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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/03/2026 has been entered.
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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lai (CN 109686947 with English Machine Translation) in view of Lee (US 2020/0083525) (of record) and Cheng et al. (US 2023/0121840) (Cheng) (of record).
Regarding claim 1, Lai discloses a lithium secondary battery (title; [0004]) comprising a positive electrode (5), a negative electrode (6), and an electrolytic solution (8) (see Fig. 3; [0017]; [0028]), the positive electrode (5) including an interlayer (2) and a positive electrode mixture (4) sequentially stacked on a positive electrode current collector (3) (see Figs. 2 and 3; [0028]; [0032]; [0040]), the interlayer (2) consisting of a pre-doping agent (lithium-containing compound), a conductive aid, and a binder ([0009]; [0019]-[0021]; [0036]-[0038]; [0047]). Examiner notes that in Example 3, the interlayer (2) contains only the pre-doping agent (at 98% mass ratio), the conductive aid (at 1% mass ratio), and the binder (at 1% mass ratio) ([0047]), suggesting the claimed limitation of “consisting of” the pre-doping agent, the conductive aid, and the binder (while the slurry also contains water, it is later dried in an oven, leaving only the aforementioned components). Lai fails to disclose, however, that the pre-doping agent (lithium-containing compound) is Li6MnO4 and has a surface coated with the conductive aid. Instead, Lai discloses that the pre-doping agent (lithium-containing compound) is Li5FeO4 ([0047]; see also [0009]; [0033]), and that the pre-doping agent (lithium-containing compound) is designed to replenish the irreversible capacity loss of the negative electrode (6) during the first charge ([0006]-[0009]; [0023]).
However, Li6MnO4 and Li5FeO4 are known alternatives in the art for use as a sacrificial positive electrode material in batteries. For instance, Lee teaches a similar lithium secondary battery (title) comprising a positive electrode (cathode) with a pre-doping agent (irreversible compensating additive) designed to supply lithium ions to the negative electrode (anode) upon initial charge ([0016]; [0038]; [0056]-[0058]). Lee further teaches that the pre-doping agent (irreversible compensating additive) may be Li5FeO4 or Li6MnO4 because both of these materials lead to the above lithium supplying effect ([0017]; [0063]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted the Li5FeO4 pre-doping agent disclosed by Lai with Li6MnO4, as suggested by Lee, because they would have had a reasonable expectation that doing so would lead to predictable results with respect to supplying lithium to the negative electrode upon initial charging of the battery.
Furthermore, it is known in the art to coat pre-doping agents with a conductive aid. For instance, Cheng teaches a similar lithium battery in which the positive electrode includes a metal oxide pre-doping agent (lithium-rich oxide) (abstract). Cheng further teaches that a surface of the pre-doping agent (lithium-rich oxide) is preferably coated with a conductive aid (acetylene black) in order to improve the stability and conductivity of the pre-doping agent (lithium-rich oxide) ([0006]; [0010]; [0018]; [0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have coated the metal oxide pre-doping agent disclosed by modified Lai with an acetylene black conductive aid, as taught by Cheng, because they would have had a reasonable expectation that doing so would improve the stability and conductivity of the pre-doping agent. Thus, modified Lai satisfies all of the limitations in claim 1.
Regarding claim 2, modified Lai discloses all of the limitations as set forth above for claim 1. Modified Lai further discloses that the negative electrode (Lai: 6) includes a negative electrode mixture layer (slurry) formed on a negative electrode current collector (copper foil) (Lai: [0054]), suggesting the limitations in claim 2.
Regarding claim 3, modified Lai discloses all of the limitations as set forth above for claim 1. Modified Lai further discloses that the interlayer (Lai: 2) has a thickness of 1 to 10 µm on one side and 2 to 20 µm on both sides of the positive electrode current collector (Lai: 3) (Lai: [0014]; [0032]; [0047]), suggesting the claimed range of 1 µm or more and 20 µm or less.
Regarding claim 4, modified Lai discloses all of the limitations as set forth above for claim 1. As set forth above, modified Lai discloses in Example 3 that the interlayer (Lai: 2) includes the conductive aid in an amount of 1% by mass based on 100% mass of the interlayer (Lai: 2) and the pre-doping agent (lithium-containing compound) in an amount of 98% by mass based on 100% mass of the interlayer (Lai: 2) (Lai: [0047]). Thus, modified Lai necessarily discloses that a ratio of the mass of the conductive aid with respect to the total mass of the pre-doping agent (lithium-containing compound) and the conductive aid in the interlayer (Lai: 2) is about 0.01 (1/(98+1)), suggesting the claimed range of 0.01 or more and 0.10 or less.
Regarding claim 5, modified Lai discloses all of the limitations as set forth above for claim 1. Modified Lai further discloses that the pre-doping agent (lithium-containing compound) has a particle size of 100 nm ([0047]), which is equal to 0.1 µm, suggesting the claimed range of 10 µm or less.
Regarding claim 6, modified Lai discloses all of the limitations as set forth above for claim 1. Examiner notes that in each of the exemplary embodiments of the instant application, each of the pre-doping agents having an initial irreversible capacity of 50% or more and an initial charging capacity of 300 mAh/g or more are lithium metal oxides, have a median size (D50) of 10 µm or less, and are coated with a conductive aid (acetylene black) (see Table 1 of the instant application). Modified Lai discloses that the pre-doping agent (lithium-containing compound) is a lithium metal oxide (Lai: [0047]; Lee: [0017]; [0063]) and has a particle size of of 0.1 µm (Lai: [0047]). Furthermore, modified Lai includes the teachings from Cheng that the metal oxide pre-doping agent is coated with acetylene black (Cheng: [0006]; [0010]; [0018]; [0035]). If the composition and structure of the prior art are substantially identical to that of the claims, claimed properties are presumed to be inherent (see MPEP 2112.01). Therefore, since the pre-doping agent disclosed by modified Lai has substantially the same composition and structure as that of the claims, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected the pre-doping agent of modified Lai to inherently meet the claimed initial irreversible capacity and the claimed initial charging capacity in claim 6. Thus, modified Lai satisfies all of the limitations in claim 6.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended independent claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
As such, claims 1-6 stand rejected.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENDON C DARBY whose telephone number is (571)272-1225. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 7:30am - 5:00pm.
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, Katelyn Smith can be reached at (571) 270-5545. 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.
/B.C.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1749
/KATELYN W SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1749
Prosecution Insights