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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/19/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3 and 5-15 are pending
Claim Interpretation
Claim 15 recites “wherein an average particle diameter…is in a range from 2 µm to 17µm” which is broad and may be interpreted as either the particle diameter of the first particles and/or the particle diameter of the second particles of the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles. The rejection of claim 15 will utilize the interpretation or where either of the particles would meet the limitation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 6, 8-13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (EP3849008A1, of record) in view of Kitagawa et al. (US 20190305307) in view of Heenan et al. “Theoretical transmissions for Xray computed tomography studies of lithium-ion battery cathodes” (of record) in view of Kuroda (KR20200131237A provided by applicant, mapped to English equivalent US2021/0013508).
Regarding claims 1 and 9, Lee discloses a cathode for a lithium secondary battery ([0039] positive electrode), comprising: a current collector ([0040]); and a first cathode active material layer ([0040]) formed by being pressed on at least one surface of the current collector ([0022]), the first cathode active material layer comprising first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles(either [0059-0060] LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O2), wherein a pressed ratio of the current collector represented by Equation 1 is 25 % or less (see Fig. 1 because the thickness of the current collector remains unchanged, it is below 25% based on Equation 1).
Lee utilizes an active material [0027] containing NMC ([0059-0060]) along with the desire to increase the density of the electrode [0030] by pressing ([0022]) but does not explicitly disclose an electrode density is 3.5 g/cc or more or a pressure range of from 5 tons to 10 tons based on linear pressure.
Kitagawa discloses an electrode material for lithium secondary batteries (abstract) utilizing a lithium transition metal composite ([0005]). The pressure used to form the electrode was 7 tons at a linear pressure ([0214]) in order to increase the density of the electrode.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have modified Lee such that the pressure used is 7 tons as taught by Kitagawa in order to increase the electrode density. Furthermore, utilizing one known way of pressing an electrode material in place of another to also produce a known result (electrode) is well within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art.
Heenan discloses cathodes for a lithium-ion batteries (title) where NMC811 (LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O2) has a density of 4.80 g/cm3 (Table 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the density of Lee such that it is modified Lee such that it is 4.80 g/cm3 because it is a known desired density for lithium-ion battery cathodes and adjusting the electrode such that it has the desired density is well within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art.
Lee discloses particle shapes (see Fig. 1) and where a content of the first particles is 10 wt% or more (80:20 ratio of first particles to second) but does not explicitly disclose where the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles consist of first particles have a single particle shape and second particles having a second particle shape.
Kuroda discloses a lithium metal composite oxide for secondary batteries (abstract). The lithium metal composite oxide is formed by a number of single particles and a number of secondary particles (abstract and [0029-0031]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles of Lee such that it consist of first particles have a single particle shape and second particles having a second particle shape as taught by Kuroda because it allows for an increase in the filling amount of the lithium metal composite oxide during electrode production and as a result a large specific surface area can be obtained and the cycle performance and the load current performance can be improved ([0031-0032]).
Regarding claim 3, Lee discloses where the thickness of the current collector remains unchanged (see Fig. 1). Note that the claims pertain to a cathode and not a method, thus how the thickness is measured does not add further patentable weight.
Regarding claim 5, Lee further discloses where the current collector has a thickness of 10-20 µm ([0014]). In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 6, Lee discloses particle shapes (see Fig. 1) and wherein a content of the first particles is 10 wt% or more ([0059-0060] 80:20 ratio of first particles to second). Although not relied upon, note that Kuroda also discloses that the ratio can be adjusted as desired ([0120]).
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses where the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles contain nickel ([0059-0060] LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O2) which satisfies the formula.
Regarding claim 10, Lee discloses a second cathode active material layer [0060] formed on the first cathode active material layer [0059], wherein the second cathode active material layer comprises second lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles [0060] having an average particle diameter ([0060] 15µm avg particle diameter) greater than that of the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles (Kuroda [0063] 7µm avg particle diameter).
Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses wherein a thickness of the second cathode active material layer ([0060] upper mixture layer) is greater than a thickness of the first cathode active material layer (([0061] lower mixture has a thickness 15µm and the upper mixture has a thickness of 105 µm).
