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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-8 and 11 in the reply filed on 24 September 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 9-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected low-residual-alkali high-nickel ternary positive-electrode material or use of said material, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 24 September 2025.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai CN111009656A (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided) in view of Wang CN114023911A (using machine English translation provided) and further in view of Fu CN204085150U (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided) and Ningbo CN108218419A (using machine English translation provided).
Regarding claim 1, Bai discloses a preparation method of a low-residual-alkali high-nickel ternary positive-electrode material (Bai, [0002]), comprising:
presintering a nickel-containing precursor (Bai, [0016]) and a lithium salt (Bai, [00], lithium source. [0037], Li2CO3) to obtain a presintered material (Bai, [0010-0011]), wherein the presintering is performed under a presintering temperature is 450-550°C (Bai, [0017], 450℃-600℃),
and performing a primary high-temperature sintering on the presintered material (Bai, [0010], [0013]) and a dopant (Bai, [0014]), and the primary high-temperature sintering is performed and a sintering temperature is controlled to be 700-850°C in a process of the primary high-temperature sintering (Bai, [0021], 700℃-900℃). Bai does not disclose wherein presintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition of -15 Pa to -2 Pa, and the primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition of -10 Pa to -0.1 Pa and then a micro-positive pressure condition of 0.1-10 Pa.
Wang teaches a preparation method of a Ni, Mn, Co compound (Wang, [n0047]) wherein the presintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition of -15Pa to -2Pa (Wang, [n0034], “ a slight negative pressure of -0.05 to -0.15 MPa”), and a presintering temperature is 450-550°C (Wang, [n0030], 300-500℃ ). Wang and Bai are analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely that of a preparation method of nickel containing material. Therefore it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the presintering of Bai with the teaching of Wang wherein presintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition of -15 Pa to -2 Pa, thereby protecting from impurities (Wang, [n0034]).
Bai as modified by Wang however does not teach the primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition of -10 Pa to -0.1 Pa and then a micro-positive pressure condition of 0.1-10 Pa.
Fu teaches a preparation method of a low-residual-alkali high-nickel ternary positive-electrode material (Fu, [0008]) and wherein the primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition (Fu, [0008]) and a sintering temperature is controlled to be 700-850°C (Fu, [0010], 700-1200℃). Therefore it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the primary hi-temperature sintering of modified Bai with the teaching of Fu through routine experimentation wherein the primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition of -10 Pa to -0.1 Pa, thereby allowing the carbon oxides and water vapor generated during the sintering process to be discharged smoothly and reducing atomic mixing and improving the electrochemical activity and cycle stability of the material (Fu, [0008]). Modified Bai as further modified by Fu does not teach wherein the primary high-temperature sintering is then a micro-positive pressure condition of 0.1-10 Pa.
Ningbo teaches a preparation method of a material for use in an electrical device (Ningbo, [0004], solar cell) comprising: a primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 0.1-10 Pa (Ningbo, [0017], 0.01~0.1 MPa). Ningbo is analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with solving the problem of reducing production cost (Ningbo, [0005]; Instant [0006-0007]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date to modify the primary high-temperature sintering of modified Bai through routine experimentation with the teaching of Ningbo primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 0.1-10 Pa, thereby further reducing the preparation cost (Ningbo, [0027]).
Regarding claim 2, modified Bai teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Bai as modified above by Wang further teaches wherein the presintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition of -12Pa to -3Pa (Wang, [n0034], “ a slight negative pressure of -0.05 to -0.15 MPa”).
Modified Bai as modified by Fu above teaches wherein the primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition (Fu, [0008]), and while modified Bai as modified by Fu above does not explicitly teach a micro-negative pressure condition of -8Pa to -1Pa, it would be obvious to the skilled artisan through routine experimentation to modify the micro-negative pressure condition of modified Bai as modified by Fu above wherein the primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-negative pressure condition of -8Pa to -1Pa thereby allowing the carbon oxides and water vapor generated during the sintering process to be discharged smoothly and reducing atomic mixing and improving the electrochemical activity and cycle stability of the material (Fu, [0008]).
