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 .
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.
Status of Application
Claims 1-13 are pending and presented for examination. Claims 1-9 were elected without traverse in the response dated 5 March 2026 which is acknowledged and entered. As such claims 10-13 are withdrawn by the Examiner as they are non-elected. As such, THIS RESTRICTION REQUIREMENT IS MADE FINAL.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant's request for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d). Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN108134064A to Liu et al. (hereinafter, “Liu at __”; cited by Applicants with citations made to the attached English machine translation).
Regarding claims 1-3 and 8, Liu discloses a nanoparticle precursor for a positive electrode active material for a rechargeable lithium battery (Liu at 1) comprising:
A nickel-based composite metal hydroxide (Ni1-x-yCoxMny(OH)2, Liu at 7) including a secondary particle in which a plurality of primary particles are agglomerated (Mn(OH)2 agglomerates onto cores) wherein the secondary particles include a central portion of the nickel-based composite metal hydroxide and an outer portion of the manganese hydroxide and the manganese hydroxide can be oxidized to form Mn3O4 (Id.).
As to claim 9, a layer structure exists (Liu at 4).
Claims 1-3, 6, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US PG Pub No. 20200052295 to Koshika et al. (hereinafter, “Koshika at __”).
Regarding claims 1, 2 and 8, Koshiika discloses a nanoparticle positive electrode active material precursor particle (Koshika at “Title”) comprising:
A nickel-based composite metal hydroxide including a secondary particle in which a plurality of primary particles are agglomerated (Koshika at [0033]),
Wherein the secondary particles include a central portion and a surface portion wherein the surface portion is Nix1Mny1Mz1(OH)2 wherein 0.7<=x1<=0.95, 0.05<=y1<=0.30, 0<=z1<=0.25 (“Abstract” & ).
As to claim 3, as the claim is not particularly limited to manganese oxide the species need not be present to meet the claim as an alternative of manganese hydroxide is disclosed (stated differently, claim 3 is further limiting the manganese oxide but does not explicitly state “wherein the primary particle is coated with manganese oxide and the manganese oxide is MnO2, Mn2O3 or Mn3O4”).
With respect to claim 6, the thickness is 5-20% which is “within 50%” of the total size (“Abstract”).
As to claim 9, a layer structure is present ([0168]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of US Patent No. 9923190 to Yu et al. (hereinafter, “Yu at __”).
Regarding claim 5, Liu does not expressly state a gradual gradient in concentration which gradually decreases from the shell to the core.
Yu in a manganese coated nickel core discloses a gradual decrease in the concentration of Mn from the center to the core (0.5 to 0.2, Yu at 4:13, 11:40-46).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to utilize the concentration gradient of Yu in the particle of Liu. The teaching or suggested motivation in doing so being high capacity and stability (Yu at 8:13-20).
Concerning claim 6, Yu discloses setting the surface layer to be more than 5% that of the core which is “within 50 length%” (Yu at 8:41-47).
Claims 4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu as applied to claim 1 above.
Concerning claims 4 and 7, since M can be Ni the claim can be written as Ni1-x-yCoxMny(OH)2 like that of Liu and Liu discloses x>0, y>0 and x+y<1 which all overlap the range instantly claimed such that a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05). Since the value for Mn can be >0 it broadly covers 0.1-5 mol% based on the total amount for claim 4. Also since z as claimed can be 0 there need not be any Mn present.
Claims 4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koshika as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 4, Koshika discloses that the Mn can be present at 5 to 25 mol% (“Abstract”) which overlaps that range instantly claimed such that a prima facie case of obviousness exists (see MPEP 2144.05).
As to claim 7, Nix1Mny1Mz1(OH)2 (0.70≤x1≤0.95, 0.05≤y1≤0.30, x1+y1+z1=1.0 so z1 is between 0 and 0.25 at most which overlaps the ranges instantly claimed such that a prima facie case of obviousness exists, “Abstract”) are with M is at least one element selected from Mn, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, Fe, and W, the values for the subscripts overlap 0<x<0.05, 0.001<=y<=0.05 and 0<=z<0.02 (since z can be 0 there is no requirement that M actually be present).
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koshika as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of US Patent No. 9923190 to Yu et al. (hereinafter, “Yu at __”).
Regarding claim 5, Koshika does not expressly state a gradual gradient in concentration which gradually decreases from the shell to the core.
Yu in a manganese coated nickel core discloses a gradual decrease in the concentration of Mn from the center to the core (0.5 to 0.2, Yu at 4:13, 11:40-46).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to utilize the concentration gradient of Yu in the particle of Koshika. The teaching or suggested motivation in doing so being high capacity and stability (Yu at 8:13-20).
Claims 1-5, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PG Pub No. 20170324090 to Ryoshi et al. (hereinafter, “Ryoshi at __”) in view of CN111740098 to Chen et al. (hereinafter, “Chen at __”; cited by Applicants with citations made to the attached English machine translation).
Regarding claims 1, 3 and 8, Ryoshi discloses a nanoparticulate positive electrode active precursor material for a secondary lithium battery (Ryoshi at [0002] & “Title”) comprising:
A Ni-based composite metal hydroxide (Ni0.84Co0.12Al0.04(OH)2, Ryoshi at [0128]) having a secondary particle comprising a plurality of primary agglomerated particles (Ryoshi at [0015]), wherein the secondary particles include e central portion and a surface portion wherein the surface portion is coated by Mn compound coating particles (Ryoshi at [0050]).
However, Ryoshi does not expressly state that the surface coating particles are manganese oxide or manganese hydroxide.
Chen discloses that the composite particle can comprise an outer shell of MnO2 (Chen at 5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to utilize the shell layer of Chen in the aggregate of Ryoshi. The teaching or suggested motivation in doing so being an increase in structural stability (Chen at 1).
As to claim 2, Mn(OH)2 can also be present (Chen at 2).
As to claim 4, 10 mol% Mn is added (Chen at 3).
As to claim 5, a concentration gradient exists where the Mn gradually decreases from the surface to the core (Chen at 1).
As to claim 9, a layer structure is disclosed (Chen at 1).
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PG Pub No. 20190148725 to Choi et al., discloses a NCA particle coated with manganese oxide, but the coating is performed after the active material has been formed and sintered.
Conclusion
Claims 1-9 are rejected.
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RICHARD M. RUMP
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1759
/RICHARD M RUMP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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