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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 07/08/2026 has been entered. Support is found in the previous claims of record. Claims 1-7 and 14-15 are pending for examination on the merits.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 as amended have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The new grounds of rejection applied below was necessitated by the narrowed scope of the amended claim (specifically, narrowing claimed list of second active material options), such that the previous primary reference was no longer applicable to reject the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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)(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) 1-7 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (CN 109980181 A, with line citations to attached machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang teaches a positive electrode plate (positive electrode 100 for a lithium ion battery, Fig. 1 and lines 123-124), comprising:
a first active material (a first electrode layer 104 on a surface of the collector material 102, Fig. 1 and line 125) selected from a lithium iron phosphate-based material (in the first electrode layer 104, the weight percentage of the lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) material may be, for example, 80 to 99% by weight; lines 141-142) represented by a formula LiFe1-xMnxPO4, wherein 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8 (LiMnxFe1-xPO4, wherein 0.5≤x<1; line 132); and
a second active material (a second electrode layer 106 on the first electrode layer 104, Fig. 1 and lines 125-126) comprising one or more of … lithium nickel cobalt manganate, lithium nickel cobalt aluminate … (the second electrode layer 106 can include an active material, for example, lithium nickel cobalt manganate (NMC), lithium nickel cobalt aluminate (NCA); lines 162-164 – at 80 to 99% by weight within 106 per line 182-183);
wherein an amount of the second active material used accounts for, by mass, 10-70%, on the basis of a total mass of the first active material and the second active material (the weight percentage of the second electrode layer 106 may be greater than 30 wt%, for example greater than or equal to 50 wt%, based on the total weight of the first electrode layer 104 and the second electrode layer 106; lines 202-205).
Regarding claim 2, Zhang teaches the limitations of claim 1 above and an amount of the first active material used accounts for, by mass, 30-90%, on the basis of the total mass of the first active material and the second active material (if 106 accounts for greater than 30 wt%, e.g. 50 wt% as cited above, then 104 would account for e.g. 50 wt% or up to 70 wt% of the total weight among the two positive active materials; as cited to lines 202-205).
Regarding claim 3, Zhang teaches the limitations of claim 1 above and a mass ratio of the first active material to the second active material is between 3 : 7 and 9 : 1 (example of 50 wt% reads on ratio of 5:5, per line 205 as cited above).
Regarding claim 4, Zhang teaches the limitations of claim 1 above and the first active material is … lithium iron manganese phosphate … (layer 104 has LMFP as cited above, and lines 130-132).
Regarding claim 5, Zhang teaches the limitations of claim 1 above and the second active material comprises at least one of nickel cobalt lithium manganate or nickel cobalt lithium aluminate (layer 106 has NMC or NCA; as cited above to lines 162-164).
Regarding claim 6, Zhang teaches the limitations of claim 1 above and a geometric center of a distribution of the first active material is not higher than a geometric center of a distribution of the second active material in a thickness direction of the positive electrode plate (layer 104 is lower than 106 in thickness direction of 100, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 7, Zhang teaches the limitations of claim 1 above and the geometric center of the distribution of the first active material is below the geometric center of the distribution of the second active material (layer 104 is lower than 106 in thickness direction of 100, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Zhang teaches the limitations of claim 1 above and the amount of the second active material used accounts for, by mass, 40%-70%, on the basis of the total mass of the first active material and the second active material (example of 50 wt% 106 based on total weight of 104 and 106, as cited above to line 205).
Regarding claim 15, Zhang teaches a positive electrode plate (positive electrode 100 for a lithium ion battery, Fig. 1 and lines 123-124), comprising:
a first active material (a first electrode layer 104 on a surface of the collector material 102, Fig. 1 and line 125) selected from a lithium iron phosphate-based material (in the first electrode layer 104, the weight percentage of the lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) material may be, for example, 80 to 99% by weight; lines 141-142) represented by a formula LiFe1-xMnxPO4, wherein 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8 (LiMnxFe1-xPO4, wherein 0.5≤x<1; line 132); and
a second active material (a second electrode layer 106 on the first electrode layer 104, Fig. 1 and lines 125-126) comprising one or more of … lithium nickel cobalt manganate, lithium nickel cobalt aluminate … (the second electrode layer 106 can include an active material, for example, lithium nickel cobalt manganate (NMC), lithium nickel cobalt aluminate (NCA); lines 162-164 – at 80 to 99% by weight within 106 per line 182-183);
wherein an amount of the second active material used accounts for, by mass, 40-70%, on the basis of a total mass of the first active material and the second active material (the weight percentage of the second electrode layer 106 may be for example greater than or equal to 50 wt%, based on the total weight of the first electrode layer 104 and the second electrode layer 106; lines 202-205).
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ishii (US 20080318126 A1) teaches a mixture of CATHODE ACTIVE MATERIAL having a LITHIUM IRON PHOSPHATE : LITHIUM MANGANATE ratio of 50:50 ([0115] and [0144] under Table 3) and shows Cathode Mix Layer 11B as a single layer on each side of cathode collector 11A (Fig. 3), such that the two active materials in the mixture layer would be expected to have the same geometric center in the thickness direction.
Gao et al. (US 20160104880 A1) teaches the positive active material includes a component A and a component B; the component A is selected from at least one of lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA), lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NCM), lithium manganese oxide (LMO) … ; the component B is selected from at least one of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) … ; and the component B accounts for 5 to 90 percent by mass of the positive active material (Abstract).
Conclusion
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.
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/JESSIE WALLS-MURRAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1728
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