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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/3/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed on 2/3/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 4 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claims 4 and 20 both recite the limitation “wherein the two different metals further comprise silver and lithium”. The antecedent basis for the “two different lithium metals” is found in Claims 3 and 19, upon which claims 4 and 20 respectively depend, which recite the limitation “the lithiophilic substance further comprises two different metals”. While the filed specification does teach silver metal as one of the lithiophilic substances [0009, 0034, 0036-39] and that “lithium metal deposition is induced to accumulate gradually from the current collector side to the separator side” [0048], nowhere in the specification is lithium metal described as one of the alternatives for the lithiophilic substance.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-12, 16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2020/0274155, hereinafter "Li") in view of Wang et al. (Tuning wettability of molten lithium via a chemical strategy for lithium metal anodes, hereinafter "Wang").
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches an anode plate (anode 200), comprising a porous anode skeleton (3D conductive porous structure 204), a lithophilic substance, and a current collector (208) [0029, “lithium anode 200 … may include a 3D conductive porous structure 204, a lithium metal layer 206, and a thin metal current collector 208”, 0030, “Further, carbon and metals can be coated or doped with other lithiophilic elements”]. Li also teaches that a concentration of the lithiophilic substance has a gradient distribution inside the porous anode skeleton [claim 5, “wherein the particles comprise particles with high electronic conductivity that are distributed at a higher concentration toward the first end than at the second end”, 0030, “3D structure 204 may be designed to have high electronic conductivity at the bottom of the layer and lower electronic conductivity at the top of the layer”, “The conductive materials used may include conductive carbon and conductive metals”, “Further, carbon and metals can be coated or doped with other lithiophilic elements”]. Li is silent regarding the lithiophilic substance comprising a substance containing a functional group.
Wang teaches analogous art of a Li anode comprising an organic compound with a functional group (“substance containing a functional group”) such as —COOH (carboxyl), —OH (hydroxyl), and —NH2 (amino), among others, coated onto a substrate [pg. 2 col. 1, “Herein, we developed a facile and low cost chemical strategy for producing ultrathin Li anodes by introducing organic compounds with a functional group, such as–COOH,–OH,–SO3H,–NH2,–NH,–PO4,–Si-O,–F,–Cl,–Br, or–I, coated onto the substrates via a doctor-blade coating method”].
Wang teaches that the organic coatings with functional groups are lithiophilic, and help form ultrathin Li anodes [pg. 6 col. 2, “For this newly developed chemical strategy, the mechanisms of improved wettability of molten Li are proposed. Negative values of ΔrG for the reactions between molten Li and lithiophilic substances and the newly formed bonds are regarded as characteristics that govern improved wettability”]. Wang also teaches that these organic coatings may facilitate molten Li spreading along substrates such as Cu [pg. 2 col. 2, “Fortunately, the selected organic coating in a proper solvent could have good wettability on Cu substrates and thus facilitate molten Li spreading along substrates”]. Li teaches that doping and coating the porous anode skeleton with lithiophilic elements can facilitate the smooth growth of lithium [0032].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the anode plate taught by Li to include an organic coating with a functional group such as carboxyl, hydroxyl, or amino as the lithiophilic substance as taught by Wang, in order to facilitate the smooth growth of lithium metal in the anode plate, along the entire current collector. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have substituted the known lithiophilic organic coatings of Wang for the lithiophilic substance taught by Li in the porous anode skeleton to yield the predictable result of an anode plate in which lithium metal deposits smoothly [see MPEP 2143(I)(A)].
Regarding claim 2, modified Li teaches the anode plate according to claim 1, wherein the concentration of the lithiophilic substance gradually decreases in a direction from the current collector to a surface of the porous anode skeleton [Li Fig. 2, claim 1, “a first layer comprising a porous, three-dimensional structure having a first end and a second end; and a second layer comprising lithium metal, wherein the second layer is coupled to the first end of the first layer”, claim 5, “wherein the particles comprise particles with high electronic conductivity that are distributed that are distributed at a higher concentration toward the first end than at the second end”]. From Li Fig. 2 and claim 1, it can be seen that the “first end” is the end closest to the current collector, and the “second end” corresponds to the surface of the porous anode skeleton.