Regarding claim 12, Lee further discloses where an average particle diameter (D50) of the second lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles is 15 µm ([0060]).
Regarding claim 13, Lee discloses a lithium secondary battery [0039], comprising: the cathode for a lithium secondary battery of claim 1 [0039]; and an anode facing the cathode [0039].
Regarding claim 15, Lee discloses wherein an average particle diameter of the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles ([0059, average particle diameter is 11µm). As noted in the claim interpretation section above, only one of the particles need to have the claimed average particle diameter to meet the limitation.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (EP3849008A1, of record) in view of Kitagawa et al. (US 20190305307) in view of Heenan et al. “Theoretical transmissions for Xray computed tomography studies of lithium-ion battery cathodes” (of record) in view of Kuroda (KR20200131237A provided by applicant, mapped to English equivalent US2021/0013508) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Kim et al. (US 20200403228A1).
Regarding claim 7, Kuroda discloses the first and second particles shapes but does not explicitly disclose where the first particles comprise particles of a monolithic form in which 2 to 10 single particles are attached or adhered to each other.
Kim discloses positive electrode materials for rechargeable lithium batters (abstract) where monolithic materials are used in order to achieve a high density [0046].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the first particles of Lee such that they are monolithic (thus also single) particles as taught by Kim in order to achieve a high density and prevent breaking of the large particles [0046 and 0048]. Kim discloses monolithic particles [0046 and 0048] thus they are monolithic in form and are expected to have the same attached/adhered number of particles thus meeting the limitation as claimed.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (EP3849008A1, of record) in view of Kitagawa et al. (US 20190305307) in view of Kuroda (KR20200131237A provided by applicant, mapped to English equivalent US2021/0013508).
***Note that the amendment to claim 14 “5 tons to 10 tons” did not specify that it is a linear pressure and thus any ton pressure would meet this limitation (including Maeyama), however, for the purposes of compact prosecution, the reference has been changed from Maeyama to Kitagawa***
Regarding claim 14, Lee discloses a cathode for a lithium secondary battery [0039], comprising: a current collector [0040]; and a first cathode active material layer formed by being pressed on at least one surface of the current collector [0022], the first cathode active material layer comprising first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles ([0059] LiNi 0.8 Co 0.1 Mn 0.1 O2), wherein a ratio
wherein a ratio of an average particle diameter of the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles ([0059, average particle diameter is 11µm) relative to an initial thickness of the current collector ([0061] 18µm thickness for the current collector) is 61% based on Equation 2 which is within the claimed range.
Lee utilizes an active material [0027] containing NMC ([0059-0060]) along with the desire to increase the density of the electrode [0030] by pressing ([0022]) but does not explicitly disclose a pressure range of from 5 tons to 10 tons.
Kitagawa discloses an electrode material for lithium secondary batteries (abstract) utilizing a lithium transition metal composite ([0005]). The pressure used to form the electrode was 7 tons ([0214]) in order to increase the density of the electrode.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have modified Lee such that the pressure used is 7 tons as taught by Kitagawa in order to increase the electrode density. Furthermore, utilizing one known way of pressing an electrode material in place of another to also produce a known result (electrode) is well within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art.
Lee discloses particle shapes (see Fig. 1) and where a content of the first particles is 10 wt% or more (80:20 ratio of first particles to second) but does not explicitly disclose where the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles consist of first particles have a single particle shape and second particles having a second particle shape.
Kuroda discloses a lithium metal composite oxide for secondary batteries (abstract). The lithium metal composite oxide is formed by a number of single particles and a number of secondary particles (abstract and [0029-0031]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the first lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles of Lee such that it consist of first particles have a single particle shape and second particles having a second particle shape as taught by Kuroda because it allows for an increase in the filling amount of the lithium metal composite oxide during electrode production and as a result a large specific surface area can be obtained and the cycle performance and the load current performance can be improved ([0031-0032]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 14 and the dependent claims 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. Maeyama is no longer being relied upon.
Conclusion
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/SUSAN D LEONG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1754