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 .
Claim Status
Applicant’s arguments and claim amendments submitted on January 29th, 2026 have been entered into the file.
Currently claims 1 and 10 are amended, claims 3-5 are cancelled, resulting in claims 1-2, 6-15 pending for examination.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed January 29th, 2026 have been received.
Applicant’s cancellation of claim 4 has rendered the 35 USC § 112(b) rejection of claim 4 set forth in the Non Final Office Action mailed October 29th, 2025 moot.
Applicant’s amendments with respect to claim 1 and cancellation of claims 3-5 has overcome the 35 § U.S.C. 102 rejection of claims 1-3, 6-9, and 15 and 35 § U.S.C. 103 rejection of claims 3-4 in view of Ohsawa set forth in the Non-Final Rejection mailed October 29th, 2025. However, rejection of the relevant claims 1-2, 6-9, and 15 under 35 § U.S.C. 103 is presented in this office action.
Applicant’s amendments with respect to claim 1 and cancellation of claims 3-5 has overcome the 35 § U.S.C. 102 rejection of claims 1, 6, 10, 12, 15 in view of Endo set forth in the Non-Final Rejection mailed October 29th, 2025.
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 10-12 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.
Regarding claim 10, the claim recites “the first cathode active material particles include a lithium-nickel composite metal oxide and the second cathode active material particles include a lithium-nickel composite metal oxide.” It is unclear if the lithium-nickel composite metal oxide comprising the first cathode active material particles must be the same as the lithium-nickel composite metal oxide comprising the second cathode active material particles, as there is antecedent basis for “the lithium-nickel composite metal oxide” but the second cathode active material particles does not use this antecedent basis, instead reciting “a lithium-nickel composite metal oxide” for a second time For the purposes of examination, the first cathode active material particles are understood to be any lithium-nickel composite metal oxide and the second cathode active material particles are understood to be any lithium-nickel composite metal oxide.
Regarding claims 11-12, the claim are rejected based on their dependence on a previously rejected claim. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 1-2, 6-12 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohsawa (U.S. Patent Publication No. 20230223520 A1) further in view of Yue (W.O. 2021189455 A1) (machine translation relied upon).
Regarding claim 1, Ohsawa teaches a cathode for a lithium secondary battery (Paragraph 0068) comprising: a cathode current collector; and a cathode active material layer (Paragraph 0008) (Figures 1-2; Element 2).
Ohsawa teaches the cathode active material layer comprising a first layer (Figure 2, Element 21) and a second layer (Figure 2, Element 22) (Paragraph 0030).
Ohsawa teaches the second layer (Figures 1-2, Element 22) on the positive electrode current collector (Figure 1, Element 1) at a second surface S2. Therefore, the second layer of Ohsawa is considered to meet the claim limitations of the first cathode active material layer of the instant claim and the first layer of Ohsawa is considered to meet the claim limitations of the second cathode active material layer. The naming conventions are further illustrated in the annotated figure below for clarity.
PNG
media_image1.png
360
664
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Annotated Figures 1 and 2 of Ohsawa
The instant claim limitation recites the layers are “sequentially laminated” on the current collector, which is interpreted by the Examiner to mean the first and second cathode active material layers are put down a sequence. The claimed limitation does not specify the order in which the lamination occurs (if the first layer is laminated on the second layer or if the second layer is laminated on the first layer), therefore the first and second cathode active material of Ohsawa are considered sequentially laminated on the cathode current collector (Paragraph 0075), meeting the instant claimed limitation.
Ohsawa teaches the second (first) layer containing a single crystal electrode active material (Paragraph 0040), but that the second layer may also contain a polycrystalline electrode active material (Paragraph 0042). Ohsawa teaches the first (second) layer containing a polycrystalline electrode active material layer (Paragraph 0048), but that the first layer may also contain a single crystal electrode active material (Paragraph 0050). Thus, Ohsawa teaches the first cathode active material layer and the second cathode active material layer include first cathode active material particles (polycrystalline particles) and second cathode active material particles (single crystal particles).
Further, Ohsawa exemplified the inclusion of first cathode active material particles and second cathode active material particles in both layers of the cathode active material layer through Example 4, where the single-crystal cathode active material (second cathode active material particle) and polycrystalline cathode active material (first cathode active material particle) are added to both the slurry for the first layer and the slurry for the second layer (Paragraph 0079-0080).
