DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 06/22/2023
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements (IDS) filed 06/22/2023, 07/01/2024, 11/08/2024, and 06/05/2025 have been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received 06/22/2023 are acceptable for examination purposes.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2.7,8, 11-13, 15 , 24 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2018/0151874 to Kim (Kim ) in view of US 2017/0271651 to Behan (Behan).
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses a porous (para 47) silicon composite, which comprises silicon based particles SiOa (0≤a<1). Regarding the limitation wherein the molar ratio (O/Si) of oxygen (O) atoms to silicon (Si) atoms in the porous silicon composite is 0.01 to 0.35. In the case where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art (0≤a<1) a case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges and prior art ranges do not overlap but are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties. MPEP 2144.05 Moreover, Kim teaches that the silicon-based composite according to the present specification ultimately aims for the case where a is 0, and in this case, swelling properties can be greatly improved to increase lifetime characteristics (para 73). Therefore, It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the molar ratio (O/Si) of oxygen (O) atoms to silicon (Si) atoms based on Kim disclosure (0≤a<1) in order to reduce swelling properties and improve lifetime characteristics. Kim does not expressly disclose a magnesium compound.
Behan teaches a porous silicon based material (Abstract, claim 1) comprising silicon and SiOx wherein x is from 1-2 (para 10) and magnesium compound Mg2SiO4 (claim 1). Behan also teaches that the composite teaches have novel properties and provide significant improvements in Coulombic efficiency, dilithiation capacity, and cycle life when used as anode materials in lithium battery cells including solid state batteries (Abstract).It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the silicone based composite of Kim with the magnesium compound, as taught by Behan, in order to provide significant improvements in Coulombic efficiency, dilithiation capacity, and cycle life when used as anode materials in lithium battery cells including solid state batteries.
Regarding claim 2, modified Kim discloses wherein the porous silicon composite comprises a silicon aggregate in which the silicon particles are interconnected with each other (Kim, para 90-93).
Regarding claim 7, modified Kim discloses wherein the porous silicon-based composite (SiOa: 0≤a<1) comprises the crystalline silicon (a=0) and the crystalline silica (Kim para 110).
Regarding claim 8, Kim discloses wherein the porous silicon-based composite (SiOa: 0≤a<1) (Abstract). In addition, Kim teaches Further, a may be 0 in SiOa which is the silicon-based composite, and this is the most optimal form that the silicon-based composite can have as described above, and may represent a silicon-based composite in which only porous silicon having a bimodal pore structure remains. In this case, the initial efficiency and capacity characteristics may be remarkably excellent. When the oxygen content is low, although problems due to volume expansion may occur, the silicon-based composite is porous, and thus the problems due to volume expansion may also be prevented, and thereby a negative electrode active material having excellent properties can be provided (para 97,98). Therefore, It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize content oxygen in the porous silicon compound in order to improve initial efficiency and capacity characteristics.
Regarding claim 11, modified Kim discloses the porous silicon composite and carbon (Claim 1).
Regarding claim 12, Kim teaches that the silicon-based composite according to the present specification ultimately aims for the case where a is 0, and in this case, swelling properties can be greatly improved to increase lifetime characteristics (para 73). Therefore, It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the molar ratio (O/Si) of oxygen (O) atoms to silicon (Si) atoms based on Kim disclosure (0≤a<1) in order to reduce swelling properties and improve lifetime characteristics.
Regarding claim 13, Kim discloses wherein the porous silicon-carbon composite comprises pores inside thereof, and the porosity of the porous silicon-carbon composite is 10 % by volume to 50% by volume based on the volume of the porous silicon-carbon composite. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges and prior art ranges do not overlap but are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties. MPEP 2144.05. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the porosity of the porous silicon-carbon composite in order to reduce swelling properties and improve lifetime characteristics.
Regarding claim 15, modified Kim discloses the invention as discussed above as applied to claim 11 and incorporated therein. In addition, modified Kim discloses wherein the carbon is present on the surface of at least one selected from the group consisting of the silicon particles and the magnesium compound (Behan claim 1. Para 74), the carbon serves as a matrix (Behan para 15), the silicon particles, the magnesium compound and pores being dispersed in the carbon matrix, or the carbon is present in both ways.
Regarding claims 24 and 27, modified Kim discloses negative electrode active material for a lithium secondary battery and a lithium secondary battery (Kim, claims 1 and 20).
Claims 3, 4, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2018/0151874 to Kim (Kim ) in view of US 2017/0271651 to Behan (Behan) and further in view US 20160190597 to Jung (Jung).
