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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 8-12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1, Claims 1-7 in the reply filed on 02/23/2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 03/03/2023, 10/17/2023, and 02/12/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings received on 03/03/2023 were reviewed and are acceptable.
Specification
The specification filed on 03/03/2023 was reviewed and is acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fujita et al. (US 20240266535 A1, hereinafter Fujita).
Regarding Claim 1, Fujita discloses the limitations regarding an anode active material for a lithium secondary battery (Fujita, lithium-ion secondary battery comprising a negative electrode active material comprising a composite particle, [0053-0055]), comprising:
a carbon-based particle containing pores (Fujita, the composite particle wherein the carbon material is porous carbon and silicon is contained in at least part of pores of the porous carbon, [0026]);
a silicon-containing coating layer formed at an inside of the pores or on a surface of the carbon-based particle (Fujita, the composite particle wherein the carbon material is porous carbon and silicon is contained in at least part of pores of the porous carbon, [0026]; the Examiner notes that multiple silicon particles would form a “layer” in the pores of the porous carbon); and
a carbon coating formed on the silicon-containing coating layer (Fujita, the composite particle includes a coating layer including carbon and oxygen the surface of the particle and has a carbon material and silicon on the inner side of the coating layer, [0058]; the Examiner notes that the coating layer is formed on silicon because silicon is on the inner side of the coating layer), wherein
a ratio of a peak intensity (ID) of a D band relative to a peak intensity (IG) of a G band in a Raman spectrum of the carbon coating is 1.65 or less (Fujita, the composite particle has an R value (ID/IG) of 0.26 or more and less than 1.34, [0069]; the disclosed range of 0.26 or more and less than 1.34 falls within the claimed range of 1.65 or less. The Examiner notes that since the composite particle comprises the carbon coating layer, the carbon coating layer would be expected to also have an R value (ID/IG) of 0.26 or more and less than 1.34).
Regarding Claim 2, Fujita discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Fujita discloses the limitations regarding an anode active material for a lithium secondary battery (Fujita, lithium-ion secondary battery comprising a negative electrode active material comprising a composite particle, [0053-0055]), wherein a carbon content of the surface of the anode active material measured by an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) relative to a silicon content of the surface measured by the XPS is in a range from 200% to 500% (Fujita, in Example 9, the concentration of carbon is 0.61 and the concentration of silicon is 0.30, or 203%. The concentrations were found using XPS, Table 2, [0073-0076]; the disclosed carbon content to silicon content amount of 203% falls within the claimed range of 200% to 500%).
Regarding Claim 3, Fujita discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Fujita discloses the limitations regarding an anode active material for a lithium secondary battery (Fujita, lithium-ion secondary battery comprising a negative electrode active material comprising a composite particle, [0053-0055]), wherein the carbon-based particle includes at least one selected from the group consisting of activated carbon and a carbon fiber, (Fujita, as the porous carbon, activated carbon or activated carbon fibers may be used, [0124]).
Regarding Claim 4, Fujita discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Fujita discloses the limitations regarding an anode active material for a lithium secondary battery (Fujita, lithium-ion secondary battery comprising a negative electrode active material comprising a composite particle, [0053-0055]), wherein the carbon-based particle has an amorphous structure (Fujita, the carbon material in the composite particle is amorphous, [0092]).
Regarding Claim 5, Fujita discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Fujita discloses the limitations regarding an anode active material for a lithium secondary battery (Fujita, lithium-ion secondary battery comprising a negative electrode active material comprising a composite particle, [0053-0055]), wherein the silicon-containing coating layer and the carbon coating do not contain silicon carbide (SiC) (Fujita, as the silicon-containing gas, silane gas can be used. In Example 9, silane gas is used. Further, silicon carbide is not used because it can suppress the reduction in silicon utilization rate, [0092, 0129], Table 1).
Regarding Claim 6, Fujita discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Fujita discloses the limitations regarding an anode active material for a lithium secondary battery (Fujita, lithium-ion secondary battery comprising a negative electrode active material comprising a composite particle, [0053-0055]), wherein the carbon coating is also formed on a portion where the silicon-containing coating layer is not formed among the inside of the pores and the surface of the carbon-based particle (Fujita, the composite particle includes a coating layer including carbon and oxygen the surface of the particle, [0058]).
Regarding Claim 7, Fujita discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Fujita discloses the limitations regarding a lithium secondary battery, comprising: an anode comprising an anode active material layer that comprises the anode active material for a lithium secondary battery (Fujita, lithium-ion secondary battery comprising a negative electrode mixture layer comprising a negative electrode active material comprising a composite particle, [0053-0055]); and
a cathode facing the anode (Fujita, positive electrode containing a positive electrode mixture layer and a current collector and a separator between the positive electrode and negative electrode, [0175]; the Examiner notes that the positive electrode must be facing the negative electrode in order for the separator to be between both electrodes).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20190036121 A1 discloses a composite anode active material including: a porous carbon structure; a first coating layer on the porous carbon structure and including a non-carbonaceous material capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium; and a second coating layer on the first coating layer and including a carbonaceous material (Abstract).
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/K.N./Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/OSEI K AMPONSAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752