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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yushin et al. (US 2020034580 A1) in view of Koga (US 20210184253 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yushin teaches a secondary battery (Yushin, 0021) with a positive electrode, a porous separator filled with solid electrolyte, a negative electrode with a current collector, lithium which gets plated on the current collector by charging and is present between the anode current collector and the solid electrolyte, fig. 11 shows the lithium being plated into pores, 1108, which are present on the anode current collector, 1110, which means the plated lithium is between the anode current collector and the cathode, or first, solid electrolyte, 1113 (Yushin, fig. 11, 0196 further describes fig. 11 and the general structure of the secondary battery as well as the lithium being plated into pores), and a second solid electrolyte that can contain magnesium to form a magnesium mixture layer (Yushin, 0156, different electrolytes can be used for the anode and cathode portions; labelled 1115 and 1113 respectively in fig. 11, 0102 further says that a suitable solid electrolyte can be a complex hydride that contains lithium in addition to another metallic element such as magnesium which means that a magnesium mixture layer in the anode region, 1115, comprising magnesium and an electrolyte is obvious and would be present between the current collector, 1110, and the cathode, or first, solid electrolyte, 1113).
Yushin is silent to the young’s modulus values of specific electrolyte compositions but does give an overall range of 0.1 GPA and 100 GPA (Yushin, 0067). Koga teaches a secondary battery with a solid electrolyte that comprises separate compositions that each have a different Young’s modulus value where at least one of the compositions can be a complex hydride with a lower young’s modulus compared to another electrolyte composition (Koga, 0004, second composition has a lower Young’s modulus that the first, 0119, complex hydride as the second composition). Doing this allows the second electrolyte to deform under pressure and fill in gaps between the first electrolytes particles to improve ionic conductivity (Koga, 0029-0030).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to take the secondary battery of Yushin and apply the Young’s modulus of the second electrolyte, which can be a complex hydride electrolyte containing lithium and magnesium, be lower than a first electrolyte composition, which is taught in Koga and allowed by Yushin. Doing so allows the second electrolyte to deform under pressure and fill in gaps between the first electrolytes particles to improve ionic conductivity (Koga, 0029-0030).
Regarding claim 2, Yushin in view of Koga teaches the secondary battery of claim 1 as described regarding claim 1 and Yushin further teaches that the Young’s modulus of the electrolytes can be between 0.1 GPA and 100 GPA (Yushin, 0067) which fully encompasses the instant application and it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art in view of routine experimentation and the optimization of ranges, see MPEP 2144.05. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists.
Regarding claim 3, Yushin in view of Koga teaches the secondary battery of claim 1 as described regarding claim 1 and Yushin further teaches that known solid electrolytes include sulfide-based solid electrolytes which can be called the first solid electrolyte (Yushin, 0047).
Regarding claim 4, Yushin in view of Koga teaches the secondary battery of claim 1 as described regarding claim 1 as discussed which uses a complex hydride containing lithium and magnesium as a suitable solid electrolyte which can be called the second solid electrolyte.
Regarding claim 5, Yushin in view of Koga teaches the secondary battery of claim 1 as described regarding claim 1 and Yushin further teaches that there can be a protective layer present on the surface of the anode current collector that acts as a barrier between the current collector and the solid electrolyte to prevent undesirable interactions, labelled as 1111 in fig. 11 (Yushin, fig. 11, 0196). Further, it is explained that this protective layer can comprise a metal or metal oxide which can improve wettability, reduce resistance, or improve stability. Included in these metals is magnesium oxide and magnesium (Yushin, 0124).
Regarding claim 6, Yushin in view of Koga teaches the secondary battery of claim 1 as described regarding claim 1 and Yushin further teaches that lithium nickel oxide can be used as a cathode material (Yushin, 0025).
Regarding claim 7, Yushin in view of Koga teaches the secondary battery of claim 1 as described regarding claim 1 and Yushin further teaches that stainless-steel is known in the art to be used for current collector foils for lithium ion and lithium metal batteries and is therefore rendered obvious (Yushin, 0052).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN ROBERT BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-0640. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-5 ET.
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/SEAN R. BROWN/Examiner, Art Unit 1743
/ADAM J FRANCIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1728