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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the communication filed on 4/29/26. Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are not found persuasive. Claims 21-24, 26-28, 30-35, 37-39 and 41-46 are pending. Claims 41-42 and 45-46 are withdrawn from consideration. This Action is Non-FINAL.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/29/26 has been entered.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Claim 21 has been amended to deleted “the solvent being a remainder of a measured amount of solvent combined with the electrode active material and the one or more binders during formation of the film”. Claim 32 has been amended to delete “the solvent being a remainder of a measured amount of solvent combined with the electrode active material and the one or more binders during formation of the film”.
Election/Restrictions
Newly submitted claims 45 and 46 depend from claims previously withdrawn from consideration (claims 41 and 42). Thus, claims 41-42, 45 and 46 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
Specification
The objection to the specification is withdrawn. The claimed subject matter that did not have proper antecedent basis in the specification has been deleted.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 21-24, 26-28, 30-35 and 37-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Each of independent claims 21 and 32 recite “an oxide electrode active material”, which is not supported by the specification as filed. The specification does not disclose the electrode active material may broadly be any “oxide”. At [0025] of the present specification, the electrode active material is described as being a metal oxide, such as lithium manganese oxide. Examiner suggests claims 21 and 32 be amended to replace “oxide” with “metal oxide”, as supported by the present specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 21-24, 26-28, 30-35 and 37-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 21 recites the limitation "the electrode active material" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. In accordance with the Examiner’s suggestion above, Examiner suggests the claim be amended to recite “the metal oxide electrode active material”. See also claims 24, 32 and 35. Note claims 43 and 44 should be amended accordingly.
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)(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) 21-24, 26-28, 30-35, 37-39 and 43-44 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gan et al., US 2002/0094479 A1.
Regarding claims 21-24, 26-28, 30-35, 37-39, Gan teaches a preferred positive electrode active admixture comprises from about 80% to 99%, by weight, of a cathode active material comprising either one or both of the SVO (silver vanadium oxide) and CSVO materials for a primary cell or lithium cobalt oxide for a secondary cell mixed with a suitable binder (0 to 3%, by weight), a conductor diluent (0 to 3%, by weight) and at least one of the above phosphate compounds. The resulting blended active mixture may be formed into a free-standing sheet prior to being contacted with a current collector to form the subject electrode [0028]. The conductive additive may be acetylene black, carbon black and/or graphite. Metallic materials such as nickel, aluminum, titanium and stainless steel in powder form are also useful as conductive diluents when mixed with the above listed active materials. The positive electrode of both a primary and a secondary cell further comprises a binder material which is preferably a fluoro-resin powder such as powdered polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or powdered polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). More specifically, a preferred cathode active material for a primary cell comprises SVO in any one of its many phases, or mixtures thereof, and/or CSVO mixed with a binder material and a conductive diluent. A preferred cathode active material for a secondary cell comprises lithium cobalt oxide mixed with a binder material and a conductive diluent [0024].
Regarding claims 30 and 31, Gan teaches an electrochemical cell having a negative electrode of lithium or of an anode material which is capable of intercalating and de-intercalating lithium coupled with a positive electrode of a cathode active material. The resulting electrode couple is activated by a non-aqueous electrolyte. The electrolyte flows into and throughout the electrodes (abstract). The electrolyte preferably comprises an alkali metal salt dissolved in a mixture of aprotic organic solvents comprising a low viscosity solvent including organic esters, ethers, dialkyl carbonates, and mixtures thereof. Low viscosity solvents include tetrahydrofuran (THF), diisopropylether, methyl acetate (MA), diglyme, triglyme, tetraglyme, 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), 1,2-diethoxyethane (DEE), 1-ethoxy,2-methoxyethane (EME), dimethyl carbonate (DMC), diethyl carbonate (DEC), dipropyl carbonate (DPC), ethylmethyl carbonate (EMC), methylpropyl carbonate (MPC), ethylpropyl carbonate (EPC), and mixtures thereof. DMC and
Regarding claims 43 and 44, Gan teaches the positive electrode active material may comprise lithium manganese oxide [0021]. Thus, the claims are anticipated.
*
Claim(s) 21-24, 26-28, 30-35, 37-39 and 43-44 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shin et al., 2020/0313193 A1.
Regarding claims 21-24, 26-28, 32-35, 37-39 and 43-44, Shin teaches a free-standing cathode electrode film comprising a dry active material and a dry binder. The binder may be an elastic polymer with an insubstantial amount of PTFE. The active material may be lithium manganese oxide [0049; 0057]. The active material may comprise 70-99 weight % of the cathode electrode film. The cathode electrode film can comprise up to about 10 weight %, for example 1-3 weight % of conductive additive. The cathode electrode film comprises up to about 5 weight %, for example about 1.5 weight % to about 3 weight %, of the binder [0058]. The electrode comprises a current collector and the dry cathode electrode [0012; 0048;0051].
Regarding claims 30-31, Shin teaches a “solvent-free” electrode film is an electrode film that contains no detectable, or substantially no, processing solvents, nor processing solvent residues and/or processing solvent impurities. Such a “solvent-free” electrode film is distinguished from conventional electrode films based upon conventional solvent-based processes, which contain detectable, or a substantial amount, of processing solvents, processing solvent residues, and/or processing solvents impurities, even after the solvent-based film has undergone a drying process. A dry electrode film, such as a cathode electrode film or an anode electrode film, may be solvent-free [0031]. The solvent can include one or more functional groups selected from carbonates, ethers and/or esters. In some embodiments, the solvent can comprise a carbonate where the carbonate can be selected from acyclic carbonates such as, for example, dimethyl carbonate (DMC), diethyl carbonate (DEC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), and combinations thereof [0063].
Thus, the claims are anticipated. Note Shin teaches, for example, a film with an insubstantial amount or at most an insubstantial amount of PTFE may comprise less than 0.5 wt. % PTFE, which includes a film absent of PTFE [0033].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/29/26 have been fully considered. The prior 35 USC 112, 2nd, rejections are withdrawn as claims 21 and 32 have been amended to deleted “the solvent being a remainder of a measured amount of solvent combined with the electrode active material and the one or more binders during formation of the film”. However, the claims are newly rejected under 35 USC 112, 1st and 2nd. See above.
Applicant argues Raman fails to disclose “an oxide electrode active material”, as recited by claims 21 and 32. This argument is moot as the prior art rejection in view of Raman has been withdrawn. The claims have been rejected in view of Gan, a new grounds of rejection. The claims have been rejected in view of Shin, a new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY DOVE whose telephone number is (571)272-1285. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-3:00.
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/TRACY M DOVE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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