As mentioned above, Ohsawa teaches a single crystal electrode active material and a polycrystalline electrode active material, meeting the instant claimed limitation of the first and second cathode active material particles having different particle structures in crystallography or morphology.
The instant disclosure provides a “secondary particle” example as a form in which 10 or more, 30 or more, 50 or more, or 100 or more primary particles are aggregated therein (Paragraph 0050) while a single particle may mean a monolith formed of one particle regardless of the number of particle crystals and does not exclude a form in which 10 or less of the fine particles are included inside the particle (Paragraph 0051). Therefore, consistent with the specification, the Examiner’s interprets secondary particle structure as a form in which 10 or more primary particles are aggregated therein and single particle structure as a form in which less than 10 fine particles are included
Ohsawa teaches the second cathode active material (single crystal particle) includes a material in which a relatively small number (10 or less, or 5 or less) of single crystals are bonded. Ohsawa teaches the first cathode active material (polycrystalline particles) is a material in which a large number of single crystals (20 or more, 100 or more) are bonded together randomly without regularity (Paragraph 0034).
Thus, consistent with the interpretation set forth above, the first cathode active material of Ohsawa is considered a secondary particle structure in which a plurality of primary particles are integrally aggregated and the second cathode active material of Ohsawa is considered of the single particles structure, meeting the instant claimed limitations.
Ohsawa teaches an embodiment in which the ratio of the second cathode active material particles (single crystal particles) in the second (first) layer to all the electrode active materials included in the second (first) layer is more than 50% by weight (Paragraph 0041) while the ratio of the first cathode active material particles (polycrystalline particles) in the second (first) layer to all the electrode active materials included in the second (first) layer is 1 wt% or more and less than 50 wt% (Paragraphs 0041-0042).
Ohsawa teaches an embodiment in which the ratio of first cathode active material particles (polycrystalline particles) in the first (second) layer to all the electrode active materials included in the first (second) layer is more than 50% by weight (Paragraph 0041) while the ratio of the second cathode active material particles (single crystal particles) in the first (second) layer to all the electrode active materials included in the first (second) layer is 1 wt% or more and less than 50 wt% (Paragraphs 0048-0050).
Therefore, Ohsawa teaches the mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the first cathode active material layer is different from a mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the second cathode active material layer, meeting the instant claimed limitations. Ohsawa further exemplifies the different mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the first and second cathode active material layers in example 4, wherein the second (single-crystal) cathode active material: first (polycrystalline) cathode active material is 52.8:35.2 for a slurry for the second (first) cathode active material layer (Paragraph 0079) and 35.2:52.8 for a slurry for the first (second) cathode active material layer (Paragraph 0080).
Further, Ohsawa teaches it is preferable that the weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles (single crystal) in the electrode active material layer gradually decreases from the second cathode active material layer to the first cathode active material layer (from the first surface S1 toward the second surface S2 of the electrode active material layer) (Paragraph 0057). More particularly, when the weight of all the second cathode active material particles contained in the electrode active material layer is 100 parts by weight, the weight of the second cathode active material particles material contained in the second (first) layer is X parts by weight, the weight of the second cathode active material particles contained in the intermediate layer is Y parts by weight, and the second cathode active material particles contained in the first (second) layer is Z parts by weight, X, Y, and Z preferably satisfy X>Y≥Z, Y>Z (Paragraph 0057).
Thus, Ohsawa teaches the different ratios of second cathode active material particles to first cathode active material particles in the first layer and the second layer, with a greater quantity of second cathode active material particles (and thus a higher mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles) contained in the second layer than in the first layer.
Ohsawa does not explicitly teach the mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the first cathode active material layer is 1/9 to 1/2, and the mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the second cathode active material layer is 1/2 to 1.
However, Yue discloses an electrochemical device comprising a positive electrode current collector and a positive electrode active material layer including particles A and B (Paragraph 2), which have different morphology (circularity and cross-sectional area) (Paragraph 13) and crystallography (the particles A are polycrystalline particles…the particles B are single crystal-like particles) (Paragraph 4). Yue teaches that by simultaneously using particles A and B in the positive electrode active material layer, particle breakage, side reactions, and oxygen release during charging/discharging is reduced (Paragraph 13).
