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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: part 509b in Fig. 1B and part 9626 in Fig. 27A. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Okuno teaches a capacitor including a positive electrode containing a positive-electrode active material, a negative electrode containing a negative-electrode active material, a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and an electrolyte [0019]. The employed electrolyte may be a non-aqueous solvent comprising an ionic liquid or may be a combination of an ionic liquid and the organic solvent [0121]. The cation contained in the ionic liquid may be selected from imidazolium cations having a methyl group and an alkyl group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms [0123]. From this description General Formula (G1) can be met if m=n=1 and X1 to X3 are selected as F. The anion contained in the ionic liquid may be selected as bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion (N(SO2F)2-) [0117]. From the anion description Structural Formula (200) is met.
Regarding claim 4, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Okuno further teaches that its capacitor is a lithium ion capacitor, capable of charge and discharge [0012]. From the description above, the feature “secondary battery” could be considered met.
Regarding claim 5, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 4. Okuno further teaches that its non-aqueous solvent may include 1,3-propanesul tone [0114].
Claims 2, 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Okuno teaches a capacitor including a positive electrode containing a positive-electrode active material, a negative electrode containing a negative-electrode active material, a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and an electrolyte [0019]. The employed electrolyte may be a non-aqueous solvent comprising an ionic liquid or may be a combination of an ionic liquid and the organic solvent [0121]. The cation contained in the ionic liquid may be selected from imidazolium cations having a methyl group and an alkyl group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms [0123]. From this description Structural Formula (100) can be met if the alkyl group is selected as CH2CF3. The anion contained in the ionic liquid may be selected as bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion (N(SO2F)2-) [0117]. From the anion description Structural Formula (200) is met.
Regarding claim 11, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 2. Okuno further teaches that its capacitor is a lithium ion capacitor, capable of charge and discharge [0012]. From the description above, the feature “secondary battery” could be considered met.
Claims 3, 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Okuno teaches a capacitor including a positive electrode containing a positive-electrode active material, a negative electrode containing a negative-electrode active material, a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and an electrolyte [0019]. The employed electrolyte may be a non-aqueous solvent comprising an ionic liquid or may be a combination of an ionic liquid and the organic solvent [0121]. The cation contained in the ionic liquid may be selected from imidazolium cations having a methyl group and an alkyl group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms [0123]. From this description Structural Formula (150) can be met if the alkyl group is selected as CH2CHF2. The anion contained in the ionic liquid may be selected as bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion (N(SO2F)2-) [0117]. From the anion description Structural Formula (200) is met.
Regarding claim 12, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 3. Okuno further teaches that its capacitor is a lithium ion capacitor, capable of charge and discharge [0012]. From the description above, the feature “secondary battery” could be considered met.
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 non-obviousness.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1) as applied to claim 4 above, further in view of Nishimura et al. (EP 3531492 A1) evidenced by Kim et al. (Effect of (Al, Mg) substitution in LiNiO2 electrode for lithium batteries, see NPL documents for citation) and Li et al. (Halogen-doping in LiCoO2 cathode materials for Li-ion batteries: insights from ab initio calculations, see NPL documents for citation).
Regarding claim 6, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 4, except wherein the positive electrode comprises a positive electrode active material, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, and nickel are added, and having an XRD pattern as recited on claim 6.
Nishimura teaches a secondary battery (101) in which an electrode group including a cathode (107), an anode (108), and a semi-solid electrolyte layer (109), which contains an ionic liquid, is enclosed in a battery container (102) in a sealed state [0010, 0016 and Fig. 1]. From the above description the secondary battery of Nishimura is on the same field of endeavor of Okuno. The cathode (107) comprises an active material which can be represented by LiNi1-xMxO2, provided that M is one or more members selected from Mn, Fe, Co, Al, Ga, Ca, and Mg, and x is 0.01 to 0.2 [0021]. From the previous teaching a cathode (107) having as electrode active material LiNi1-x(CoAlMg)xO2 can be employed, which would be equivalent to have “lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, aluminum, and nickel were added”. Kim evidence that the partial substitution of Co for Ni produce attractive electrochemical properties [p. 641; par. 1] and that the co-doping of lithium nickelate with Mg and Al served to achieve an electrode with good reversible capacity with excellent capacity retention [p. 644-645; conclusion].
