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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments received 07/2/2026 have been entered, but do not overcome the 103 rejection as filed in non-final office action mailed 04/21/2026 . New grounds of rejection are presented below.
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.
Claims 1-3,5, and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US-20230327185-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Ryu’, in view of (US-20220302439-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Thai’
Regarding Claim 1,
Ryu teaches an all-solid-state battery (Ryu, solid battery, 1a, Fig. 10) comprising: a negative electrode current collector (Ryu, current collector, 21, Fig. 10) ; an intermediate layer disposed on the negative electrode current collector (Ryu, active material layer, 22, Fig. 10) ; a solid electrolyte layer disposed on the intermediate layer (Ryu, solid electrolyte layer, 30, Fig. 10) ; a positive electrode active material layer disposed on the solid electrolyte layer and comprising a positive electrode active material lithiating and delithiating lithium ions (Ryu, active material layer, 12, Fig. 10) ; and a positive electrode current collector disposed on the positive electrode active material layer (Ryu, active material layer, 12, Fig. 10) , wherein the intermediate layer comprises a carbon component (Ryu, “The negative electrode active material included in the negative electrode active material layer 22 may include, for example, at least one selected from a carbon-based negative electrode active material”, see [0113]) and a lithium alloy (Ryu, “The metal layer 23 may consist of one of these alloys or lithium, or may consist of several types of alloy.”, see [0124]). wherein the intermediate layer comprises the lithium alloy in a discharged state of the all-solid-state battery (Ryu, “The metal layer 23 may consist of one of these alloys or lithium, or may consist of several types of alloy.”, see [0124]) (The examiner notes that although Ryu mentions alloys formed during charging, the metal layer is an additional alloy present before charging). Ryu teaches wherein the carbon components comprises amorphous carbon (Ryu, “The carbon-based material may include, for example, crystalline carbon, amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof. The crystalline carbon may be non-shaped, sheet, flake, spherical, or fiber-shaped natural graphite or artificial graphite. The amorphous carbon may include soft carbon (low-temperature calcined carbon), hard carbon (hard carbon), mesophase pitch carbide, calcined coke, and the like.”, see [0105])(The examiner notes that the layer 23 does not strictly include amorphous carbon but Ryu shows benefits of a mixture of carbon and the metal material see Ryu [0116]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention)
Ryu teaches the all-solid-state battery of claim 1, wherein the intermediate layer comprises a plurality of layers which a layer comprises the carbon component and the lithium alloy (Ryu, metal layer and active material layer, 23 and 22, Fig. 10) (Ryu, “The negative electrode active material included in the first negative electrode active material layer 22 may include, for example, a mixture of a first particle consisting of amorphous carbon and a second particle consisting of a metal or metalloid.”, see [0117]) (Ryu, “Any material alloyable with Li in the art may be used. The metal layer 23 may consist of one of these alloys or lithium, or may consist of several types of alloy.”, see [0124]).
Ryu does not teach that the metal layer is formed of both carbon and the alloy.
Thai teaches a metal layer with carbon added to it (Thai, “The metal layer 305 may comprise a metallic layer that is deposited on the active material layer 303 prior to pyrolysis of the anode 300. The metal may comprise copper or nickel, for example, or any metal that will not adversely react with components of the active material layer 303. Other metals that are stable on the anode may be used such as stainless steel, tungsten, gold, silver, or platinum. During pyrolysis, the deposited metal may alloy with the active material, with possible reactions between carbon and copper as well as between carbon and silicon”, see [0044]) (Thai, “process alloys a portion of the metal layer with a portion of the active material layer to form a metal carbide.”, see Clm 20).
Thai teaches that the combination between carbon and an alloying material allows for higher conductivity layers (Thai, “One possible reaction is between carbon and copper forming a carbide material that may have beneficial characteristics, such as better conductivity and a protective capability”, see [0047]).
Ryu and Thai are analogous as they are both of the same field of metal layers for solid state systems.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the metal layer as taught in Ryu to have carbon particles as taught in Thai in order to improve the conductivity of the layer and improve cycling of the battery.
Regarding Claim 2,
Modified Ryu teaches the all-solid-state battery of claim 1, wherein the lithium alloy comprises lithium and one or more metal selected from the group consisting of Au, Pt, Pd, Si, Ag, Al, Bi, Sn, and Zn (Ryu, “Thus, the metal layer 23 may act as, for example, a Li reservoir. The Li alloy may include, for example, a Li—Al alloy, a Li—Sn alloy, a Li—In alloy, a Li—Ag alloy, a Li—Au alloy, a Li—Zn alloy, a Li—Ge alloy, a Li—Si alloy,.”, see [0124]).
Regarding Claim 3,
Modified Ryu teaches the all-solid-state battery of claim 1, wherein the lithium alloy has a particle size (D50) of about 50 nm or less (Ryu, “For example, the average particle diameter of the negative electrode active material having a particle shape may be, for example, in a range of 10 nm to 4 μm,”, see [0112]).