Yue teaches the electrochemical performance of the electrochemical device can be optimized by controlling the addition ratio of particles A and B (Paragraph 5). Yue teaches the additional of B particles can improve electrochemical performance by serving as a buffer between adjacent A particles, thereby reducing their collision and fragmentation and inhibiting side reactions involving these particles (Paragraph 6). Yue teaches the particle A having larger circularity and cross sectional area which lower resistivity and inhibits production of gas under high temperature storage conditions in order to improve cycle stability (Paragraph 7).
Therefore, 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 first and second cathode active material particles of Ohsawa to incorporate the teachings of Yue in which the addition ratio of the first and second cathode active material particles are controlled. Doing so would advantageously result in reduced particle breakage, side reactions, and oxygen release during charging/discharging, as recognized by Yue.
Further absent unexpected results, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the ratio of the single crystal active material particles (second cathode active material particles) to the polycrystalline active material particles (first cathode active material particles) to be within the claimed ranges of instant claims 4 and 5 in order to control the electrochemical performance of the battery as required by the implementation. For example, the ordinary artisan would recognize that controlling the ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in each layer is a way to buffer the particles during collision while controlling resistance, gas production, and cycle stability of the electrochemical device.
To summarize, Ohsawa teaches it is desirable to include a quantity of first cathode active material particles and second cathode active material particles in the first cathode layer so that the ratio of first cathode active material particles to second cathode active material particles is different than that of the second layer. Yue teaches the advantage of the each of the two particle groups, thus the ordinary artisan would tune the ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in each layer in order to strike a balance between 1) buffering the polycrystalline particles during collision in order to reduce side reactions and 2) inhibiting gas generation during high temperature storage in order to lower resistivity and improve cycle stability.
Regarding claim 2, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 1, wherein as discussed above the first cathode active material particle has a polycrystalline structure, and the second cathode active material particle has a single crystal structure (Paragraphs 0008, 0041-0042, 0048-0050) .
Regarding claim 6, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 1.
As discussed above in the rejection of claim 1, Ohsawa teach an Example 4 wherein the second cathode active material: first cathode active material is 52.8:35.2 for a slurry for the second cathode active material layer (Paragraph 0079) and 35.2:52.8 for a slurry for the first cathode active material layer (Paragraph 0080).
Therefore, Ohsawa teaches the mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the first cathode active material layer (35.2:52.8) is smaller than the mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the second cathode active material layer (52.8:35.2), meeting the instant claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 7, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 1, wherein the cathode active material layer further comprises at least one additional cathode active material layer (intermediate layer) laminated between the first cathode active material layer and the second cathode active material layer (Paragraph 0056). Ohsawa teaches an embodiment (iii) wherein the intermediate cathode active material layer includes the first cathode active material particles (polycrystalline electrode active material particles) and the second cathode active material particles (single crystal electrode active material particles).
Regarding claim 8, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 7.
Ohsawa teaches it is preferable that the weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles (single crystal) in the electrode active material layer gradually decreases from the second cathode active material layer to the first cathode active material layer (from the first surface S1 toward the second surface S2 of the electrode active material layer) (Paragraph 0057). More particularly, when the weight of all the second cathode active material particles contained in the electrode active material layer is 100 parts by weight, the weight of the second cathode active material particles material contained in the second (first) layer is X parts by weight, the weight of the second cathode active material particles contained in the intermediate layer is Y parts by weight, and the second cathode active material particles contained in the first (second) layer is Z parts by weight, X, Y, and Z preferably satisfy X>Y≥Z, Y>Z (Paragraph 0057).
Therefore, as the weight of the second cathode active material particles in the intermediate layer Y is less than the weight of the second cathode active material particles in the second layer X but is greater than the weight of the second cathode active material particles in the first layer Z, it follows that the mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the intermediate layer is less than the ratio in the second layer but greater than the ratio in the first layer. Thus, Ohsawa teaches a mixing weight ratio of the of at least one layer included in the additional cathode active material layer is different from each of the mixing weight ratios thereof in the first cathode active material layer and the second cathode active material layer, meeting the instant claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 9, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 7. Ohsawa teaches the electrode active material layer having one layer, two layers, or more intermediate layers comprising electrode active material between the first layer and the second layer (Paragraph 0056), meeting the instant claimed limitation of the additional cathode active material layers is 1 to 3.
Regarding claim 10, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 1.
Ohsawa teaches the first cathode active material particles and the second cathode active material particles include a lithium-nickel composite metal oxide (see above 112b interpretation) (Paragraphs 0035-0037).
