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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1, claims 1-8, in the reply filed on June 10, 2026, is acknowledged.
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.
Claim 25 is 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.
Claim 25 recites the limitation "the multiple polypeptide chains" in the first line of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
For the purpose of examination, the claim will be read as depending from claim 21.
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(s) 1-8 and 21-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Friend et al. (US 2017/0346079 A1) in view of Kim et al. (US 2016/0233511 A1) and Gao et al. ("Complex Formation of Silk Fibroin with Poly(acrylic acid)," Polymer Journal 32, pp. 269-274, March 2000).
Regarding claims 1 and 21, Friend discloses an electrochemical device (lithium-ion battery) comprising a first electrode (cathode) (Friend Example 5, [0181]), an electrolyte (LiPF6 in EC/FEC) (Friend [0178]), and a second electrode in electrical communication with the cathode via the electrolyte comprising micro-sized Si particles (10.4 µm average diameter) (Friend [0173]-[0174]) and a binder comprising Na-PAA (Friend [0176]), which is the formula of the instant claims for R1=R2=H and R3=OX where X=H or Na (70% of COOH groups converted to COONa).
Friend does not teach the use of a second component cross-linked with the PAA to form a mesh-like network. Kim is directed to a binder for silicon anodes (Kim Abstract). Kim teaches that mechanical properties of a PAA binder for silicon anodes can be improved by adding a polymeric cross-linking agent that forms electrostatic bonds with the PAA (Kim [0038]-[0040], Table 3, and Fig. 10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add a cross-linking agent to the binder of Friend in order to improve its mechanical properties.
Kim does not teach that the cross-linking agent should be a polypeptide. Kim teaches that any binder that forms the appropriate bonds with the PAA is acceptable (Kim [0040]). Gao is directed to a cross-linked PAA composition (Gao Abstract). Gao teaches that silk fibroin (a polypeptide comprising glycine, serine, and alanine) forms a hydrogen-bond cross-linked complex with PAA (Gao Abstract). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use silk fibroin for the cross-linking agent of modified Friend, since Kim teaches that any agent capable of forming the required complex is acceptable.
Regarding claims 2 and 22, silk fibroin comprises multiple amide and hydroxyl functional groups that form multiple hydrogen bonds with the carboxyl groups on PAA (Fig. 2 of the instant specification).
Regarding claims 3 and 23, silk fibroin comprises multiple amide and hydroxyl functional groups that form multiple hydrogen bonds with the carboxyl groups on PAA (Fig. 2 of the instant specification), and the complex of modified Friend is stretchable and contractable during insertion and extraction of lithium ions (Kim [0074]-[0075] and [0079]).
Regarding claims 4 and 24, silk fibroin comprises multiple amide and hydroxyl functional groups that form multiple hydrogen bonds with the carboxyl groups on PAA, and those various bonds will necessarily have different bond energies (Fig. 2 of the instant specification).
Regarding claims 5 and 25, silk fibroin comprises multiple amino acids with multiple amide and hydroxyl functional groups that form multiple hydrogen bonds with the carboxyl groups on PAA, and those various bonds will necessarily have different bond energies (Fig. 2 of the instant specification).
Regarding claims 6 and 26, the binder of modified Friend comprises silk fibroin.
Regarding claims 7 and 27, the binder of modified Friend comprises PAA and silk fibroin.
Regarding claims 8 and 28, the binder of modified Friend comprises PAA and silk fibroin, and silk fibroin comprises multiple amino acids with multiple amide and hydroxyl functional groups that form multiple hydrogen bonds with the carboxyl groups on PAA, and those various bonds will necessarily have different bond energies (Fig. 2 of the instant specification).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim et al. ("Blood clot-inspired viscoelastic fibrin gel: New aqueous binder for silicon anodes in lithium ion batteries," Energy Storage Materials 45, pp. 730-740, March 2022) discloses a binder for silicon anodes comprising fibrin and sodium alginate.
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/J.A.C/ Examiner, Art Unit 1722
/ANCA EOFF/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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