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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/24/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2 and 5-8 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5-6, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (CN-111900359-A) (see translation), and in further view of Choi (US-20180190985-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yu discloses a secondary battery comprising a positive electrode (see e.g., Yu; [0136], regarding positive electrode material preparation of example 5 among other examples), a negative electrode (see e.g., Yu; [1085], regarding the negative electrode used with the positive electrode examples) and a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (see e.g., Yu; [0183], [0186]), wherein the positive electrode comprises a positive electrode current collector and a positive electrode active material layer disposed on the positive electrode current collector (see e.g., Yu; [0186], regarding the positive electrode active material examples coated onto aluminum current collector), the positive electrode active material layer comprising a positive electrode active material and a binder (see e.g., Yu; [0186], wherein the active material is mixed with PVDF), wherein the positive electrode active material comprises a lithium cobalt oxide (see e.g., Yu; [0136]-[0144], regarding example 5 and the lithium cobalt oxide material), wherein the lithium cobalt oxide has a bimodal shape of average particle diameter distribution including two types of particles having a different average particle diameter (see e.g., Yu; [0136], wherein the large particle to small particle lithium cobalt oxide is in a mass ratio of 8:2), wherein the lithium cobalt oxide comprises Al doping and is surface-coated with Zr (see e.g., Yu; [0136]-[0144], regarding Al-doped and shell structure comprising Zr), wherein the negative electrode comprises a negative electrode current collector and a negative electrode active material layer disposed on the negative electrode current collector (see e.g., Yu; [0185]), the negative electrode active material layer comprising a negative electrode active material and a binder (see e.g., Yu; [0185], regarding mixture of artificial graphite, styrene-diene rubber (SBR), sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, and conductive carbon black), and wherein the negative electrode active material comprises a first negative electrode active material that is an artificial graphite having no carbon coating layer on a surface thereof (see e.g., Yu; [0185], regarding artificial graphite and no disclosure of coating layer), wherein a content of Al doped into the lithium cobalt oxide ranges from 3,000 ppm to 8,000 ppm (see e.g., Yu; [0136]-[0144], provides that the large particles have a chemical formula of Li1.035 Co0.965 Al0.02 Ni0.005 Mn0.005Mg0.005 O2, and the small particles have a formula of Li1.035 Co0.965 Al0.02 La0.005 Mg0.01 O2, the particles are coated with ZrO2 and TiO2 and mixed to form Li1.035 Co0.961 Al0.02 Ni0.004 Mn0.004 La0.001 Mg0.006 Zr0.002 Ti0.002 O2, which is about 5,546 ppm of doped aluminum which falls within the claimed range of 3000-8000 ppm).
Yu does not explicitly disclose a second negative electrode active material that is an artificial graphite having a carbon coating layer on a surface thereof. However, Choi discloses a second negative electrode active material that is an artificial graphite having a carbon coating layer on a surface thereof (see e.g., Choi; [0141], regarding example 1 wherein a secondary artificial graphite particle is formed with a carbon coating layer). Choi is further analogous art because Choi provides that there is also a primary artificial graphite particle without a carbon coating layer formed (see e.g., Choi; [0139]). Furthermore, Choi provides that the positive electrode active material may also be selected from materials including lithium composite metal oxides (see e.g., Choi; [0123]). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the negative electrode of Yu by providing a second negative electrode active material comprising artificial graphite with a carbon coating as disclosed by Choi in order to provide low resistance with high output at room temperature and low temperature (see e.g., Choi; [0009]).
Yu does not explicitly disclose wherein a content of Zr coated on a surface of the lithium cobalt oxide ranges from 500 ppm to 800 ppm. Yu provides in example 5 a core-shell structure with a Zr ppm content higher than the claimed range of 500-800 ppm. In this example, the lithium cobalt oxide and coating of ZrO2 and TiO2 are formed in a mass ratio of 96.1:0.2:0.2, such that the amount of coating is about 0.4145 mass%. However, Yu discloses that the shell material may be less than the example of 0.4145 mass%, such as accounting for 0.03 to 1% of the total mass of the positive electrode active material (see e.g., Yu; [0027]) including amounts of 0.03%, 0.04%, 0.05%, 0.06%, 0.07%, 0.08%, 0.09%, 0.1%, 0.2%, or 0.3%,. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified example 5 of Yu to provide less coating material including ZrO2, such as having the shell material account for 0.03%, 0.04%, 0.05%, 0.06%, 0.07%, 0.08%, 0.09%, 0.1%, 0.2%, or 0.3%, such that the content of Zr coated on a surface of the lithium cobalt oxide falls within the claimed range of 500-800 ppm. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve structure and cycle stability of the battery at higher voltages (see e.g., Yu; [0008]).
