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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/09/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 04/09/2026 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner. Claim 1 has been amended. Claims 1-14 are currently pending in the instant application.
The rejection of claims 1-14 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being
unpatentable over Park (US 2018/0261842 A1) in view of Kim (US 2019/0123347 A1) is maintained.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 04/09/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
At pages 5-6 of the remark, (1) Applicant main argument is Park does not teach the claimed Ni, Co, and Al/Mn ratios in a positive electrode active material precursor. (2) Applicant further argues that Park teaches a broad general content of Ni, Co, and Mn content that are insufficient to arrive at the claimed Ni, Co, and Mn content when there are innumerable combinations of values. (3) Applicant also argues that Park exemplify a positive electrode material having a composition of Ni0.6Mn0.2Co0.2, which is outside of the claimed Ni content of 0.7 or more and 0.95 or less. The Examiner respectfully disagrees with the Applicant’s remark.
Initially, it is noted that the claim 1 has been amended to recite the ratios 0.7<a<0.95, 0<b≤0.4, and 0<c≤0.4 in Formula 1 or Formula 2. These ratios corresponded to contents of 0.7<Ni<0.95, 0<Co≤0.4, and 0<Al/Mn≤0.4.
Regarding argument (1), Park discloses a positive electrode active material having a Formula (2) represented by (See Abstract and [0074]):
Ni1-x-yCoxM1yM3zM2w(OH1-a)2.
Park discloses M1, M2, M3, x, y, z, and w of Formula 2 are “the same as those defined above” and 0≤a≤0.5 (See [0075]), which are preferably defined as:
Ni content is 0.6≤1-x-y≤1 (See [0029]);
Co content is 0.10≤x≤0.35 (See [0030]);
M1 (Al/Mn) content is 0.10≤y≤0.3 (See [0031] and [0032]);
M2 content is 0≤w≤0.02 (See [0036]); and
M3 (Ti/Mg) content is 0.005≤z≤0.01 (See [0034] and [0035]).
The content of Co and M1 (Al/Mn) of Park is within the claimed 0<Co≤0.4 and 0<Al/Mn≤0.4. The content of Ni of Park, ranging from 0.6-1.0, overlaps with the claimed 0.7<Ni<0.95 recited in amended claim 1. Park discloses the ratios of Ni, Co, and Al/Mn within or overlapping the claimed ratios. A skilled artisan would have to utilize only routine testing in order to arrive at the optimal amounts of Ni in order to tailor electrical properties. “[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. " In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding argument (2), Park discloses the content of content of Co and M1 (Al/Mn) of Park is within the claimed with the content of Ni overlaps the claimed range. Clearly, the content of Ni, Co, and Mn are not broad, but rather specifically within or overlaps with the claimed ranges. Therefore, the content of Ni, Co, and Mn, suggested by Park, are sufficient to arrive at the claimed Ni, Co, and Mn through routine experimentation for best results.
Regarding argument (3), the Park reference is not limited to the working examples as argued. See In re Fracalossi, 215 USPQ 569 (CCPA 1982). Furthermore, a positive electrode active material precursor with a formula of Ni0.85Co0.11Mn0.04(OH)2 (See CN 111295360 A; Example 1), Ni0.80Co0.1Mn0.1(OH)2 (See US 20040219431; [0144]), and Ni0.85Co0.1Al0.05(OH)2 (See EP 3272711 A1, unlabeled page 7) are known in the art. Clearly, working examples of the positive electrode active material precursor containing Ni content within the claimed amount of 0.70 or more and 0.95 or less is known and used. Therefore, the optimization of Park in view of Kim to arrive at the claimed Ni content would have been obvious as the content of Ni is 0.80 and 0.85 are known.
At page 6 of the remark, Applicant further argues that Kim does not remedy deficiencies of Park, as there is no motivation in Kim to increase the Ni content in the positive electrode active material to the claimed range of 0.7 or more and 0.95 or less. As stated above, Park discloses a Ni content of 0.6 or more and 1.0 to less. This amount overlaps the claimed Ni content range. As such, Kim does not need to remedy any deficiency of Park. It should be noted that Kim is relied upon for the disclosure of a step of grinding a sintered cake wherein the sintered cake has a strength of 600N or less. Kim is not relied upon for modifying the Ni content of the positive electrode active material to the claimed range of 0.7 or more and 0.95 or less.
Based on these rationale, the rejection 1-14 remains rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 2018/0261842 A1) in view of Kim (US 2019/0123347 A1) is maintained.
Conclusion
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/KHANH T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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