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 .
Drawings
It is noted that no drawings were filed with this application. Although drawings are typically filed, even where they are not necessary for understanding of an invention, they are not necessary when the subject matter to be patented can be understood without the assistance of drawings. MPEP 608.02. Here, because the claimed subject matter as a whole can be understood without the assistance of drawings, it is found that drawings are not necessary.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0251714 to Ryu (“Ryu”) .
The applied reference has a common inventor with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B) if the same invention is not being claimed; or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed in the reference and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement.
Regarding claims 1 and 3, Ryu discloses a positive electrode and battery comprising the same. Ryu at paragraph [0040]. The battery incorporating the positive electrode further includes a negative electrode and separator. Id. at paragraph [0046].
The positive electrode includes a second positive electrode active material layer comprising a positive electrode active material, an electrolyte, and a plasticizer. Id. The plasticizer is preferably succinonitrile, and included in an amount ranging from 0.1 to 30% by weight relative to the positive electrode active material included in the second positive electrode active material layer with particular examples including 0.5% succinonitrile. Id. at paragraphs [0057], [0058] and [0105]. Finally, the electrolyte included in the second positive electrode active material layer may be a gel electrolyte. Id. at paragraph [0068].
Further regarding claim 2, an activation step is performed that allows the plasticizer to flow throughout the thickness of the second positive electrode active material layer, thereby distributing itself evenly throughout. Id. at paragraph [0080].
Further regarding claim 4, the positive electrode active material is preferably LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2. Id. at paragraph [0061].
Further regarding claim 5, the plasticizer is not included in the negative electrode.
Further regarding claim 6, the separator includes common polymer electrolyte separators known to have a degree of porosity to facilitate ion transport. Id. at paragraphs [0084] and [0085].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Ryu is silent regarding a phase angle of the gel electrolyte or any reason to control it.
Claims 8-12 are allowed. Ryu includes its gel electrolyte as a material to be distributed throughout the positive electrode active material layer. The claimed method would not generate such a structure, thus would not be an obvious means for making the battery of Ryu.
Inclusion of succinonitrile and propene sultone as a positive electrode additive was also known in systems that include a liquid electrolyte that impregnates a porous separator located between the positive and negative electrodes. However, in those systems the additive is present specifically to reduce or eliminate reaction between the positive electrode active material and the liquid electrolyte solvent. Thus, there would be no reason to replace the liquid electrolyte with a gel electrolyte in those systems since the purpose of those inventions is only related to a liquid electrolyte system. See U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2005/0238957 and 2018/0294483.
Succinonitrile is also known for use as part of a positive electrode active material layer in a separator-free gel battery. Because that application is specifically for a separator-free battery, however, there would be no reason to modify the method of making the battery to comport with the claimed method that requires placement of a separator between the positive and negative electrodes. See e.g., U.S. Patent Application No. 2018/0123169
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/WYATT P MCCONNELL/Examiner, Art Unit 1727