Regarding claim 3, modified Li teaches the anode plate of claim 1 as described in the rejection of instant claim 1. Li further teaches that the lithiophilic substance may comprise a metal [0030, “with other lithiophilic elements, including but not limited to Sn, Zn, Ag, Bi, In, Ga, Al, N, P, Si, Ge, or alloys of these elements”]. Li teaches that the concentration of the lithiophilic substance gradually decreases in a direction from the current collector to a surface of the porous anode skeleton [Li Fig. 2, claim 1, “a first layer comprising a porous, three-dimensional structure having a first end and a second end; and a second layer comprising lithium metal, wherein the second layer is coupled to the first end of the first layer”, claim 5, “wherein the particles comprise particles with high electronic conductivity that are distributed that are distributed at a higher concentration toward the first end than at the second end”]. From Li Fig. 2 and claim 1, it can be seen that the “first end” is the end closest to the current collector, and the “second end” corresponds to the surface of the porous anode skeleton. Li also teaches that the anode plate comprises lithium metal which deposits from bottom to top in the porous anode skeleton, thus creating a concentration gradient of lithium metal wherein the concentration of lithium metal in the porous anode skeleton decreases from the first end to the second end [0024, “The bottom end of the anode (close to lithium) will have higher electronic conductivity and the top end of the anode (close to electrolyte) will have lower electronic conductivity, such that the Li deposition will take place from the bottom to top”]. Therefore, the porous anode skeleton comprises a concentration gradient of a lithiophilic substance such as Sn, Zn, Ag, Bi, In, Ga, Al, N, P, Si, G, and of lithium metal having a directional distribution within the porous anode skeleton. The lithium metal may constitute the claimed “lithiophilic substance”, the lithium metal being the same material claimed in the instant application (see subsequent claim 4), wherein if the composition is the same, it must have the same properties [see MPEP 2112.01(II)].
Regarding claim 4, Li teaches that the anode plate comprises lithium metal, as described in the rejection of instant claim 3 above. Li also teaches that the lithiophilic substance may be Ag (silver) [0030].
Regarding claims 5 and 6, modified Li teaches the anode plate of claim 1 as described in the rejection of instant claim 1. Li further discloses a range of thickness for the porous anode skeleton, which is also the lithiophilic substance thickness, (5 µm to 500 µm), which overlaps with the claimed range of 1 nm to 10 µm in claim 5 and 1 µm to 10 µm in claim 6 [0029, “3D porous structure 204 may have a thickness ranging from 5 μm to 500 μm”]. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists (see MPEP 2144.05 I).
Regarding claim 7, modified Li teaches the anode plate of claim 1 as described in the rejection of instant claim 1. Li further teaches the material of the porous anode skeleton comprising a metal, a carbon material, and an insulating polymer [0030, “In an embodiment, 3D structure 204 … may be made of conductive materials in the form of particles or fibers or any other shapes, and polymer binders, including but not limited to PVdF, or polyimide”, “The conductive materials used may include conductive carbon and conductive metals”].
Regarding claims 8 and 9, modified Li teaches the anode plate of claim 1 as described in the rejection of instant claim 1. Li further teaches that the porous anode skeleton may have a porosity ranging from 30% to 95% or 60% to 90%, both of which overlap with the claimed range of 20% to 90% in claim 8 and 40% to 70% in claim 9. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists (see MPEP 2144.05 I).
Regarding claims 10 and 11, modified Li teaches the anode plate of claim 1 as described in the rejection of instant claim 1. Li further discloses a range of thicknesses for the current collector (1 µm to 200 µm or 5 µm to 10 µm), the lithium metal layer (5 µm to 200 µm), and the porous anode skeleton (5 µm to 500 µm or 10 µm to 150 µm or 20 µm to 80 µm) [0029]. Since these are all the components in the anode plate, they can be added together to get a range of thickness from 11 µm to 900 µm, or 30 µm to 290 µm using the narrowest ranges, both of which overlap with the claimed range of 10 µm to 100 µm in claim 10 and 10 µm to 80 µm in claim 11. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists (see MPEP 2144.05 I).
Regarding claim 12, modified Li teaches the anode plate of claim 1 as described in the rejection of instant claim 1. Li teaches that the anode plate further comprises lithium metal [0029, “3D lithium anode 200 is coupled to an aqueous electrolyte solution 202 and may include a 3D conductive porous structure 204, a lithium metal layer 206”].
