X3’ represent a halogen atom as claimed in claim 10, the halogen atom being a fluorine atom as claimed in claim 16,
and Z represents a tetravalent alkyl group in which the number of carbon atoms forming rings together with a part of a halogenated phosphate ester is 5, which falls within and anticipates the “number of carbon atoms forming rings together with a part of a halogenated phosphate ester is from 4 to 8” claimed in claim 10, and matches “the number of carbon atoms forming the rings together with a part of the halogenated phosphate ester, in Z in the formula (B2), is 5” as claimed in claim 14.
Regarding claim 17, Zhang discloses the energy device according to claim 10. Zhang provides an experimental example of a non-aqueous electrolytic solution comprising ethylene carbonate (EC), dimethyl carbonate (DMC), and methyl ethyl carbonate (EMC) ([0102]), EC being a saturated cyclic carbonate and a DMC and EMC being chain carbonates; thus, Zhang discloses with sufficient specificity a non-aqueous electrolytic solution which further comprises a saturated cyclic carbonate and a chain carbonate from the “group consisting of a saturated cyclic carbonate, a chain carbonate, a chain carboxylate ester, a cyclic carboxylate ester, an ether compound and a sulfone compound” (emphasis by Examiner) claimed in claim 17.
Zhang further discloses the selection of cyclic aprotic solvents in the non-aqueous electrolyte ([0060]) including cyclic carbonates, cyclic carboxylic acid esters (i.e., cyclic carboxylate esters), cyclic sulfones, and cyclic ethers ([0062]), and the selection of chain aprotic solvents in the non-aqueous electrolyte ([0060]) including chain carbonates, chain carboxylic acid esters (i.e., chain carboxylate esters), chain ethers, and chain phosphate esters ([0069]).
These additional named solvents closely overlap with or are included within the “group consisting of a saturated cyclic carbonate, a chain carbonate, a chain carboxylate ester, a cyclic carboxylate ester, an ether compound and a sulfone compound” (emphasis by Examiner) claimed in claim 17, such that Zhang’s disclosure would enable a skilled artisan to envisage Zhang’s non-aqueous electrolyte solution with the species indicated above from the group of claim 17 (MPEP 2131.02 II).
Regarding claim 18, Zhang discloses the energy device according to claim 10, wherein the total content of the compounds represented by formula B2 is 0.001-10% by mass with respect to the total amount of non- aqueous electrolytic solution ([0041]), which falls within the claimed range of 0.001% by mass or more and 30% by mass or less.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Particularly, Applicant has amended claim 10 to further recite the emphasized portion, “wherein the negative electrode comprises a negative electrode active material containing a silicon atom, a content of the negative electrode active material containing a silicon atom is 5% or more relative to a total amount of the negative electrode active material”.
Applicant assets that “Zhang describes silicon and silicon alloys as examples of metals that can be alloyed with lithium. However, nowhere does Zhang disclose or even suggest that the negative electrode active material containing a silicon atom is 5% by mass or more relative to total amount of the negative electrode active material as now recited in claim 10”.
However, Zhang discloses the selection of any one of the suitable negative electrode active materials recited in ¶[0086] for use alone (e.g., as “one selected from the group consisting of […] used alone”, [0086]). The use of a silicon metal or silicon alloy (i.e., the negative electrode active material containing a silicon atom) without any other negative electrode active material necessitates that the silicon metal or silicon alloy comprise 100% of the total negative electrode active material in the negative electrode.
Thus, the rejection of claim 10 under 35 U.S.C. 102 is maintained in view of the present amendment.
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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/E.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/Haroon S. Sheikh/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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