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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Both claims recite that “the lithium-containing compound is lithium metal.” Lithium is a metal. Any lithium-containing compound is a metal. Lithium cannot exist independently in a cathode. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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 1 and 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang (CN 111477954 A1). A machine translation of Wang is attached herewith and utilized for translation purposes. He (US 2022/0223917 A1) is used as evidentiary support.
It should be noted that at least claims 1 and 3 are directed to a solution and thus a composition. The Office considers the limitation of “for use in a nonaqueous secondary battery comprising vanadium sulfide as a cathode active material and a lithium-containing compound as an anode active material” an intended use limitation. According to MPEP 2111.02 II, “During examination, statements in the preamble reciting the purpose or intended use of the claimed invention must be evaluated to determine whether or not the recited purpose or intended use results in a structural difference…between the claimed invention and the prior art.” It is the Office’s position that stating that the instant solution is for a battery comprising vanadium sulfide and lithium does not further limit the structure of the solution and thus is not given patentable weight beyond the ability of the solution to work with such a battery.
Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses a composition comprising: lithium bisfluorosulfonylimide (LiFSI) as the lithium salt, ethylene carbonate (EC) as the solvent, and 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl-2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl ether (HFE) as the diluent, with a lithium salt/solvent molar ratio of 1/3 (paragraph 65). He discloses that a battery electrolyte solution with EC as the solvent (paragraph 28) and LIFSI as the salt (paragraph 29) can function in a battery where the cathode active material is a transition metal dichalcogenide (paragraph 140) and lithium as the anode active material (paragraph 41). Vanadium sulfide is a transition metal dichalcogenide.
Regarding claim 3, Wang discloses that the solvent can be a combination of EC and PC (paragraph 22).
Regarding claims 4-7, Wang discloses a lithium battery comprising the solution (paragraph 65).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IMRAN AKRAM whose telephone number is (571)270-3241. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9a-5p.
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/IMRAN AKRAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725