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 .
Response to Amendment
In response to the amendment received July 24, 2026:
Claim 12 is pending. Claims 1-11 have been cancelled as per applicant’s request.
The previous disclosure and claim objections are withdrawn in light of the amendment.
The previous prior art rejection has been withdrawn in light of the amendment. However, a new prior art rejection has been made below in light of the amendment. All changes to the rejection are necessitated by the amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2016/0156032) in view of Zhamu et al. (US 2018/0351201).
Regarding Claim 12, Lee et al. teaches a lithium secondary battery (Para. [0010]) including a positive electrode including positive active material (Para. [0011]), and an electrolyte (Para. [0105]), wherein the positive active material is a lithium cobalt oxide (Para. [0022]) wherein the O3 phase is present as the main phase (Para. [0065]) (i.e. the positive electrode active material is lithium cobalt oxide) after charging and discharging are repeated (Fig. 17) (i.e. a surface portion of the lithium cobalt oxide in the discharged state comprises an O3 structure) wherein the electrolyte comprises a non-aqueous electrolytic solution (Para. [0116]).
Lee et al. does not teach the electrolyte comprises a compound represented by Structural Formula G11 of the instant claim.
However, Zhamu et al. teaches a lithium secondary battery (Para. [0019]) comprising lithium cobalt oxide as cathode (i.e. positive) active material Para. [0127], [0128]) wherein the electrolyte comprises an ionic liquid (Para. [0043], [0141]) which may be a 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation (Para. [0147]) and N(SO2F)2- (Para. [0149]) (i.e. may be a compound represented by G11).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electrolyte of Lee et al. to incorporate the teaching of a 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation and N(SO2F)2- anion ionic liquid as taught by Zhamu et al., as such cation and anion combination provides room temperature ionic liquids with good working conductivities (Para. [0149]).
Regarding the claimed limitation of alternately charging and discharging the secondary battery for at least 150 cycles wherein each cycle comprises charging the secondary battery in an environment at 60 degrees Celsius with a current value of 0.5 C until a voltage reaches 4.5 V, charging the secondary battery in an environment at 60 degrees Celsius by a constant voltage charging until a current value reaches 0.2 C and a discharging the secondary battery in an environment at 60 degrees Celsius performed with a current value of 0.5 C until a voltage reaches 3 V wherein 1 C is a current value per weight of the positive electrode active material set to 210 mA/g, this limitation a product by process limitation that does not further limit the structure claimed. Product by process limitations do not impart structural features to the claim and thus as long as the structure is the same as that claimed, the claimed structure is met.
“[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.” In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985)(citations omitted).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed July 24, 2026 have been fully considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the grounds of rejection being used in the current rejection in light of the amendment.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 ARMINDO CARVALHO JR. whose telephone number is (571)272-5292. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30a.m.-5p.m..
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, Ula Ruddock can be reached at 571 272-1481. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ARMINDO CARVALHO JR./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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