Li teaches the effects of halogen substitution of the oxygen sites in LiCoO2 cathode systems for rechargeable Li batteries [p. 107326; par. 1 and 4]. The work of Li is on the same field of endeavor of Nishimura and the claimed invention since LICoO2 is the base material to which Mg, Al, Ni and F are proposed to be added. Li teaches that fluorine, among other halogens, substitutions of oxygen species suppress the lattice changes upon Li deintercalation, enhance the structural stability, electronic conductivity and Li mobility, as well as retain the electrode potential of the undoped system [Abstract].
If the positive electrode of Okuno is modified to have the structure described by Nishimura and be partially substituted with F as taught by Li above, the feature “wherein the positive electrode comprises a positive electrode active material, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, and nickel are added” would be met.
The Office realizes that all of the claimed effects or physical properties are not positively stated by Okuno in view of Nishimura evidenced by Kim and Li. However, the references teaches all of the claimed ingredients of the claimed positive electrode active material. According to the original specification, it is established that “the peaks at 20 of 19.30±0.20° and 20 of 45.55±0.10° in a high voltage charged state can be the features of the positive electrode active material 100 of one embodiment of the present invention” [0239]. The positive electrode active material 100, is taught to contains lithium, a transition metal M, oxygen, and an added element [0102]. The transition metal M may be at least one of manganese, cobalt, and nickel [0103]. As the added element contained in the positive electrode active material 100, at least one of magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, titanium, zirconium, vanadium, iron, chromium, niobium, cobalt, arsenic, zinc, silicon, sulfur, phosphorus, and boron is preferably used [0108].
Therefore, the claimed effects and physical properties, i.e. the recited XRD pattern, would expectedly be achieved by a composition with all the claimed ingredients, claimed amounts, and substantially similar process of making. See MPEP § 2112.01. If it is the applicant' s position that this would not be the case: (1) evidence would need to be provided to support the applicant' s position; and (2) it would be the Office' s position that the application contains inadequate disclosure that there is no teaching as to how to obtain the claimed properties with only the claimed ingredients, claimed amounts, and substantially similar process of making.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1) in view of Nishimura et al. (EP 3531492 A1) evidenced by Kim et al. (Effect of (Al, Mg) substitution in LiNiO2 electrode for lithium batteries, see NPL documents for citation) and Li et al. (Halogen-doping in LiCoO2 cathode materials for Li-ion batteries: insights from ab initio calculations, see NPL documents for citation) as applied to claim 6 above, further in view of Zhang et al. (Trace doping of multiple elements enables stable battery cycling of LiCoO2 at 4.6 V, see NPL documents for citation) evidenced by Hoang, K. (First-principles theory of doping in layered oxide electrode materials, see NPL documents for citation).
Regarding claim 7, Okuno, Nishimura, Kim and Li teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 6, except “wherein a diffusion state of each of the magnesium and the aluminum included in the positive electrode active material varies on each crystal plane of a surface portion”.
Zhang teaches the co-doping of LiCoO2 with trace amounts of Mg and Al and found that that Al and Mg atoms are successfully incorporated into the LiCoO2 lattice and can effectively suppress the detrimental phase transition at high charging voltages (above 4.5 V) [p. 4; par. 1]. Hoang evidence that in LiCoO2, Mg can occupy both the Co and Li sites [p. 5; par. 2] and Al the Co sites [p. 6; par. 3]. From the teachings of Zhang and the evidence of Hoang it is reasonably to expect that “diffusion state of each of the magnesium and the aluminum included in the positive electrode active material varies on each crystal plane of a surface portion” depending on the substitutions obtained in the LiCoO2 stack.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secondary battery positive electrode of Okuno, Nishimura, Kim and Li to include the feature “wherein a diffusion state of each of the magnesium and the aluminum included in the positive electrode active material varies on each crystal plane of a surface portion”, because Zhang teaches that the Al and Mg incorporation into the LiCoO2 lattice and can effectively suppress the detrimental phase transition at high charging voltages (above 4.5 V)
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1) in view of Nishimura et al. (EP 3531492 A1) evidenced by Kim et al. (Effect of (Al, Mg) substitution in LiNiO2 electrode for lithium batteries, see NPL documents for citation), Li et al. (Halogen-doping in LiCoO2 cathode materials for Li-ion batteries: insights from ab initio calculations, see NPL documents for citation) and Zhang et al. (Trace doping of multiple elements enables stable battery cycling of LiCoO2 at 4.6 V, see NPL documents for citation) evidenced by Hoang, K. (First-principles theory of doping in layered oxide electrode materials, see NPL documents for citation) as applied to claim 7 above.
