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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed 12/15/2025 have been entered. Claim 1 is amended, Claims 7-10 are new, and Claims 2 and 3 are cancelled.
Support for the amendments can be found in original Claims 2 and 3 and paragraphs 0013 and 0017 and Table 1 of the instant specification.
Claims 1 and 4-10 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 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.
Regarding Applicant’s arguments of unexpected results, the data provided is not commensurate in scope with Claim 1: in Table 1, Examples A1-A8 only use active materials where c = 0, a is between 1.05 and 1.15, and b is between 0.7 and 0.8. Examiner notes that the data provided would be commensurate in scope with Claim 10.
Additionally, Natsui `943 (US 20200020943 A1, used as the US equivalent of WO 2018163519 A1) shows in Table 1 that an active material with the formula Li1.1Mn0.8O1.33F0.67 (a+b = 1.9) has a higher capacity than Li1.2Mn0.8-O1.33F0.67 (a+b = 2). Although the materials of Natsui `943 have a different fluorine concentration, the difference is small enough (0.67 vs. 0.66) such that one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the active materials of Natsui `943 to have the same properties as those of the present invention.
Thus, the prior art shows an active material with an a+b value within the claimed range having a higher capacity than one with an a+b value outside the claimed range and the results presented would not be unexpected to one of ordinary skill in the art.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 4-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Natsui `943 (US 20200020943 A1, used as the US equivalent of WO 2018163519 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Natsui `943 teaches a positive electrode active material comprising a lithium composite oxide with a crystal structure belonging to the space group Fm-3m (Abstract). The active material may be represented by the formula LixMeyOαQβ, where Me may be at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mn, Co, Ni, Fe, Cu, V, Nb, Mo, Ti, Cr, Zr, Zn, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Pt, Au, Ag, Ru, W, B, Si, P, and Al, Q may be at least one elements selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, N, and S, 1.05 ≤ x ≤ 1.4, 0.6 ≤ y ≤ 0.95, 1.2 ≤ α ≤ 2, 0 ≤ β ≤ 0.8 (0057-0061). Specifically, Me may include Mn and one or two or more elements selected from the group consisting of Co, Ni, Fe, Cu, V, Nb, Mo, Ti, Cr, Zr, Zn, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Pt, Au, Ag, Ru, W, B, Si, P, and Al (0077).
Natsui `943 teaches Li1.1Mn0.8-O1.33F0.67 as a specific embodiment of the positive electrode active material (Table 1, Example 7). This material has an a+b+c value of 1.9 (1.1+0.8+0), which falls within the claimed range.
Natsui `943 does not disclose that the active material has a vacancy in the crystal structure. However, according to paragraph 0014 of the instant specification, the vacancy and vacancy content can be determined by the crystal structure and composition of the lithium metal composite oxide. Specifically, for Fm-3m, the vacancy content can be determined by calculating x = 2-a-b-c. For the material of Example 7, x = 2-1.1-0.8-0 = 0.1, meaning that the material would necessarily comprise at least some vacancy in the crystal structure in which no lithium or metal atoms are disposed.
Although d/β is 0.67, it has been held that “a prima facie case of a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close” (See MPEP 2144.05). In this case, 0.67 is close enough to 0.66 that one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected the positive electrode active material of Natsui `943 to have the same properties as that of the present invention.
Alternatively, although d/β, is 0.67, Natsui `943 teaches that d/β can be present in an amount overlapping the claimed range of 0 < d ≤ 0.66 (0061 – 0 ≤ β ≤ 0.8). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have routinely selected the overlapping portions of the disclosed fluorine ranges as selection of overlapping portions of ranges has been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05).
Regarding Claims 4 and 5, Natsui `943 teaches the active material of Claim 1. Natsui `943 teaches that, in the general formula LixMeyOαQβ, Me may include Mn and one or two or more elements selected from the group consisting of Co, Ni, Fe, Cu, V, Nb, Mo, Ti, Cr, Zr, Zn, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Pt, Au, Ag, Ru, W, B, Si, P, and Al (0077). At least Ni, Co, Zr, Zn, V, Mo, Zn, Cr, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Pt, Au, Ag, Ru, and W read on the materials of Claim 4 and at least Ni, Mo, W, and Zn read on the materials of Claim 5.
Although Natsui `943 does not teach an embodiment comprising those materials, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have selected Mn and at least one of Ni, Co, Zr, Zn, V, Mo, Zn, Cr, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Pt, Au, Ag, Ru, and W (or Ni, Mo, W, and Zn for Claim 5) for Me as Natsui teaches it as a possible composition for a positive electrode active material having a crystal structure of space group Fm-3m and the simple substitution of one known element for another is likely to be obvious when predictable results are achieved (see MPEP 2143 B). Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results of a positive electrode active material having a crystal structure of space group Fm-3m with a suitable composition.
Regarding Claim 6, Natsui `943 teaches the active material of Claim 1 and that it can be used in a positive electrode of a battery (0156). The battery also comprises a negative electrode, an electrolyte (0156), and a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (0170, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claims 7 and 8, Natsui `943 teaches the active material of Claim 1 and that d/β can range from 0 to 0.8 (0061), which overlaps the claimed ranges of 0.1 to 0.58 (Claim 7) and 0.2 to 0.5 (Claim 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have routinely selected the overlapping portions of the disclosed fluorine ranges as selection of overlapping portions of ranges has been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05).
Regarding Claim 9 and 10, Natsui `943 teaches the active material of Claim 1. Natsui `943 teaches an embodiment where the lithium metal composite oxide is Li1.1Mn0.8-O1.33F0.67 (Table 1, Example 7). This would read on the composition formula LiaMnbO2-dFd, where a = 1.1 (Claim 9), b = 0.8 (Claim 9), d = 0.67, and a+b = 1.9.
Although d/β is 0.67, it has been held that “a prima facie case of a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close” (See MPEP 2144.05). In this case, 0.67 is close enough to 0.66 that one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected the positive electrode material of Natsui `943 to have the same properties as that of the present invention.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIHENG LU whose telephone number is (703)756-1077. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30 - 5 ET.
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/ZIHENG LU/ Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/NICHOLAS A SMITH/ Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752