The examiner takes note of the fact that the prior art range of 10nm to 4 μm, broadly overlaps the claimed range of 50 nm or less. Absent any additional and more specific information in the prior art, a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Peterson, 315F.3d 1325, 1330, 65 USPQ2d 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2003). MPEP 2144.05.
Regarding Claim 5,
Modified Ryu teaches the all-solid-state battery if claim 1, wherein the intermediate layer comprises an amount of about 30% to 85% by weight of the carbon component and an amount of about 15% to 70% by weight of the lithium alloy based on the total weight of the intermediate layer (Ryu, “for example, a mixture of a first particle consisting of amorphous carbon and a second particle consisting of a metal or metalloid…The amount of the second particle may be in a range of 8 wt % to 60 wt %, 10 wt % to 50 wt %, 15 wt % to 40 wt %, or 20 wt % to 30 wt %, based on the total weight of the mixture”, see [0117]) (The examiner notes that since the mixture in the prior art is binary the first particle concentration would be the inverse eg. 40% metalloid is 60% carbon).
Regarding Claim 8,
Modified Ryu teaches the all-solid-state battery of claim 1, wherein the intermediate layer has a thickness in a range of about 3 μm to 30 μm (Ryu, “The thickness of the metal layer 23 is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, in a range of ..or 1 μm to 50 μm..”, see [0125]) (Ryu, “thickness of the negative electrode active material layer 22 may be, for example, in a range of ...3 μm to about 7 μm”, see [0121]) (The examiner notes that the sum of these ranges would overlap the claimed range)(The examiner notes that the sum of these ranges would overlap the claimed ranges).
The examiner takes note of the fact that the prior art range of 4 μm to about 57 μm broadly overlaps the claimed range of 3 μm to 30 μm. Absent any additional and more specific information in the prior art, a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Peterson, 315F.3d 1325, 1330, 65 USPQ2d 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2003). MPEP 2144.05.
Regarding Claim 9,
Modified Ryu teaches the all-solid-state battery claim 1, wherein the battery has an operating temperature of about 40 C or less (Ryu, “the electrochemical cell may have a capacity retention rate of 88% or more, for example, 88% to 99.5%, at 100th cycle after charging and discharging at 4V or more in a thermostatic bath at 25° C.”, see [0076])
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US-20230327185-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Ryu’, in view of (US-20220302439-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Thai’ in view of (US-20220263111-A1) hereinafter referred to as ’Li’.
Regarding Claim 7,
Ryu does not teach the all-solid-state battery of claim 6, wherein an interlayer barrier is disposed on the each of the plurality layer of the intermediate layer for allowing lithium ions to pass through but not allowing the lithium alloy to pass through.
Li teaches wherein an interlayer barrier is disposed on the each of the plurality layer of the intermediate layer for allowing lithium ions to pass through but not allowing the lithium alloy to pass through (Li, “lithium dendrite formation from the anode 120, and/or may prevent protrusion of lithium dendrite throughout the battery 100.”, see [0083]) (Li, barrier layer, 142, see [0083]).
Li teaches that the interlayer barrier can enhance the mechanical strength and prevent dendrite formation which can short the cell (Li, “In some aspects, the mechanical strength enhancer 144 may provide structural support for the battery 100, may prevent lithium dendrite formation from the anode 120, and/or may prevent protrusion of lithium dendrite throughout the battery”, see [0083]).
Ryu and Li are analogous as they are both of the same field of solid-state batteries.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the layers as taught in Ryu with the barrier as taught in LI in order to improve the mechanical strength of the battery and prevent dendrite formation.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/09/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pg. 7, the applicant argues:
“Given this difference in the configuration of Ryu and Thai, it cannot be assumed that substituting the metal layer 305 of Thai for the metal layer 23 of Ryu would provide Ryu/Thai with the improvement the conductivity and cycling of the battery observed in Thai. Further, the Office Action does not provide any additional evidence or other reasoning to support this alleged finding.”
However, this is not convincing. Thai establishes that the carbide material has better conductivity and protective capability (Thai, see [0047]). Thai does not limit itself or teach against the placement of the material in other parts of the battery. Further, Ryu teaches a layer with both metal and carbon (Ryu, see [0117]). Ryu teaches that this carbon improves conductivity (Ryu, see [0096]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings, despite the placement of the layers, as Thai does not teach away from the conductivity and Ryu makes it clear that the conductivity of carbon is well known in the art.
15. On pg. 11, the applicant argues:
” Therefore, even assuming solely for the sake of argument the proposed modification of Ryu to replace the metal layer 23 with the metal layer 305 of Thai, the resulting battery would include a metal layer including a metal carbide, not a metal layer including a lithium alloy and a carbon material, where the carbon material includes amorphous carbon.”
However, this is not convincing. Ryu teaches amorphous carbon see Ryu [0116]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement amorphous carbon in the combination of Ryu and Thai.
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 SEAMUS PATRICK MCNULTY whose telephone number is (703)756-1909. The examiner can normally be reached Monday- Friday 8:00am to 5pm.
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/S.P.M./Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/NICHOLAS A SMITH/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
