Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 15, 2026
Application No. 18/028,373

UNSATURATED ADDITIVE FOR LITHIUM ION BATTERY

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 24, 2023
Examiner
SLIFKA, COLIN W
Art Unit
1732
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Sionic Energy, INC.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
66%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 3m
To Grant
76%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 66% — above average
66%
Career Allow Rate
578 granted / 871 resolved
+1.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+9.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
13 currently pending
Career history
884
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
52.9%
+12.9% vs TC avg
§102
12.4%
-27.6% vs TC avg
§112
23.4%
-16.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 871 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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. Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I and species claims 6, 7, and 11 (inclusive of claims 1-7, 9-11, and 15), in the reply filed on November 20, 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 8, 12-14, and 16-31 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species and invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on November 20, 2025. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 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. Claim(s) 1-4, 6, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Yan et al (CN 111048837 A ; references herein are made with respect to the English translation, submitted herewith ) . Regarding claim 1 , Yan teaches a Li-ion battery electrolyte (title). Regarding claim 4 and further regarding claim 1 , Yan teaches that the organic solvent may comprise cyclic carbonate solvent and/or linear carbonate solvent (claim 4), each of which constitute an aprotic organic solvent system , as claimed. Regarding claims 6, 7, and further regarding claim 1 , Yan teaches that the electrolyte comprises electrolyte lithium salt (claim 4). Regarding claim 2 and further regarding claim 1 , Yan teaches that the electrolyte contains an alkynyl containing phosphorothioate additive A represented by formula (1): , where, in relation to the claimed formula, the corresponding “Y” value is oxygen, “X” is sulfur, and R 1 and R 2 each may independently include alkyl, alkoxy, halogenated alkyl, ether, or halogenated alkoxy groups (claims 1-2). This is considered to constitute the claimed thiophosphate additive having an unsaturated terminal group, according to the claimed formula . Formulas 2-4 of Yan also anticipate the claimed formula. Regarding claim 3 , Yan teaches additive A is added to the electrolyte in an amounts of 0.1-5% (claim 3). 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) 5, 9-11, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al (CN 111048837 A ; references herein are made with respect to the English translation, submitted herewith ) as applied to claim 1 above. Yan teaches an electrolyte according to instant claim 1, as shown above. Regarding claim 5 , from the data present in Table 1 and claim 7 of Yan, it is calculated that the aprotic organic solvent system is present in an effective range of 75-85 wt%. Regardless, the claims of Yan do not particularly limit the amount of solvent to be included (e.g., claim 4). As a “solvent” is a functional material, by definition, effective amounts, including those claimed, would have been determined by one of ordinary skill through routine experimentation, absent a showing of unexpected results. Regarding claim 9 , Yan teaches that the lithium salt is lithium hexafluorophosphate, which is present as 0.8-1.5 mol/L of the total electrolyte (claim 7). 0.8-1.5 mol/L of LiPF6 in propylene carbonate, for example (claim 4) , is approximately 10.7-18.7 wt%. Regarding claims 10 and 11 , Yan teaches that the electrolyte may further comprise an additive B, the additive B may include lithium difluorophosphate, lithium tetrafluoroborate, di-oxalate borate lithium and fluorine-containing sulfonimide lithium (claim 8). Regarding claim 15 , while Yan does not particularly limit the relative amount of additive B, Table 1 of Yan shows additive B to be present in an amount of 3 wt% (par. 67). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT COLIN W SLIFKA whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-5830 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM-5:30 PM . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice . If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Ching-Yiu (Coris) Fung can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-270-5713 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Colin W. Slifka/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 24, 2023
Application Filed
Dec 17, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103
Mar 23, 2026
Response Filed

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
66%
Grant Probability
76%
With Interview (+9.7%)
3y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 871 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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