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.
Claims 7, 11, 12, 15, and 16 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.
Regarding claim 7, it is unclear if the recited “conductive agent” is a required element to be present somewhere in the negative electrode plate, or instead it is just a definition of a term.
Regarding claim 11, it is unclear what is meant by “accounting for A1%” and “accounting for A2%”. In particular, its not clear whether this is on a volume, mass, number, or other basis, and it is also not clear what the total is for calculating the percentage – is it the second active substance and second conductive agent respectively, the total amount of material in the second sub-active layer, the total amount in the active layer?
Claim 12 is unclear whether the claim intends to limit the second functional material to at least one of a silicon-based material, to simply require that it include a silicon-based material, or something else. The same is true with regard to the relationship between carbon nanotube and second functional material.
Regarding claim 15, the definitions of B1% and B2% are ambiguous in the same way the definitions of A1% and A2% are in claim 11.
Regarding claim 16, the materials listed are unclear in the same way that those listed in claim 12 are unclear.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8, 10, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chinese Patent Publication No. 111261834 to Duan (“Duan”, citing to the enclosed machine translation). Regarding claims 1-4, and 20, Duan discloses silicon-containing negative electrode plates and lithium ion batteries comprising them. Duan at paragraphs [0009] and [0017]. The negative electrode plate includes a current collector coated on one or both sides with an active material layer. Id. at paragraph [0026]. The active material layer includes a first active material layer adjacent to the current collector that includes silicon-based particles and a second active material layer on the opposed side of the first active material layer away from the current collector also comprising silicon-based particles. Id. at paragraph [0027]. The mass percent of silicon-based particles in the first active material layer is less than that in the second active material layer, and the particle size (D50) of the silicon-based particles in the first active material layer is smaller than that in the second active material layer. Id. The silicon-based particles may be selected from silicon, silicon alloy, silicon oxide, and silicon-carbon composite. Id.
Further regarding claims 8 and 19, the Office notes that the claim merely defines sub-layers within a layer. Thus, one can arbitrarily consider, for example, the first active material layer of Duan, to correspond to the recited first sub-active layer, an inner portion of the second active material layer of Duan closer to the first active material layer to correspond to the recited second sub-active layer, and the outer most portion of the second active material layer of Duan to correspond to the recited third sub-active layer.
Further regarding claim 10, in Example 1 of Duan, the first active material layer (which is considered to correspond to the recited first sub-active layer) includes a first active material, acetylene black as a conductive agent, and styrene-butadiene/sodium carboxymethyl cellulose binder in relative amounts 96:1:3.
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) 5-7, 9, 11, 12, 15, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan. Duan is applied as described above. Further regarding claims 5, 7, and 9, Duan discloses that the first and second active material layers include a conductive additive selected from carbon black, acetylene black, carbon nanotubes, ketjen black, conducive graphite, or graphene. Duan at paragraph [0035]. Moreover, Duan discloses that a drawback to the use of silicon-based active materials is that they have lower conductivity than traditional carbon-based materials. As discussed above, Duan discloses including more silicon-based active material in the second/outer active material layer than in the first/inner active material layer. Thus, the second/outer active material layer will necessarily be less conductive than the inner layer due to its increased silicon-based active material content. Accordingly, the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have reason to increase the amount of conductive additive in the second/outer active material layer as compared to the first/inner active material layer in order to balance out the reduction in conductivity resulting form its higher silicon content.
Further regarding claim 6, if only one conductive additive is chosen, it will necessarily have a higher conductivity than any other conductive agent included. Alternatively, if multiple are chosen, one will necessarily have the highest conductivity of the group chosen.
Further regarding claims 11 and 15, because neither A1% nor A2% are given a range, these claims are obvious for the same reasons as claim 9.
Further regarding claims 12 and 16, Duan discloses that in the first active material layer the amount of silicon-based active material ranges from 0.1-30% and in the second active material layer 1-100%. Duan discloses that the conductive additive in either layer ranges from 0.5 to 10%. Thus, because the ranges taught be Duan overlap with the recited ranges, the claims are considered obvious.
Claims 13, 14, 17, and 18, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan as applied above and further in view of U.S Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0186659 to Dhar (“Dhar”).
As noted above, Duan discloses incorporation of silicon-based particle as active material in both first and second active material layers. Duan also discloses the inclusion of standard carbon-based active materials, such as graphite, hard/soft carbon, etc. Duan at paragraph [0034]. Silicon-doped graphite was a commonly known substitute for such common graphite active material layers. See, e.g., Dhar at paragraph [0093]. Thus, use of silicon-doped graphite as the carbon-based active material in Duan is considered to be nothing more than use of a commonly known alternative for its intended purpose to achieve a predictable result.
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/WYATT P MCCONNELL/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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