Regarding claim 19, modified Li teaches the anode plate of claim 2 as described in the rejection of instant claim 2. Li teaches that the lithiophilic substance comprise a metal [0030, “with other lithiophilic elements, including but not limited to Sn, Zn, Ag, Bi, In, Ga, Al, N, P, Si, Ge, or alloys of these elements”]. As described in the rejection of instant claim 2, the concentration of the lithiophilic substance gradually decreases in a direction from the current collector to a surface of the porous anode skeleton. Li also teaches that the anode plate comprises lithium metal which deposits from bottom to top in the porous anode skeleton, thus creating a concentration gradient of lithium metal wherein the concentration of lithium metal in the porous anode skeleton decreases from the first end to the second end [0024, “The bottom end of the anode (close to lithium) will have higher electronic conductivity and the top end of the anode (close to electrolyte) will have lower electronic conductivity, such that the Li deposition will take place from the bottom to top”]. Therefore, the porous anode skeleton comprises a concentration gradient of a lithiophilic substance such as Sn, Zn, Ag, Bi, In, Ga, Al, N, P, Si, G, and of lithium metal having a directional distribution within the porous anode skeleton. The lithium metal may constitute the claimed “lithiophilic substance”, the lithium metal being the same material claimed in the instant application (see subsequent claim 20), wherein if the composition is the same, it must have the same properties [see MPEP 2112.01(II)].
Regarding claim 20, Li teaches that the anode plate comprises lithium metal, as described in the rejection of instant claim 19 above. Li also teaches that the lithiophilic substance may be Ag (silver) [0030].
Regarding claim 16, Li teaches a lithium-ion battery [0003, entire disclosure relied upon], comprising a cathode plate (cathode), an anode plate (anode 200), a separator, and an electrolyte [0081, “Coin cells can be made with NMC 532 cathode, Celgard 2400 separator and 3D lithium anode. Conventional electrolyte or any proper non-aqueous electrolyte can be used to make the coin cell”]. Li teaches that the separator is located between the cathode plate and the anode plate [claim 14, “the separator and electrolyte are located in between the cathode and the anode”]. Li also teaches that the anode plate comprises a porous anode skeleton (3D conductive porous structure 204), a lithophilic substance, and a current collector (208) [0029, “lithium anode 200 … may include a 3D conductive porous structure 204, a lithium metal layer 206, and a thin metal current collector 208”, 0030, “Further, carbon and metals can be coated or doped with other lithiophilic elements”]. Li further teaches that a concentration of the lithiophilic substance has a gradient distribution inside the porous anode skeleton [claim 5, “wherein the particles comprise particles with high electronic conductivity that are distributed at a higher concentration toward the first end than at the second end”, 0030, “3D structure 204 may be designed to have high electronic conductivity at the bottom of the layer and lower electronic conductivity at the top of the layer”, “The conductive materials used may include conductive carbon and conductive metals”, “Further, carbon and metals can be coated or doped with other lithiophilic elements”]. Li is silent regarding the lithiophilic substance comprising a substance containing a functional group.
Wang teaches analogous art of a Li anode comprising an organic compound with a functional group (“substance containing a functional group”) such as —COOH (carboxyl), —OH (hydroxyl), and —NH2 (amino), among others, coated onto a substrate [pg. 2 col. 1, “Herein, we developed a facile and low cost chemical strategy for producing ultrathin Li anodes by introducing organic compounds with a functional group, such as–COOH,–OH,–SO3H,–NH2,–NH,–PO4,–Si-O,–F,–Cl,–Br, or–I, coated onto the substrates via a doctor-blade coating method”].
Wang teaches that the organic coatings with functional groups are lithiophilic, and help form ultrathin Li anodes [pg. 6 col. 2, “For this newly developed chemical strategy, the mechanisms of improved wettability of molten Li are proposed. Negative values of ΔrG for the reactions between molten Li and lithiophilic substances and the newly formed bonds are regarded as characteristics that govern improved wettability”]. Wang also teaches that these organic coatings may facilitate molten Li spreading along substrates such as Cu [pg. 2 col. 2, “Fortunately, the selected organic coating in a proper solvent could have good wettability on Cu substrates and thus facilitate molten Li spreading along substrates”]. Li teaches that doping and coating the porous anode skeleton with lithiophilic elements can facilitate the smooth growth of lithium [0032].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the anode plate taught by Li to include an organic coating with a functional group such as carboxyl, hydroxyl, or amino as the lithiophilic substance as taught by Wang, in order to facilitate the smooth growth of lithium metal in the anode plate, along the entire current collector. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have substituted the known lithiophilic organic coatings of Wang for the lithiophilic substance taught by Li in the porous anode skeleton to yield the predictable result of an anode plate in which lithium metal deposits smoothly [see MPEP 2143(I)(A)].
