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 .
2. The Applicant's amendments filed on May 12, 2026, were received. Claims 1 and 6 have been amended. Claims 5 and 8-18 have been cancelled. None of the Claims have been withdrawn from consideration or added as new. Therefore, Claims 1-4 and 6-7 are pending in this office action.
3. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S.C. code not included in this action can be found in the prior Office Action issued on November 12, 2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. Information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted May 11, 2026, has been received and considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. The rejection of Claims 1-4, 6-7 and 9-12 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cawlfield et al. (US 5,158,658), has been overcome based on the amendments to the Claims and the arguments presented on pages 4-6 of the Remarks dated May 12, 2026.
6. The rejection of Claims 15-16 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tonggelage et al. (CN108376777A), has been overcome based on the cancellation of the Claims.
7. Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Poris et al. (WO 2011/149624 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Poris et al. disclose an electrochemical system, comprising: a first electrode; and a second electrode, wherein the electrochemical system comprises a storage battery, called a secondary battery, storing energy and/or discharging energy by an electrode reaction of a halogenated oxyanion species (paragraphs 0024-0030).
With regard to Claim 2, Poris et al. disclose wherein the storing of energy and/or the discharging of energy by the electrode reaction of the halogenated oxyanion species comprises storing energy and discharging energy by a reversable electrode reaction between a chlorine containing ion and chlorine dioxide (paragraphs 0024-0030, 0070, 0143).
With regard to Claims 3-4, Poris et al. disclose wherein the chlorine containing ion comprises a salt and wherein the salt is an alkali metal salt (paragraph 0086).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. The rejection of Claims 5, 8, 13 and 14 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cawlfield et al. (US 5,158,658), as applied to Claims 1-4, 6-7 and 9-12 above, and in further view of Wang et al. (US 2018/0269515 A1), has been overcome based on the amendments to the Claims and the arguments presented on pages 4-6 of the Remarks dated May 12, 2026.
9. The rejection of Claims 17-18 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tonggelage et al. (CN108376777A), as applied to Claims 15-16 above, and in further view of Wang et al. (US 2018/0269515 A1), has been overcome based on the amendments to the Claims and the arguments presented on pages 4-6 of the Remarks dated May 12, 2026.
10. Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Poris et al. (WO 2011/149624 A1), as applied to Claims 1-4 above, and in further view of Mingant et al. (US 2019/0252709 A1).
With regard to Claims 6-7, Poris et al. disclose the electrochemical system in paragraph 7 above, but do not specifically further disclose a current collector comprising a metal or metal compound, and wherein the current collector comprises carbon.
Mingant et al. disclose in Figure 1, a plurality of electrochemical cells (30) comprising a chamber formed by a cathode compartment (31) containing a catholyte and an anode compartment (32) containing an anolyte, the cathode (31) and anode (32) compartments separated by a separator (33) that is electrically insulating and permeable to the ions contained in the anolyte and catholyte (paragraph 0053). Mingant et al. disclose wherein the cathode (31) and anode (32) compartments are each defined between the separator (33) and a current collector (not shown) dedicated to each compartment, the current collectors including metal plates or plates formed of carbon (paragraph 0054). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the electrochemical system of Poris et al. to include a current collector comprising a metal or metal compound, wherein the current collector comprises carbon, because Mingant et al. teach that this configuration is well known in the art and creates an external electric circuit for the flow of electrons (paragraph 0066).
Response to Arguments
11. Applicant’s arguments, see pages 4-6, filed May 12, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of Claims 1-4, 6-7 and 9-12 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cawlfield et al. (US 5,158,658), have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Poris et al. (WO 2011/149624 A1).
Conclusion
12. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARIE O APICELLA whose telephone number is (571)272-8614. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 5:00PM EST.
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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 fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KARIE O'NEILL APICELLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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