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 .
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.
Claims 1-3, 7, 8, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Musameh et al. (PGPub 2016/0218352).
Considering Claim 1, Musameh discloses a positive electrode (cathode [Abstract]) for a rechargeable lithium battery (for a lithium-sulfur secondary battery where lithium ions are present in the electrolyte [0027, 0061]), comprising
a current collector (current collector [0069, 0168]) and a positive electrode active material layer (positive composite active layer [0019, 0173] formed on collector substrate [0069]),
wherein the positive electrode active material layer includes a positive electrode active material (sulfur active material [0069, 0173]) and an aromatic monovalent carboxylic acid (includes dopant [0037] that includes a bulky carboxylic acid group such as naphthoic acid or naphthalene acetate [0088]).
Considering Claims 2 and 3, Musameh discloses that the aromatic monovalent carboxylic acid includes a compound represented by Chemical Formula 2, wherein the aromatic monovalent carboxylic acid is 1-naphthalene acetic acid (includes dopant [0037] that includes a bulky carboxylic acid group of naphthalene acetate [0088]).
Considering Claim 7, Musameh discloses that the positive electrode active material layer further includes a binder (binder [0093]).
Considering Claim 8, Musameh discloses that the positive electrode active material layer further includes a conductive material (conductive agent [0073]).
Considering Claim 10, Musameh discloses a rechargeable lithium battery (lithium-sulfur secondary battery where lithium ions are present in the electrolyte [0027, 0061]), comprising the positive electrode of claim 1 (see claim 1),
a negative electrode (anode [Abstract]),
a separator between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (interposed separator [0063]), and
an electrolyte (electrolyte [Abstract]).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 1 and 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uematsu (WO2019/093313 (corresponding US PGPub 2020/0350577 used for citation purposes)).
Considering Claim 1, Uematsu discloses a positive electrode (positive electrode [Abstract]) for a rechargeable lithium battery (lithium secondary battery [0013, 0056]), comprising
a current collector (positive electrode substrate metal foil [0059, 0069]) and a positive electrode active material layer on the current collector (positive active layer disposed on collector [0059, 0069]),
wherein the positive electrode active material layer includes a positive electrode active material (positive electrode active material [0059]) and an aromatic monovalent carboxylic acid (carboxylic acid having a reducing property is preferred [0033] for the purposes of suppressing oxidation and an increase in resistance [0015], an aromatic carboxylic acid such as gallic acid is a listed choice for such a reducing property [0034], so selecting an aromatic carboxylic acid such as gallic acid to achieve such predicted results would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art).
Considering Claim 4, Uematsu discloses that the aromatic monovalent carboxylic acid is included in an amount of 0.01 wt% to 1 wt% based on 100 wt% of the positive electrode active material layer (content of reducing organic acid is preferably 0.01 or more parts by mass and preferably 0.1 parts by mass or less based on 100 parts by mass of the nickel-containing positive active material and layer, such as 0.036 parts of the layer [0035, 0069]).
Considering Claim 5, Uematsu discloses that the positive electrode active material includes a lithium nickel-based transition metal oxide containing 88 mol % or more of nickel based on the total content of transition metals other than lithium (lithium nickel-based oxide that is either all nickel or dominant nickel with other transition metals [0028], wherein nickel is 50 to 100 mol% [0029]).
Considering Claim 6, Uematsu discloses that the positive electrode active material is a lithium nickel-based oxide formula that is dominant nickel with other transition metals [0028] such as Mn and Co that overlap with Chemical Formula 11 [0028], and wherein nickel is 50 to 100 mol% [0029]. Therefore, choosing within the parameters of Chemical Formula 11 to provide a high density positive composite while suppressing resistance [0005, 0006, 0011] would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Considering Claim 7, Uematsu discloses that the positive electrode active material layer further includes a binder (positive composite layer includes binder [0027]).
Considering Claim 8, Uematsu discloses that the positive electrode active material layer further includes a conductive material (positive composite layer includes conductive agent [0027]).
Considering Claim 9, Uematsu discloses that the positive electrode active material layer further includes a conductive material and a binder (positive composite layer includes binder and conductive agent [0027]),
wherein based on 100 wt% of the positive electrode active material layer,
the positive electrode active material is included in an amount of 90 wt% to 99 wt% (mass of active material is preferably 85% or more by mass and 99% by mass or less in order to increase the electric capacity of the energy storage device [0030], so choosing within this range to provide a range of 90 wt% to 99 wt% to achieve such predicted results would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art),
the aromatic monovalent carboxylic acid is included in an amount of 0.01 wt% to 1 wt% (content of reducing organic acid is preferably 0.01 or more parts by mass and preferably 0.1 parts by mass or less based on 100 parts by mass of the nickel-containing positive active material and layer, such as 0.036 parts of the layer [0035, 0069]),
the binder is included in an amount of 0.1 wt% to 5 wt% (binding agent 4.5 mass% [0069]), and
the conductive material is included in an amount of 0.1 wt% to 5 wt% (conductive agent 5 wt% [0069]).
Considering Claim 10, Uematsu discloses a rechargeable lithium battery (lithium secondary battery [0013, 0056]), comprising
the positive electrode of claim 1 (see claim 1),
a negative electrode (negative electrode [0043]),
a separator between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (interposed separator [0043]), and
an electrolyte (electrolyte [0043]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Musameh et al. (PGPub 2016/0218352).
Considering Claim 4, Musameh discloses that the aromatic monovalent carboxylic acid is included in an mount of 0.01 wt% to 1 wt% based on 100 wt% of the positive electrode active material layer (first dopant is 0.5 to 20 wt% of active composite [0040, 0044], as second dopant is optional and used to improve the wettability of the surface of the composite with the electrolyte [0037], choosing within such a mass range or routinely experimenting with and coming up with a weight range of 0.5 to 1 wt% to achieve these predicted results would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER P DOMONE whose telephone number is (571)270-7582. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-4:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Basia Ridley can be reached at (571)272-1453. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER P DOMONE/Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 1725