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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 08/02/2023 and 09/30/2025 and 02/03/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 08/02/2023 has been entered. Claims 3-9 are amended and Claims 1-9 are pending.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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, 4-7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mimura et al. (US 20190356019 A1), hereinafter "Mimura". Mimura et al. is analogous prior art to the claimed invention because it pertains to the same field of endeavor, namely negative electrode compositions.
In regard to Claims 1-2 and 4-7, Mimura et al. discloses a negative electrode active material composition preferably comprising a lithium titanate powder whose main component is Li4Ti5O12 (Mimura, [0199]) with an average particle diameter ranging from 0.1-60 µm (Mimura, [0201]),which overlaps the claimed ranges and an inorganic solid electrolyte having conductivity for metal ions belonging to Group 1 of Periodic Table (Mimura, [0011]) including a specific example with a sulfide solid electrolyte (Mimura, Example 1) wherein the content of the inorganic solid electrolyte is 1 mass% or more and 95 mass% or less in the negative electrode active material composition (Mimura, [0255, 0109]), which overlaps the claimed range.
Mimura et al. also discloses wherein at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of Al and W and which may reasonably be both, is present on surfaces of the negative active material (Mimura, [0206]), which is preferably lithium titanate particles constituting the lithium titanate powder (Mimura, [0199]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the current invention to provide a sulfide solid electrolyte with a lithium titanate negative electrode comprising two or more of the metal elements disclosed in Mimura (Al and W) present on the surfaces of the lithium titanate powder as doing so would be obvious to try for the skilled artisan and as doing so would amount to nothing more than a variation of it for use in the same field based on design incentives or other market forces, as the variations are predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In regard to Claim 9, Mimura et al. discloses the negative electrode active material composition according to claim 1. Mimura et al. also discloses an all-solid-state secondary battery comprising a positive electrode layer, a negative electrode layer, and a solid electrolyte layer (Mimura, [0041]) wherein the negative electrode layer is a layer containing the negative electrode active material composition according to claim 1.
Claims 3 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mimura et al. (US 20190356019 A1), hereinafter "Mimura" as applied to claim 1 above in view of Kurihara et al. (WO 2018110708 A1 - US 20200087160 A1 referenced for citations), hereinafter "Kurihara". Mimura and Kurihara et al. are analogous prior art to the claimed invention because they pertain to the same field of endeavor, namely negative electrode compositions.
In regard to Claim 3, Mimura et al. discloses the negative electrode active material composition according to claim 1. While Mimura et al. discloses a negative electrode active material comprising lithium titanate with metal elements such as Al and W on the surface and the skilled artisan of Mimura must provide the metal elements in some measurable amount, it is silent as to the content ratio of the metal element in the lithium titanate powder being 0.01 mass% or more and 5 mass% or less.
Kurihara et al. discloses a beneficial negative electrode active material comprising lithium titanate with metal elements such as Al and W on the surface wherein using the atomic and molar information disclosed in Kurihara, a content ratio of the metal element in the lithium titanate powder can be calculated for a specific example wherein Al and W are provided at mass % of 0.16 and 0.8% respectively (Kurihara, Example 3-35), which falls within the claimed range. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the current invention to provide a negative electrode active material comprising lithium titanate with metal elements such as Al and W on the surface as disclosed in Mimura at the mass % disclosed in Kurihara et al. as doing so would be obvious to try for the skilled artisan and as doing so would amount to nothing more than choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success.
In regard to Claim 8, Mimura et al. discloses the negative electrode active material composition according to claim 1. Mimura et al. discloses a negative electrode active material comprising lithium titanate with metal elements such as Al and W on the surface of that material however, the method used to achieve this desired result is not disclosed or particularly limited and can be achieved by any methods known to the skilled artisan. In addition, the skilled artisan of Mimura must provide the metal elements in some measurable amount as to cover the surface of the lithium titanate as required by (Mimura, [0206]), wherein the total metal element concentration would be present and measurable at or near the particle surface, however, it is silent as to the total metal element concentration at an inner and outer position from the lithium titanate particles surface.
Kurihara et al. discloses a method of providing metal elements on a surface of lithium titanate particles that follows the steps of providing an LTO base powder, add metal containing treatment agents to the powder by wet mixing a slurry and performing heat treatment under moderate conditions (Kurihara, [0126, 0131]), which results in a relationship of the metal elements and lithium titanate particles wherein E1 (atm %) is the elemental concentration of M1 at a depth position of 1 nm from the surface of each lithium titanate particle, Eti (atm %) is the atomic concentration of titanium at a depth position of 1 nm therefrom, and E2 (atm %) is the elemental concentration of M1 at a depth position of 100 nm from the surface of each lithium titanate particle, the elemental concentrations and the atomic concentration being measured by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in cross-sectional analysis of the lithium titanate particles forming the lithium titanate powder using a scanning transmission electron microscope and that E1>E2 (Kurihara, [0041]).
This method of coating lithium titanate with metal elements is the same method used in the current application (Original Specification, [0047, 0052]), which is then applied to a composition comprising a sulfide solid electrolyte. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the current invention to provide the metal elements on the lithium titanate active material particles surfaces as disclosed in Mimura and achieve the surface application of metal elements by using the method taught in Kurihara as doing so would give the skilled artisan the reasonable expectation of success and as doing so would amount to nothing more than applying a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH MAX OTERO whose telephone number is (571)272-2559. The examiner can normally be reached M-F Generally 7:30-430.
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/K.M.O./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/JONATHAN CREPEAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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