Ohsawa does explicitly teach a molar ratio of nickel among metal elements except for lithium in the first cathode active material particles is 0.8 or more.
However, Ohsawa teaches the first cathode active material particles contains Li, O, and M2, where M2 is one, two, or more transition metals such as Ni, Co, Mn, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Cu, and Zn, of which Ni, Co, and Mn are preferable (Paragraph 0037).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to select one transition metal from the finite list of possible substitutions for M2 and to select Ni from the finite lists of possible combinations for M2 to arrive at the lithium-nickel composite metal oxide of the instant claim since the combination of components would have yielded predictable results as a positive electrode active material, absent a showing of unexpected results commensurate in scope with the claimed invention. See Section 2143 of the MPEP, rationales (A) and (E).
Thus, when the first cathode active material particles of Ohsawa comprise a single transition metal that is Ni which is substituted for M2, the molar ratio of nickel among metal elements except for lithium in the first cathode active material particles of Ohsawa is determined to be 1, which lies within the instant range, meeting the claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 11, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 10.
Ohsawa teaches the second cathode active material particles contain Li, O, and M1, where M1 is one, two, or more transition metals such as Ni, Co, Mn, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Cu, and Zn of which Ni, Co, and Mn are preferable (Paragraph 0035).
Ohsawa teaches examples of the second cathode active material including LiNiO2 (Paragraph 0036). Therefore, the molar ratio of nickel among metal elements except for lithium in the second cathode active material particles of Ohsawa is determined to be 1, which lies within the instant range, meeting the claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 12, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 10.
As discussed above, Ohsawa teaches the second cathode active material particles contain Li, O, and M1, where M1 is one, two, or more transition metals such as Ni, Co, Mn, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Cu, and Zn of which Ni, Co, and Mn are preferable (Paragraph 0035).
Ohsawa teaches examples of the second cathode active material including LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (Paragraph 0036). The molar ratio of nickel among metal elements except for lithium in the second cathode active material particles of Ohsawa is determined to be (0.5/(0.5+1.5) = 0.25. Therefore, the molar ratio of nickel among metal elements except for lithium in the second cathode active material particles is smaller than the molar ratio of nickel in the first cathode active material particles (1, as determined above in the rejection of claim 10), meeting the instant claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 15, Ohsawa teaches a lithium secondary battery (Paragraph 0068) comprising: a cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 1 (Paragraph 0063); and an anode disposed to face the cathode (Paragraph 0064).
Claim 1 is alternately rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohsawa in view of Yue as applied to claims 1-2, 6-12, and 15 above, further in view of Kim (Korean Patent Publication No. 20200043612 A).
Regarding claim 1, as discussed above, modified Ohsawa teaches a cathode for a lithium secondary battery comprising: a cathode current collector; and a cathode active material layer comprising a first cathode active material layer and a second cathode active material layer, which are sequentially laminated on the cathode current collector, wherein the first cathode active material layer and the second cathode active material layer include first cathode active material particles and second cathode active material particles, which have different particle structures from each other in crystallography or morphology, a mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the first cathode active material layer is different from a mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the second cathode active material layer, and the mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the first cathode active material layer is 1/9 to 1/2, and the mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles in the second cathode active material layer is 1/2 to 1.
As discussed above, the instant disclosure provides a “secondary particle” example as a form in which 10 or more, 30 or more, 50 or more, or 100 or more primary particles are aggregated therein (Paragraph 0050) while a single particle may mean a monolith formed of one particle regardless of the number of particle crystals (Paragraph 0051). Therefore, consistent with the specification, the Examiner’s takes an additional interpretation of claim 1 in the rejection of claim 1 and interprets secondary particle structure as a form in which 10 or more primary particle are aggregated therein and single particle structure as a form which comprises a single monolith.
Kim discloses a lithium secondary battery including a positive electrode current collector and a positive electrode including a first positive electrode active material layer and a second positive electrode active material layer. Kim teaches the first positive electrode active material layer and the second positive electrode active material layer each include first positive electrode active material particles and second positive electrode active material particles having different compositions or crystal structures (Paragraph 0009).
Kim teaches an embodiment in which the first positive electrode active material particles have a secondary particle structure in which primary particles are aggregated (Paragraph 0010). Consistent with the interpretation provided above, the secondary cathode active material particles of Kim are considered to meet the limitations of the instant claim. Kim teaches the that the secondary particle structure comprising aggregated primary particles of the first positive electrode active material enables the ion transport between individual primary particles to be promoted, thereby improving discharge rate and capacity preservation (Paragraph 0111).