Regarding claim 8, Okuno, Nishimura, Kim, Li, Zhang and Hoang teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 7. From claim 7 discussion the feature “wherein the magnesium and the aluminum exist in a deeper position of the surface portion in a region with a crystal plane other than (001) than in a region with the crystal plane (001)” can be considered met.
Okuno, Nishimura, Kim, Li, Zhang and Hoang does not teach “wherein the positive electrode active material has a crystal structure belonging to a space group R-3m”.
The Office realizes that all of the claimed effects or physical properties are not positively stated by Okuno, Nishimura, Kim, Li, Zhang and Hoang. However, the references teach all of the claimed ingredients of the positive electrode active material. According to the original specification, Fig. 6 shows a crystal structure of the positive electrode active material 100 before and after charge and discharge [0168]. The crystal structure with a charge depth of 0 (discharged state) in FIG. 6 is R-3m (О3) [0169]. As shown in the legend in Fig. 6, aluminum and nickel preferably exist in cobalt sites, but part of them may exist in lithium sites. Magnesium preferably exists in lithium sites and fluorine may be substituted for part of oxygen [0184].
Therefore, the claimed effects and physical properties, i.e. “wherein the positive electrode active material has a crystal structure belonging to a space group R-3m” would expectedly be achieved by a composition with all the claimed ingredients, claimed amounts, and substantially similar process of making. See MPEP § 2112.01. If it is the applicant' s position that this would not be the case: (1) evidence would need to be provided to support the applicant' s position; and (2) it would be the Office' s position that the application contains inadequate disclosure that there is no teaching as to how to obtain the claimed properties with only the claimed ingredients, claimed amounts, and substantially similar process of making.
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1) as applied to claim 4 above, further in view of Iwasaki et al. (US 20160211491 A1).
Regarding claims 9 and 10, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 4, except “an electronic device comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 4; and at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker, and a microphone” (claim 9) and “a vehicle comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 4; and at least one of a motor, a brake, and a control circuit” (claim 10).
Iwasaki teaches an electricity storage device comprising an electrode group (11) (positive and negative electrodes) and where a molten salt, comprising 90% or more of an ionic liquid, can be used as an electrolyte [0052, 0054, 0085, 0086 and Fig. 2]. The ionic liquid may comprise a bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide anion and organic cations having an imidazole backbone [0089 and 0102]. From the previous description the electricity storage device of Iwasaki is on the same field of endeavor of Okuno. Iwasaki teaches that an electricity storage device having the referred features can be employed on domestic or industrial large power storage apparatuses, and power sources for electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles because it can provide a long term reliability [0169]. From the previous description an electric or hybrid vehicle can be considered to comprise “electronic devices having at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker and a microphone” (claim 9). Additionally, because they both are vehicles the feature having at least one of “a motor, a brake and a control circuit” (claim 10) is met.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secondary battery of Okuno to include the features “an electronic device comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 4; and at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker, and a microphone” (claim 9) and “a vehicle comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 4; and at least one of a motor, a brake, and a control circuit” (claim 10), because Iwasaki teaches that it can be useful on these application because it can provide a long term reliability.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1) as applied to claim 11 above, further in view of Nishimura et al. (EP 3531492 A1) evidenced by Kim et al. (Effect of (Al, Mg) substitution in LiNiO2 electrode for lithium batteries, see NPL documents for citation) and Li et al. (Halogen-doping in LiCoO2 cathode materials for Li-ion batteries: insights from ab initio calculations, see NPL documents for citation).
Regarding claim 13, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 11, except wherein the positive electrode comprises a positive electrode active material, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, and nickel are added, and having an XRD pattern as recited on claim 13.
Nishimura teaches a secondary battery (101) in which an electrode group including a cathode (107), an anode (108), and a semi-solid electrolyte layer (109), which contains an ionic liquid, is enclosed in a battery container (102) in a sealed state [0010, 0016 and Fig. 1]. From the above description the secondary battery of Nishimura is on the same field of endeavor of Okuno. The cathode (107) comprises an active material which can be represented by LiNi1-xMxO2, provided that M is one or more members selected from Mn, Fe, Co, Al, Ga, Ca, and Mg, and x is 0.01 to 0.2 [0021]. From the previous teaching a cathode (107) having as electrode active material LiNi1-x(CoAlMg)xO2 can be employed, which would be equivalent to have “lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, aluminum, and nickel were added”. Kim evidence that the partial substitution of Co for Ni produce attractive electrochemical properties [p. 641; par. 1] and that the co-doping of lithium nickelate with Mg and Al served to achieve an electrode with good reversible capacity with excellent capacity retention [p. 644-645; conclusion].