Modified Bai as modified by Ningbo also teaches wherein the primary high-temperature sintering is performed under then a micro-positive pressure condition of 0.1-10Pa (see claim 1 above) and while modified Bai as modified by Ningbo does not explicitly teach a micro-positive pressure condition of 1-8Pa, it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date to modify the primary high-temperature sintering of modified Bai through routine experimentation with the teaching of Ningbo primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 1-8 Pa, thereby further reducing the preparation cost (Ningbo, [0027]).
Regarding claim 3, modified Bai additionally teaches wherein the presintered material is crushed (Bai, [0012], “fully crush”) and then mixed with the dopant (Bai, [0012], “and grind it thoroughly”; the grinding of the presintered material with the dopant after the crushing satisfies the claim limitation) for the primary high-temperature sintering (Bai, [0013]), and the sintering temperature is controlled to be 750-800°C (Bai, [0021], 700℃-900℃). Bai as modified above however does not teach wherein in the process of the primary high-temperature sintering, a temperature is raised to the sintering temperature at a temperature raising rate of 2-4°C/min, and a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere is controlled to be more than 95%.
Fu teaches wherein in the process of the primary high-temperature sintering, a temperature is raised to the sintering temperature at a temperature raising rate of 2-4°C/min (Fu, [0010], “heating…rate is 1-20°C/min”), and a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere is controlled to be more than 95% (Fu, [0008], “oxygen with a purity of ≥98% is continuously introduced into the furnace”). Therefore it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the temperature raising rate and volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere of modified Bai with the teaching of Fu wherein in the process of the primary high-temperature sintering, a temperature is raised to the sintering temperature at a temperature raising rate of 2-4°C/min, and a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere is controlled to be more than 95%, thereby reducing atomic mixing and improving the electrochemical activity and cycle stability of the material (Fu, [0008]).
Regarding claim 4, modified Bai further teaches wherein the dopant is at least one selected from compounds containing Y (Bai, [0013]).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai CN111009656A (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided) in view of Wang CN114023911A (using machine English translation provided) and further in view of Fu CN204085150U (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided) and Ningbo CN108218419A (using machine English translation provided), as applied to claim 2, above, and further in view of Tong CN109980219A (using machine English translation provided) and Petrovic US20120326077A1.
Regarding claim 5, modified Bai further teaches controlling the presintering temperature to be 480-520°C (Bai, [0017], 450℃-600℃) and a sintering time to be 4-6h (Bai, [0017], 4-6 hours) and the precursor is a nickel-cobalt-manganese precursor (Bai, [0016]). Modified Bai however does not teach wherein a process of the presintering comprises: mixing the precursor and the lithium salt according to a lithium proportion of 1.03-1.07, and controlling a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere to be more than 95% in the process of the presintering.
Tong teaches wherein a process of the presintering (Tong, [0020], step (3), “(3) Adding a lithium source to the full-gradient nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode material precursor obtained in step (2), grinding, pre-sintering,…”) comprises: mixing the precursor and the lithium salt according to a lithium proportion of 1.03-1.07 (Tong, [0041], 1.01-1.07), and controlling the presintering temperature to be 480-520°C (Tong, [0044], 350-550°C) and a sintering time to be 4-6h (Tong, [0044], 3-6 hours), and the precursor is a nickel-cobalt-manganese precursor (Tong, [0041], “nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode material precursor”).
Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to modify the lithium proportion of modified Bai with the teaching of Tong wherein mixing the precursor and the lithium salt according to a lithium proportion of 1.03-1.07 thereby preventing low discharge specific capacity and a decrease in discharge specific capacity (Tong, [0041], “If the amount of lithium element added is too low, there will be insufficient lithium element, resulting in a low discharge specific capacity; if the amount of lithium element added is too high, the proportion of active material will decrease, which will also lead to a decrease in discharge specific capacity.”). Modified Bai as modified above by Tong however does not teach controlling a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere to be more than 95% in the process of the presintering.