Kim teaches the second positive electrode active material particles having a single crystal structure, which is a single particle structure (Paragraph 0083). Consistent with the interpretation provided above, the single particle structure cathode active material particles of Kim are considered to meet the limitations of the instant claim. Kim teaches that the single crystal structure of the second positive electrode active material particles enable crack propagation to be suppressed when a foreign object penetrates the battery, thereby blocking rapid thermal energy propagation (Paragraph 0110).
Therefore, 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 first cathode active material particles and the second cathode active material particles of Ohsawa to incorporate the teachings of Kim in which they are a plurality of primary particles are integrally aggregated and a single particle structure, respectively. Doing so would advantageously result in improved discharge rate and capacity preservation as well as suppression of crack propagation, as recognized by Kim.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohsawa in view of Kim as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 13, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 1.
Ohsawa is silent as to the average particle diameter (D50) of the second cathode active material particles is smaller than an average particle diameter (D50) of the first cathode active material particles.
However, as discussed above, Kim discloses a positive electrode for a secondary battery including a cathode active material layer comprising a first cathode active material layer and a second cathode active material layer, both of which comprise first and second cathode active material particles.
Kim teaches an embodiment in which the diameter D50 of the second positive electrode active material particle is smaller than the diameter of the first positive electrode active material particle (Paragraph 0112). Kim teaches that this difference in diameter increases the packing property of the second positive electrode active material layer and suppresses the propagation of heat and cracks during penetration or rolling (Paragraph 0112).
Therefore, 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 average particle diameter of the second cathode active material particle of Ohsawa to incorporate the teachings of Kim in which it is smaller than the average particle diameter of the first cathode active material particles. Doing so would advantageously result in improved packing of the second active material layer and suppressed cracking, as recognized by Kim.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohsawa in view of Yue as applied to claims 1-2, 6-12, and 15 above, further in view of Hwang (U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080118836 A1)
Regarding claim 14, Ohsawa teaches the cathode for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 1.
Ohsawa is silent as to the density of the cathode active material layer is 3.5 g/cc or more and 4.5 g/cc or less.
However, Hwang discloses a positive electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery (Paragraph 0011) including a current collector and a positive active material layer disposed on the current collector capable of intercalating and de-intercalating lithium ions (Paragraph 0012). Hwang teaches the active mass density is from 3.5 to 4.3 g/cc. Hwang teaches that the higher the density of the electrode, the better the battery capacity could the cycle-life characteristics deteriorate as the density increases. Therefore, Hwang teaches by adjusting compressing pressure, temperature, and frequency, the positive electrode may have a suitable density within the range discloses above (Paragraph 0103).
Therefore, 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 positive electrode active material layer of Ohsawa to incorporate the teachings of Hwang in which the density of the cathode active material layer is from 3.5 to 4.3 g/cc. Doing so would advantageously result in higher battery capacity without the deterioration of cycle-life characteristics, as recognized by Hwang. The result of the modification of Ohsawa by Hwang is a range of density of the cathode active material layer which lies within that of the instant range, meeting the claimed limitations.
Response to Arguments
On page 7 of the Remarks filed January 29th, 2026, applicant argues that the amended limitations of Claim 1 which include features of claim 5 are neither taught nor anticipated by Ohsawa.
These arguments have been fully considered but at not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s arguments, the Examiner presents the rejection of amended claim 1 presented above under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of Ohsawa and Yue.
On page 9 of the Remarks filed January 29th, 2026, applicant argues that Yue fails to disclose that “the first cathode active material has a secondary particle structure in which a plurality of primary particles are integrally aggregated, and the second cathode active material particle has a single particle structure” and instead teaches that particles A and B are a collection of single crystal particles.
These arguments have been fully considered but at not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s arguments, the Examiner presents the teaching of Yue, as mentioned in the Non-Final Rejection mailed October 29th, 2025, in which the particles A are polycrystalline particles and the particles B are single crystal particles (Paragraph 117), as is exemplified in Table 1. Further, while Yue teaches the particles A and B may be a collection of single crystal particles, Yue also teaches in some embodiments of the disclosure, the particles B are single crystal-like particles and the particles A are polycrystalline particles (Paragraph 4).