Li teaches the effects of halogen substitution of the oxygen sites in LiCoO2 cathode systems for rechargeable Li batteries [p. 107326; par. 1 and 4]. The work of Li is on the same field of endeavor of Nishimura and the claimed invention since LICoO2 is the base material to which Mg, Al, Ni and F are proposed to be added. Li teaches that fluorine, among other halogens, substitutions of oxygen species suppress the lattice changes upon Li deintercalation, enhance the structural stability, electronic conductivity and Li mobility, as well as retain the electrode potential of the undoped system [Abstract].
If the positive electrode of Okuno is modified to have the structure described by Nishimura and be partially substituted with F as taught by Li above, the feature “wherein the positive electrode comprises a positive electrode active material, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, and nickel are added” would be met.
The Office realizes that all of the claimed effects or physical properties are not positively stated by Okuno in view of Nishimura evidenced by Kim and Li. However, the references teaches all of the claimed ingredients of the claimed positive electrode active material. According to the original specification, it is established that “the peaks at 20 of 19.30±0.20° and 20 of 45.55±0.10° in a high voltage charged state can be the features of the positive electrode active material 100 of one embodiment of the present invention” [0239]. The positive electrode active material 100, is taught to contains lithium, a transition metal M, oxygen, and an added element [0102]. The transition metal M may be at least one of manganese, cobalt, and nickel [0103]. As the added element contained in the positive electrode active material 100, at least one of magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, titanium, zirconium, vanadium, iron, chromium, niobium, cobalt, arsenic, zinc, silicon, sulfur, phosphorus, and boron is preferably used [0108].
Therefore, the claimed effects and physical properties, i.e. the recited XRD pattern, would expectedly be achieved by a composition with all the claimed ingredients, claimed amounts, and substantially similar process of making. See MPEP § 2112.01. If it is the applicant' s position that this would not be the case: (1) evidence would need to be provided to support the applicant' s position; and (2) it would be the Office' s position that the application contains inadequate disclosure that there is no teaching as to how to obtain the claimed properties with only the claimed ingredients, claimed amounts, and substantially similar process of making.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1) as applied to claim 12 above, further in view of Nishimura et al. (EP 3531492 A1) evidenced by Kim et al. (Effect of (Al, Mg) substitution in LiNiO2 electrode for lithium batteries, see NPL documents for citation) and Li et al. (Halogen-doping in LiCoO2 cathode materials for Li-ion batteries: insights from ab initio calculations, see NPL documents for citation).
Regarding claim 14, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 12, except wherein the positive electrode comprises a positive electrode active material, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, and nickel are added, and having an XRD pattern as recited on claim 14.
Nishimura teaches a secondary battery (101) in which an electrode group including a cathode (107), an anode (108), and a semi-solid electrolyte layer (109), which contains an ionic liquid, is enclosed in a battery container (102) in a sealed state [0010, 0016 and Fig. 1]. From the above description the secondary battery of Nishimura is on the same field of endeavor of Okuno. The cathode (107) comprises an active material which can be represented by LiNi1-xMxO2, provided that M is one or more members selected from Mn, Fe, Co, Al, Ga, Ca, and Mg, and x is 0.01 to 0.2 [0021]. From the previous teaching a cathode (107) having as electrode active material LiNi1-x(CoAlMg)xO2 can be employed, which would be equivalent to have “lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, aluminum, and nickel were added”. Kim evidence that the partial substitution of Co for Ni produce attractive electrochemical properties [p. 641; par. 1] and that the co-doping of lithium nickelate with Mg and Al served to achieve an electrode with good reversible capacity with excellent capacity retention [p. 644-645; conclusion].
Li teaches the effects of halogen substitution of the oxygen sites in LiCoO2 cathode systems for rechargeable Li batteries [p. 107326; par. 1 and 4]. The work of Li is on the same field of endeavor of Nishimura and the claimed invention since LICoO2 is the base material to which Mg, Al, Ni and F are proposed to be added. Li teaches that fluorine, among other halogens, substitutions of oxygen species suppress the lattice changes upon Li deintercalation, enhance the structural stability, electronic conductivity and Li mobility, as well as retain the electrode potential of the undoped system [Abstract].
If the positive electrode of Okuno is modified to have the structure described by Nishimura and be partially substituted with F as taught by Li above, the feature “wherein the positive electrode comprises a positive electrode active material, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises lithium cobalt oxide to which magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, and nickel are added” would be met.