Regarding claim 18, modified Li teaches the lithium-ion battery as described in the rejection for instant claim 16. Li teaches that lithium ion batteries, such as the one taught by Li, are used in electronic apparatuses [0003, “These batteries have found widespread application in portable electronics and mobile communications devices as well as in, for instance, HEVs, PHEVs and EVs”]. While Li never explicitly states that the exact battery taught in the embodiment taught in Example 9 [0081] and claim 14 is then used in an electronic apparatus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use the battery taught by Li in an electronic apparatus since it is well known that the purpose of batteries is to provide electrical power to electronic apparatuses.
Claims 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2020/0274155) in view of Wang (Tuning wettability of molten lithium via a chemical strategy for lithium metal anodes) as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Liu et al. (A scalable 3D lithium metal anode, hereinafter "Liu").
Regarding claims 13 and 14, modified Li teaches the anode plate according to claim 12, as described in the rejection for instant claim 12. Modified Li is silent regarding the amount of lithium metal in the anode plate.
Liu teaches analogous art of a lithium metal anode comprising a porous structural skeleton, or 3D lithium host [Abstract]. Liu teaches that in making a 3D lithium host, the amount of lithium metal was 0.63 mg/cm2 [3. Results and discussion, page 507, paragraph 2, “Once all the pores are filled by Li, the mass of the deposited Li is calculated to be 0.63 mg cm−2”].
Liu discloses that this amount of lithium corresponds to a high gravimetric capacity of the anode [3. Results and discussion, page 507, paragraph 2, “the mass of the deposited Li is calculated to be 0.63 mg cm−2, which corresponds to a high gravimetric capacity of 1264 mAh g-1”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the anode plate taught by modified Li to have the 0.63 mg/cm2 of lithium metal as taught by Liu, in order to have a high gravimetric capacity in the anode.
Regarding claim 15, modified Li teaches the anode plate of claim 13 as described in the rejection for instant claim 13. Li further discloses that the material of the current collector may include copper, a copper alloy, nickel, or a nickel alloy [0029, “Current collector 208 may include a conventional anode current collector, including, but not limited to, copper, copper alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, stainless steel”].
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2020/0274155) in view of Wang (Tuning wettability of molten lithium via a chemical strategy for lithium metal anodes) as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Fan et al. (Enabling Stable Lithium Metal Anode via 3d Inorganic Skeleton with Superlithiophilic Interphase, hereinafter "Fan").
Regarding claim 17, modified Li teaches the lithium-ion battery of claim 16 as described in the rejection for instant claim 16. Li is silent regarding the volume swelling of the lithium-ion battery.
Fan teaches analogous art of a lithium metal battery which can reduce volume expansion during cell cycling through a 3D framework, or skeleton, with a lithiophilic substance [Abstract]. Fan teaches a 3D Al2O3-Li (LIA) anode skeleton [1. Introduction, page 2, paragraph 2, “Here, we propose a novel 3D lithium/Al2O3 (denoted as LIA) hybrid anode”] which experiences near-zero volume change during cycling (i.e. from 100% charge to 0% charge) of 534 µm to 540 µm, which constitutes a volume swelling of 1.1%. Since the volume change of the anode is near-zero, the volume change of the battery would also be near-zero.
Fan discloses that large volume changes in an anode can disfigure the lithium metal surface of the anode and damage the SEI layer, leading to increased dendrite formation [2.3. Morphology Evolution during Repeated Cycling, page 6, paragraph 1, “The pristine lithium metal surface is completely disfigured due to the severe dendrite growth and huge volume change”, “this tremendous volume change that in turn damaged the fragile SEI layer, which intensified the formation of thick SEI and lithium dendrites”]. Fan teaches that the reduced volume swelling stabilizes the SEI layer and maintains the integrity of the separator [2.3. Morphology Evolution during Repeated Cycling, page 7, paragraph 2, “The reduced volume change is essential for stabilizing the SEI layer and maintaining the integrity of the polymeric separator”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the battery taught by Li to have a low volume swelling of 1.1% as taught by Fan, in order to prevent damage to the SEI layer and dendrite growth, and instead stabilize the SEI and maintain the integrity of the separator.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/3/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 16 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.
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 3-4 and 19-20 fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references. As described in the rejection of instant claims 3-4 and 19-20, Li teaches that a concentration of the lithiophilic substance gradually decreases in a direction from the current collector to a surface of the porous anode skeleton, and that the lithiophilic substance may be silver. Li further teaches that lithium metal may preferentially deposit bottom-to-top in the porous anode skeleton, which would create a gradient of lithium metal with a directional distribution. Furthermore, this is the same mechanism of lithium deposition as described in the instant specification. Thus, this argument is not considered persuasive.
Conclusion
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/M.F.O./Examiner, Art Unit 1729
/ULA C RUDDOCK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1729