As evidenced by the definition of polycrystal given by Rohrer (Non-Patent Literature “Microstructure and Macrostructure”), “polycrystals can be thought of as aggregates of much smaller crystals joined together by a network of internal interfaces” (Page 465, Paragraph 2).
Thus, Yue teaches the polycrystalline particles A, which are equated with the first cathode active material particle of the instant claim, having a secondary particle structure in which a plurality of primary particles are integrally aggregated and the particles B, which are equated with the second cathode active material particle of the instant claim, having a single crystal particle structure. Therefore, Yue teaches a similar structure and composition of the positive electrode active material including particles with different crystallography and morphology, with a subset of particles with secondary structure and a subset with single particle structure, further aligning with the teachings of Ohsawa and the instant disclosure.
On pages 8-9 of the Remarks filed January 29th, 2026, applicant argues with respect to the limitations of claim 5 which were incorporated into the independent claim and previously rejected under Ohsawa in view of Yue, Yue fails to disclose the mixing weight ratio of the active material particles, and instead discloses the ratio of the total area of its particles. Applicant further argues that the general statement that an addition ratio may be optimized does not provide a teaching or motivation to select a particle weight ratio of the particles A and B.
These arguments have been fully considered but at not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s arguments, the Examiner presents that while Yue discusses the ability to control the surface area of the particles A and the particles B, Yue also teaches that the electrochemical performance of the electrochemical device can be optimized by controlling the addition ratio of particles A and B of the disclosure (Electrochemical Device, Paragraph 5). The addition ratio of the particles A and B of Yue is considered equivalent to the mixing weight ratio of the active material particles of the instant claim.
Further discussed in the teachings of Yue above, the independent and distinct roles of the particles A (first cathode active material particle) and particles B (second cathode active material particle) in the positive electrode active material. As previously mentioned, the particles B are responsible for buffering between particles A by reducing collision, fragmentation, and side reactions while the presence of particles A lower resistivity and gas production to improve cycle stability (Electrochemical Device, Paragraphs 5-7).
Thus, Yue clearly teaches the advantage of including particles having a secondary particle structure (particle A) used in combination with particles having a primary particle structure (particle B). Yue teaches benefits to the positive electrode active material used in the electrochemical device which are uniquely attributable to the presence of each of the particles, dependent on their morphology. The ordinary artisan would find it obvious to tune the ratio (which Yue discloses is known in the art to do) of the particles A and B (first cathode active material particle and second cathode active material particle, respectively) depending on the needs of the implementation of positive electrode material. For example, the ordinary artisan would recognize that by including a high quantity of particle A (first cathode active material particle), greater inhibition of gas generation, lower resistivity, and improved cycle stability will be attained, while a less effect of particle buffering occurs due to the smaller presence of particle B.
The primary reference Ohsawa, as previously discussed, teaches the first and second cathode active material layer structure and the structure required by the first and second cathode active material particles. Ohsawa teaches the different ratios of second cathode active material particles to first cathode active material particles in the first layer and the second layer, and further teaches a greater quantity of second cathode active material particles (and thus a higher mixing weight ratio of the second cathode active material particles to the first cathode active material particles) contained in the second layer than in the first layer. Thus, Yue was relied upon in the aforementioned rejection to teach the ratios of the second cathode active material particles : first cathode active material particles in the first and second layer, which Ohsawa teaches as greater in the second layer.
Therefore, the ordinary artisan would find it obvious to optimize the ratio of the single crystal active material particles to the polycrystalline active material particles in the first layer and the second layer to be within the claimed range of claim 1 in order to control the electrochemical performance of the battery and strike a balance between control of buffering/fragmentation/side reactions and control of resistance/gas production/cycle stability, as recognized by Yue. These advantageously effects provided by Yue motivated the combination and optimization of Ohsawa in view of Yue.
On page 10-11 of the Remarks filed January 29th, 2026, applicant argues that because Endo was not considered to recite the features of claim 5, the limitations of claim 5 which were incorporated into the independent claim, results in claim 1 including limitations which are not taught by Endo.
These arguments have been fully considered and are found persuasive.
As indicated above, the rejection of the claims presented in the Non Final Office Action mailed October 29th, 2025 in view of Endo was withdrawn.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 OLIVIA A JONES whose telephone number is (571)272-1718. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30 AM - 4:30 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, Marla McConnell can be reached at (571) 270-7692. 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.
/O.A.J./Examiner, Art Unit 1789
/MARLA D MCCONNELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1789