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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 5/18/23, 8/22/24, 7/2/25, and 12/24/25 have been considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group II, claims 34-41, in the reply filed on 4/29/26 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Response to Amendment
In the amendment filed 4/29/26, claim 34 is amended and claims 37-39 are canceled. Claims 1-22 were previously canceled. Claims 23-33 and 42 are withdrawn. Claims 34-36 and 40-41 are rejected for the reasons provided below.
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.
Claims 34 and 40-41 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhong et al. (CN 109638231 A).
Regarding claim 34, Zhong teaches a method for preparing a silicon-based particle with a core-shell structure (abstract), comprising:
performing a surface treatment on SiOx particles, wherein 0.6≤x≤1.1, wherein the surface treatment is heating in a heating oxidation treatment, for example heating with oxygen flow at 300C for 20min (p. 3, Example 1 on p. 7);
performing carbon coating on the surface-treated SiOx particles (p. 3);
and performing sieving and removing magnetic impurities on the carbon-coated material (p. 6).
With further regard to claim 34 and with regard to claims 40-41, Zhong teaches that the performing carbon coating step is performed by a chemical vapor deposition method at, for example, 1100C for 60min (Example 1 on p. 7).
The examiner notes that Zhong does not specifically teach that the carbon coating forms a silicon carbide layer; however, the silicon-based particle of Zhong is produced by a substantially identical process as the claimed particle, as discussed above. Therefore, the examiner finds that a prima facie case of anticipation for the silicon carbide layer is established. MPEP 2112.01 I
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhong as applied to claim 34 above, and further in view of Kamo et al. (US 2018/0198158).
The teachings of Zhong as discussed above are incorporated herein.
Zhong teaches the method of claim 34, including the use of the prepared silicon-based particle in a lithium-ion battery, but is silent on performing a lithium doping treatment.
Kamo teaches a method of making a silicon-based particle wherein a silicon compound is composited with a carbon film on the surface by CVD treatment ([0076]-[0079]), and the compound is further inserted with lithium ([0080]) by a liquid-phase, or solution, doping method ([0083]-[0085]).
Kamo further teaches that lithium doping of the silicon-based particle as discussed above is desirable in order to more uniformly and efficient insert Li into the particles ([0054]-[0055]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to perform lithium doping in the method of Zhong such as suggested by Kamo in order to ore uniformly and efficient insert Li into the particles.
Conclusion
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/ALIX E EGGERDING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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