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 .
Status of the Claims
The amendment/remarks submitted 06/22/2026 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1-18 are pending. Claims 8-15 are withdrawn. Claim 7 is amended. Claims 1-7 and 16-18 are examined herein.
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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 6-7, 16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0056460 A1 (“Kawada”).
Regarding claims 1 and 6-7, Kawada discloses a positive electrode active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary cell represented by the general compositional formula Lix[Liα(MnaCobMc)1-α]O2, where 0.5<x<1.1, 0.1<α<0.33, 0.17<a<0.93, 0.03<b<0.50, and 0.04<c<0.33, and the element M includes Ni (Abstract). The positive electrode active material has an O6 structure ([0013]-[0015], [0024]; claim 2).
Kawada does not expressly disclose the molar composition of the claimed formula (1). However, Kawada provides motivation to optimize the Li content x in the lithium layer (analogous to the claimed x) ([0020]), the Li content α in the lithium-containing transition metal layer (analogous to the claimed Li1/6(1-z-w)) ([0021]), the Mn content a (analogous to the claimed Mn4/6(1-z-w)) ([0022]), the Co content b (analogous to the claimed Az) ([0023]), and the M (i.e. Ni) content c (analogous to the claimed Ni1/6(1-z-w)) ([0024]). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the composition of the positive electrode active material for the reasons expressed by Kawada.
Regarding claim 2, Kawada discloses the positive electrode active material of claim 1. In the positive electrode active material discussed above, w = 0.
Regarding claim 16, Kawada discloses the positive electrode active material of claim 1. Kawada further discloses a positive electrode comprising the positive electrode active material, a conductive agent, and a binder ([0012]).
Regarding claim 18, Kawada discloses the positive electrode of claim 16. Kawada further discloses the positive electrode active material may contain other metal oxides, such as LiCoO2 ([0016]-[0017]).
Claim 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0056460 A1 (“Kawada”) as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of US 2023/0402583 A1 (“Buchholz”).
Regarding claim 17, Kawada discloses the positive electrode of claim 16. Kawada does not expressly disclose the positive electrode further comprises at least one positive electrode active material selected from the group in the instant claim.
Buchholz discloses a cathode active material for a lithium ion battery includes a multitude of first particles that contain a cobalt-free lithium layered oxide, and a multitude of second particles that contain a phospho-olivine (Abstract). The second particles include LiFePO4 or LiFe1-yMnyPO4 and 0≤y<1 ([0012]). Including the phospho-olivine provides the benefits of reduced costs and improved thermal stability coupled with only slightly reduced energy density ([0015]-[0016]). For these reasons, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the phospho-olivine taught by Buchholz in the positive electrode.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the claim recites “the positive electrode active material shows a monoclinic C2/m (12) space group, with the following cell parameters: a = 4.93 Å, b = 8.52 Å, c = 9.81 Å, β = 100.2°.” Kawada discloses the O6 structure is a structure that belongs to space group R-3m and in which lithium exists at the center of an oxygen-octahedron and there are 6 different variations of how oxygen and the transition metal overlap per unit lattice exist ([0014]). The prior art does not disclose or render obvious the positive electrode active material of claim 1 having a monoclinic C2/m (12) space group with the cell parameters as claimed.
Regarding claims 4 and 5, claim 4 recites “a level of defect in the O6-type structure of the positive electrode active material is 40% or less” and claim 5 recites “a level of O2 type defect in the O6-type structure of the positive electrode active material is 10% or less.” Kawada discloses that the O6 structure occurs as a by-product in the synthesis of the O2 structure ([0014]). The prior art does not disclose or render obvious the positive electrode active material of claim 1 having the level of defect in the O6-type structure of the positive electrode active material is 40% or less as in claim 4 or a level of O2 type defect in the O6-type structure of the positive electrode active material is 10% or less as in claim 5.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 6, filed 06/22/2026, with respect to the 112(b) rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 7 under 35 USC 112(b) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pp. 7-11, filed 06/22/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-7 and 16-18 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US 2016/0056460 A1 (“Kawada”).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert Scott Carrico whose telephone number is (571)270-5504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:15AM-6PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at 571-272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Robert Scott Carrico
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/Robert S Carrico/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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