Petrovic teaches a preparation method of a nickel ternary positive-electrode material (Petrovic, [0027]), wherein a process of presintering comprises controlling the presintering temperature to be 480-520°C (Petrovic, [0018], “the pre-calcination step and high calcination step can take place in a first and second rotary calciner…the pre-calcination step…comprise more than one sub-step”, [0019], “ a given rotary calciner can have one or more zones”, [0021], “the temperatures in the second and third zones can be, independently, about 350° C., 450° C., 500° C., 550° C., 580° C., 600° C., 650° C., 700° C. and 750° C”) and controlling a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere to be more than 95% in the process of the presintering (Petrovic, [0016], “The green mixture can then pre-calcined in a rotary calciner…The calcination atmosphere can be…pure oxygen”, [0031], “As used herein “pure oxygen” refers to a gas comprising at least about 99% or more diatomic oxygen by volume.”).
Therefore it would be obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere of modified Bai as modified by Tong above with the teaching of Petrovic wherein and controlling a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere to be more than 95% in the process of the presintering, thereby obtaining a significant reduction in overall process cost (Petrovic, [0026]).
Claim(s) 6 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai CN111009656A (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided) in view of Wang CN114023911A (using machine English translation provided) and further in view of Fu CN204085150U (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided) and Ningbo CN108218419A (using machine English translation provided), as applied to claim 2, above, and further in view of Xiao US20090146115A1
Regarding claim 6, modified Bai teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but does not teach further comprising: performing a secondary high-temperature sintering on a material after the primary high-temperature sintering and a coating agent, the secondary high-temperature sintering being performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 1-8Pa.
Xiao teaches further comprising: performing a secondary high-temperature sintering on a material after the primary high-temperature sintering (Xiao, [0022]) and a coating agent (Xiao, [0014], “adding a binder and/or binder solution after the first-stage sintering, and the mixture of the binder and/or binder solution and the product of first-stage sintering is sintered in the second-stage sintering.”). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Bai with the teaching of Xiao wherein further comprising: performing a secondary high-temperature sintering on a material after the primary high-temperature sintering and a coating agent, thereby possessing higher tap density and specific capacity (Xiao, [0046]).
Modified Bai as modified above by Xiao however does not teach the secondary high-temperature sintering being performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 1-8Pa.
Ningbo teaches a preparation method of a material for use in an electrical device (Ningbo, [0004], solar cell) comprising: a primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition (Ningbo, [0017], 0.01~0.1 MPa). Ningbo is analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with solving the problem of reducing production cost (Ningbo, [0005]; Instant [0006-0007]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date to modify the secondary high-temperature sintering of modified Bai through mere duplication of the method step sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition and routine experimentation with the teaching of Ningbo wherein the secondary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 1-8 Pa, thereby further reducing the preparation cost (Ningbo, [0027]).
Regarding claim 11, modified Bai teaches all of the claim limitations as set forth above but does not teach further comprising: performing a secondary high-temperature sintering on a material after the primary high-temperature sintering and a coating agent, the secondary high-temperature sintering being performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 1-8Pa.
Xiao teaches further comprising: performing a secondary high-temperature sintering on a material after the primary high-temperature sintering (Xiao, [0022]) and a coating agent (Xiao, [0014], “adding a binder and/or binder solution after the first-stage sintering, and the mixture of the binder and/or binder solution and the product of first-stage sintering is sintered in the second-stage sintering.”). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Bai with the teaching of Xiao wherein further comprising: performing a secondary high-temperature sintering on a material after the primary high-temperature sintering and a coating agent, thereby possessing higher tap density and specific capacity (Xiao, [0046]).
Modified Bai as modified above by Xiao however does not teach the secondary high-temperature sintering being performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 1-8Pa.