The Office realizes that all of the claimed effects or physical properties are not positively stated by Okuno in view of Nishimura evidenced by Kim and Li. However, the references teaches all of the claimed ingredients of the claimed positive electrode active material. According to the original specification, it is established that “the peaks at 20 of 19.30±0.20° and 20 of 45.55±0.10° in a high voltage charged state can be the features of the positive electrode active material 100 of one embodiment of the present invention” [0239]. The positive electrode active material 100, is taught to contains lithium, a transition metal M, oxygen, and an added element [0102]. The transition metal M may be at least one of manganese, cobalt, and nickel [0103]. As the added element contained in the positive electrode active material 100, at least one of magnesium, fluorine, aluminum, titanium, zirconium, vanadium, iron, chromium, niobium, cobalt, arsenic, zinc, silicon, sulfur, phosphorus, and boron is preferably used [0108].
Therefore, the claimed effects and physical properties, i.e. the recited XRD pattern, would expectedly be achieved by a composition with all the claimed ingredients, claimed amounts, and substantially similar process of making. See MPEP § 2112.01. If it is the applicant' s position that this would not be the case: (1) evidence would need to be provided to support the applicant' s position; and (2) it would be the Office' s position that the application contains inadequate disclosure that there is no teaching as to how to obtain the claimed properties with only the claimed ingredients, claimed amounts, and substantially similar process of making.
Claims 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1) as applied to claim 11 above, further in view of Iwasaki et al. (US 20160211491 A1).
Regarding claims 15 and 17, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 11, except “an electronic device comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 11; and at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker, and a microphone” (claim 15) and “a vehicle comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 11; and at least one of a motor, a brake, and a control circuit” (claim 17).
Iwasaki teaches an electricity storage device comprising an electrode group (11) (positive and negative electrodes) and where a molten salt, comprising 90% or more of an ionic liquid, can be used as an electrolyte [0052, 0054, 0085, 0086 and Fig. 2]. The ionic liquid may comprise a bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide anion and organic cations having an imidazole backbone [0089 and 0102]. From the previous description the electricity storage device of Iwasaki is on the same field of endeavor of Okuno. Iwasaki teaches that an electricity storage device having the referred features can be employed on domestic or industrial large power storage apparatuses, and power sources for electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles because it can provide a long term reliability [0169]. From the previous description an electric or hybrid vehicle can be considered to comprise “electronic devices having at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker and a microphone” (claim 15). Additionally, because they both are vehicles the feature having at least one of “a motor, a brake and a control circuit” (claim 17) is met.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secondary battery of Okuno to include the features “an electronic device comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 11; and at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker, and a microphone” (claim 15) and “a vehicle comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 11; and at least one of a motor, a brake, and a control circuit” (claim 17), because Iwasaki teaches that it can be useful on these application because it can provide a long term reliability.
Claims 16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuno et al. (US 20160118199 A1) as applied to claim 12 above, further in view of Iwasaki et al. (US 20160211491 A1).
Regarding claims 16 and 18, Okuno teaches all the elements of the current invention in claim 12, except “an electronic device comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 12; and at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker, and a microphone” (claim 16) and “a vehicle comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 12; and at least one of a motor, a brake, and a control circuit” (claim 18).
Iwasaki teaches an electricity storage device comprising an electrode group (11) (positive and negative electrodes) and where a molten salt, comprising 90% or more of an ionic liquid, can be used as an electrolyte [0052, 0054, 0085, 0086 and Fig. 2]. The ionic liquid may comprise a bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide anion and organic cations having an imidazole backbone [0089 and 0102]. From the previous description the electricity storage device of Iwasaki is on the same field of endeavor of Okuno. Iwasaki teaches that an electricity storage device having the referred features can be employed on domestic or industrial large power storage apparatuses, and power sources for electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles because it can provide a long term reliability [0169]. From the previous description an electric or hybrid vehicle can be considered to comprise “electronic devices having at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker and a microphone” (claim 16). Additionally, because they both are vehicles the feature having at least one of “a motor, a brake and a control circuit” (claim 18) is met.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secondary battery of Okuno to include the features “an electronic device comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 12; and at least one of a display device, an operation button, an external connection port, a speaker, and a microphone” (claim 16) and “a vehicle comprising: the secondary battery according to claim 12; and at least one of a motor, a brake, and a control circuit” (claim 18), because Iwasaki teaches that it can be useful on these application because it can provide a long term reliability.
Conclusion
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/G.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/JAMES M ERWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725 01/23/2026