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 § 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.
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.
Claim(s) 24, 25 and 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamada (WO Publication 2019-098245, U.S. Patent Publication 2020/0358132 will be used as an English translation).
Regarding claims 24 and 25, Yamada discloses a sulfide solid electrolyte comprising a lithium element, a sulfur element, a phosphorus element, a halogen element, and at least one metal element selected from metal elements of Group 2 to 12 and Period 4 or higher that have been mixed and treated, wherein a solid electrolyte made from Li2S, P2S5, LiBr, LiI and MnBr has diffraction peaks of 19.9° and 23.6° in an X-ray diffraction diagram (Paragraphs 0011, 0122, 0125 and 0130 and Fig. 1). As to claim 27, Yamada teaches that the halogen starting material does not have to contain lithium (Paragraphs 0052-0058).
Yamada fails to specifically teach that the hydration energy of a compound M0.5X comprising the metal and halogen is greater than hydration energy of LiI, that the M0.5X hydration energy is greater than -4, 0, 2, 4 and less than 200 meV/atom, and that activation energy of the ionic conductivity is 0.34 eV or less.
Regarding claims 24, 25 and 27, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention that a hydration energy of one of the divalent metals and halogens used in Yamada with a formula M0.5X would be greater than 4 and less than 200 meV/atom, as well as greater than that of LiI, because the same elements taught in the present invention are used in Yamada and would thus fit the range of the present invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6, 8-23, 26 and 28-30 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art fails to disclose a sulfide solid electrolyte having the specific diffraction peaks in combination with the specific elements in the electrolyte and chemical formula.
Response to Arguments
The arguments and amendments made to the claims, filed on 4/8/2026, have overcome the 35 USC 112 rejections that were presented in the last Office Action. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 4/8/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-6, 8-23, 26 and 28-30 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 4/8/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 24, 25 and 27, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicants argue that claims 24, 25 and 27 are allowable for the reasons argued for claim 23 due to the fact that they depend from claim 23. Although claim 24 depends from claim 23, it is drawn to a product and thus only the product limitations need to be addressed. Any process could be used to make the product, as long as the cited prior art teaches the product limitations, which Yamada does by using elements that would create an A0.5X that would have a hydration energy greater than that of LiI. The same reasoning applies for claims 25 and 27. Only the steps of the process that deal with producing the solid electrolyte need to be considered and thus, Yamada teaches the limitations of claims 25 and 27.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 BRITTANY L RAYMOND whose telephone number is (571)272-6545. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 am-6 pm.
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BRITTANY L. RAYMOND
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1722
/BRITTANY L RAYMOND/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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