Ningbo teaches a preparation method of a material for use in an electrical device (Ningbo, [0004], solar cell) comprising: a primary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition (Ningbo, [0017], 0.01~0.1 MPa). Ningbo is analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with solving the problem of reducing production cost (Ningbo, [0005]; Instant [0006-0007]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date to modify the secondary high-temperature sintering of modified Bai through mere duplication of the method step sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition and routine experimentation with the teaching of Ningbo wherein the secondary high-temperature sintering is performed under a micro-positive pressure condition of 1-8 Pa, thereby further reducing the preparation cost (Ningbo, [0027]).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai CN111009656A (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided) in view of Wang CN114023911A (using machine English translation provided) and further in view of Fu CN204085150U (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided), Ningbo CN108218419A (using machine English translation provided) and Xiao US20090146115A1, as applied to claim 6 and further in view of Ruan CN103094523A (using machine English translation provided).
Regarding claim 7, modified Bai teaches all of the limitations of claim 6 as set forth above but does not teach wherein the material after the primary high-temperature sintering is crushed and then mixed with the coating agent for the secondary high-temperature sintering, and the secondary high-temperature sintering is controlled to have a sintering temperature of 200-600°C and a sintering time of 6-10h, and a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere is controlled to be more than 95%.
Xiao teaches wherein the material after the primary high-temperature sintering is crushed and then mixed with the coating agent for the secondary high-temperature sintering (Xiao, [0014], “adding a binder and/or binder solution after the first-stage sintering, and the mixture of the binder and/or binder solution and the product of first-stage sintering is sintered in the second-stage sintering.”) a sintering time of 6-10h (Xiao, [0022], 8-15 hours), and a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere is controlled to be more than 95% (Xiao, [0022], oxygen atmosphere). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to modify the method of modified Bai with the teaching of Xiao wherein the material after the primary high-temperature sintering is crushed and then mixed with the coating agent for the secondary high-temperature sintering, a sintering time of 6-10h and a volume fraction of oxygen in a sintering atmosphere is controlled to be more than 95%, thereby possessing higher tap density and specific capacity (Xiao, [0046]). Modified Bai as modified by Xiao however does not teach wherein the secondary high-temperature sintering is controlled to have a sintering temperature of 200-600°C.
Ruan teaches a preparation method of a nickel ternary positive-electrode material (Ruan, [0009]) comprising a secondary high-temperature sintering (Ruan, [0016], third step) wherein the secondary high-temperature sintering is controlled to have a sintering temperature of 200-600°C (Ruan, [0016], 300-700°C) and a sintering time of 6-10h (Ruan, [0016], 1-10h). Therefore it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secondary high-temperature sintering of modified Bai with the teaching of Ruan wherein the secondary high-temperature sintering is controlled to have a sintering temperature of 200-600°C, thereby improving the cycle performance of the battery under high voltage and high temperature conditions (Ruan, [0068]).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai CN111009656A (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided) in view of Wang CN114023911A (using machine English translation provided) and further in view of Fu CN204085150U (cited in IDS filed 20 April 2023; using machine English translation provided), Ningbo CN108218419A (using machine English translation provided), Xiao US20090146115A1 and Ruan CN103094523A (using machine English translation provided) , as applied to claim 7 and further in view of Wu US20200058933A1.
Regarding claim 8, modified Bai teaches all of the claim limitations of claim 7 as set forth above but does not teach wherein the coating agent is at least one selected from compounds containing Al, Ti, B, Zr, and W.
Wu teaches wherein the coating agent is at least one selected from compounds containing Al (Wu, [0018], Fig. 3) and Ti (Wu, [0010]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to modify the coating agent of modified Bai with the teaching of Wu wherein the coating agent is at least one selected from compounds containing Al and Ti, thereby providing an increased average voltage and an improved energy retention (Wu, [0026]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhu CN104466154A (discloses pre-sintering and further processing NMC cathode material).
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/JARED HANSEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723