Regarding claim 3, modified Kim discloses the invention as discussed above as applied to claim 1 and incorporated therein. Modified Kim does not expressly disclose wherein the magnesium compound comprises a fluorine-containing magnesium compound, and the fluorine-containing magnesium compound comprises magnesium fluoride (MgF2),magnesium fluoride silicate (MgSiF6), or a mixture thereof.
Jung teaches composite anode active material comprising a silicon-based material and a metal fluoride (Abstract), including MgF2 (Example 2) coating layer. Jung also teaches that such layer improve stability of the silicon based composite anode (para 6). It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the silicone-based composite of modified Kim with the MgF2, as taught by Jun, because in order to improve stability of the silicon based composite anode.
Regarding claim 4, modified Kim in view of Jung discloses Mg2SiO4 in the range greater than 0 wt % to about 25 wt. % (Behan, claim 1).In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges and prior art ranges do not overlap but are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties. MPEP 2144.05.It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the amount of Mg based on Behan disclosure in order to provide significant improvements in Coulombic efficiency, dilithiation capacity, and cycle life when used as anode materials in lithium battery cells including solid state batteries.
Regarding claim 19, modified Kim discloses a process for preparing the porous silicon composite which comprises: a first step of obtaining a silicon composite oxide powder using a silicon-based raw material and a magnesium-based raw material (Behan , claim 38) a second step of etching the silicon composite oxide powder (Kim, para 99, Behan, claim 39) and a third step of filtering and drying the composite obtained by the etching to obtain the porous silicon composite (Kim, para 19). Regarding the limitation “using an etching solution comprising a fluorine (F) atom-containing compound” since MgF2 is present in the silicon composite (Jung example 2, claim 1) and the etching solution contains acid (Behan, claim 39), compound containing fluoride is inherently present in the etching solution. MPEP 2112 V states that "once a reference teaching product appearing to be substantially identical is made the basis of a rejection, and the Examiner presents evidence or reasoning tending to show inherency, the burden shifts to the Applicant to show an unobvious difference."
Regarding claim 20, modified Kim discloses a process for preparing the porous silicon composite which comprises: a first step of obtaining a silicon composite oxide powder using a silicon-based raw material and a magnesium-based raw material (Behan , claim 38) a second step of etching the silicon composite oxide powder (Kim, para 99, Behan, claim 39) and a third step of filtering and drying the composite obtained by the etching to obtain the porous silicon composite (Kim, para 19). Regarding the limitation “using an etching solution comprising a fluorine (F) atom-containing compound” since MgF2 is present in the silicon composite (Jung example 2, claim 1) and the etching solution contains acid (Behan, claim 39), compound containing fluoride is inherently present in the etching solution. MPEP 2112 V states that "once a reference teaching product appearing to be substantially identical is made the basis of a rejection, and the Examiner presents evidence or reasoning tending to show inherency, the burden shifts to the Applicant to show an unobvious difference."
In addition, modified Kim discloses a step of of forming a carbon layer on the surface of the porous silicon composite by using a chemical thermal decomposition deposition method to prepare the porous silicon-carbon composite ( claim 38, step c).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2018/0151874 to Kim (Kim ) in view of US 2017/0271651 to Behan (Behan) and further in view US 2018/0269475 to Oh (Oh).
Regarding claim 18, modified Kim discloses wherein: the average particle diameter of the anode active material including the silicon-based composite is 0.5 μm to 10 μm (Kim, para 16) and the specific surface area thereof can be 1 to 20 m2/g (Kim, claim 6). In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges and prior art ranges do not overlap but are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties. MPEP 2144.05.It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the average particle diameter of the anode active material and BET specific surface area in order to a negative electrode active material for a lithium secondary battery capable of improving the initial efficiency and lifetime characteristics of the lithium secondary battery and preventing a side reaction with an electrolyte by controlling a specific surface area (Kim, para 8). Modified Kim dos not expressly disclose a specific gravity of 1.8 g/cm3 to 2.5 g/cm3.
Oh teaches silicon oxide composite for a secondary battery negative electrode material, comprising includes MgSiO3 ( enstatite) crystals and silicon particles in a silicon oxide (SiOx, 0<x<2) and a carbon film placed on a surface. Oh, also teaches a specific gravity of the silicon oxide composite is from 2.3 to 3.2 g/cm3 (claim 8). Oh teaches an increasing initial charge/discharge efficiency of the secondary battery negative electrode (para 10). In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges and prior art ranges do not overlap but are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties. MPEP 2144.05.It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the specific gravity of the porous silicon carbon composite of modified Kim based on the range disclosed by Oh in order increasing initial charge/discharge efficiency of the secondary battery negative electrode (para 10).
Conclusion
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/Alexander Usyatinsky/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751