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(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 14 recites the phrase “in particular, copper”. It is unclear if copper is being positively recited or not. Claim 14 further recites “the quasi-solid electrolyte” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Further, “mixing additive” should be “mixing the additive.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-7, 10-12 and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al (US 20180219257). Regarding claims 1, 11, and 16, the reference is directed to an aluminum secondary battery (abstract). Regarding claims 1 and 11, the battery comprises a positive electrode, negative electrode, and electrolyte ([0006]). The electrolyte comprises a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) made of an organic salt, and a first aluminum salt (Preparation Example 3). Regarding claims 1, 11, and 16, the battery comprises at least one additive that may comprise a material suitable for forming bivalent metal cations, i.e., copper. The additive may be in the form of a metal halide salt (e.g., copper, iron, cobalt, zinc, or nickel; [0016]) in the electrolyte, or a positive current collector (11) which may be copper or nickel ([0019]). Note: According to the instant specification, the collector per se can function as the claimed “additive” ([0137]-[0138] of application publication). Regarding claim 11, regarding the method of making the battery, the additive is added to the electrolyte or the positive electrode when it is provided, and a housing, the electrodes, and the electrolyte are assembled to form the Al secondary battery ([0043]). Regarding claim 2, the first aluminum salt is AlCl3 ([0029]). Regarding claims 3, 12, and 17, the organic salt is 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([0029]). Regarding claims 4 and 18, the molar ratio of the Al salt to the organic salt is 1.3:1, which anticipates the claimed range ([0029]). Regarding claims 5 and 19, the additive is copper or copper chloride as noted above. Regarding claim 6, the battery comprises a current collector as noted above, and can comprise an additional current collector on the negative side ([0043]). Regarding claim 7, the additive is contained in the electrode and/or current collector as noted above. Regarding claim 10, the negative electrode comprises aluminum ([0043]). Regarding claim 14, the claim is considered to be anticipated because in preparing the electrolyte of Huang et al., the additive (transition metal halide salt, [0016]) would be mixed with the RTIL electrolyte as claimed. Regarding claim 15, the battery is part of an “energy store.” Thus, the instant claims are anticipated.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9, 13, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Huang et al. is considered to be the closest prior art to claims 8 and 20. However, the reference does not teach or fairly suggest that a total aluminum salt content in the electrolyte (including first and second Al salts, which may be the same salt) relative to the organic solvent or organic salt is between 5:1-20:1. The reference teaches a ratio of 1:1 - 2.2:1 ([0016]). Those skilled in the art would understand that a 5M ratio (5:1) is a very high amount of salt and there would be no apparent reason to make this modification in Huang et al.
Similarly, Huang et al. is considered to be the closest prior art to claim 13. However, the reference does not teach or fairly suggest the step of mixing a second aluminum salt with the ionic liquid to form a quasi-solid electrolyte as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jonathan Crepeau whose telephone number is (571) 272-1299. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Nicole Buie-Hatcher, can be reached at (571) 270-3879. The phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 272-1700. Documents may be faxed to the central fax server at (571) 273-8300.
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/Jonathan Crepeau/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
June 25, 2026
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