Regarding claim 2, modified Yu teaches the secondary battery according to claim 1. Yu discloses wherein the lithium cobalt oxide comprises large particles having an average particle diameter of 17.5 μm (see e.g., Yu; [0136]), which falls within the claimed range of 11-30 μm, and small particles having an average particle diameter of 7 μm (see e.g., Yu; [0136]), which falls within the claimed range of 1-10 μm.
Regarding claim 5, modified Yu teaches the secondary battery according to claim 1. Yu does not explicitly disclose wherein a weight ratio of the first negative electrode active material to the second negative electrode active material is 1:99-99:1. However, Choi discloses wherein first artificial graphite particles having no carbon coating are mixed with second artificial graphite particles having a carbon coating in a weight ratio of 95:5 (see e.g., Choi; [0142], regarding example 1), and which may be a weight ratio of 85:15 to 95:5 (see e.g., Choi; [0092]), which falls within the claimed range of 1:99-99:1. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the negative electrode active material of Yu by providing the first and second negative electrode active materials in a weight ratio of 95:5 as provided by Choi in order to reduce irreversible discharge capacity and initial efficiency, and easily identify the charge transfer reduction effect, and improve room-temperature output and low-temperature output (see e.g., Choi; [0093]).
Regarding claim 6, modified Yu teaches the secondary battery according to claim 1. The modification of Choi to Yu above regarding claim 1 provides a negative electrode active material with a first artificial graphite with a carbon coating and a second artificial graphite without a carbon coating. In the same modification, Choi further provides that the particles are mixed using a TK mixer to form one material (see e.g., Choi; [0142]), and the negative electrode material is coated on the current collector (see e.g., Choi; [0105]). Yu further discloses that the complete negative electrode active material is coated on a copper current collector (see e.g., Yu; [0185]). Therefore, modified Yu provides that the negative electrode active material layer is a single layer comprising the first negative electrode active material and the second negative electrode active material.
Regarding claim 8, modified Yu teaches the secondary battery according to claim 1. Yu does not explicitly disclose wherein the carbon coating layer is present in an amount of 0.5-10.0 wt% based on a total weight of artificial graphite having the carbon coating layer. However, Choi discloses wherein the secondary artificial graphite to carbon coating is in a weight ratio of 70:30 to 95:5, which overlaps with the claimed range of 0.5-10.0 wt%. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided an artificial graphite having a carbon coating of 5-30% as disclosed by Choi to the negative electrode of Yu in order to prevent reduced capacity of the negative electrode active material and press of the electrode due to the artificial graphite particles hardened by the carbon coating layer, and to facilitate intercalation/deintercalation of lithium ions and reduce charge transfer resistance (see e.g., Choi; [0063]).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (CN-111900359-A) (see translation) and Choi (US-20180190985-A1), and in further view of Kim (US-20180062158-A1).
Regarding claim 7, modified Yu teaches the secondary battery according to claim 1. Yu does not explicitly disclose wherein the negative electrode active material layer is a dual layer comprising a lower layer region containing the first negative electrode active material, and an upper layer region disposed on the lower layer region and containing the second negative electrode active material. However, Kim teaches a negative electrode with a first negative electrode mixture layer and a second negative electrode mixture layer formed on the first negative electrode mixture layer (see e.g., Kim; [0008]). Kim is further analogous art because Kim teaches the layers comprise of artificial graphite (see e.g., Lee; [0008]), and is in the context of lithium secondary batteries. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the negative electrode layer disclosed by modified Yu to be a dual layer comprising a lower layer region containing the first negative electrode active material and an upper layer region disposed on the lower layer region and containing the second negative electrode active material as disclosed by Kim in order to provide a high-loading negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery having excellent adhesion, improved output characteristics and improved life characteristics (see e.g., Kim; [0007]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN SONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7337. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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/KEVIN SONG/Examiner, Art Unit 1728
/MATTHEW T MARTIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1728
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