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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 7/5/23 and 3/4/25 have been considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-12 and 19-21, in the reply filed on 4/20/26 is acknowledged. Claims 13-18 are withdrawn.
Applicant election of a specific compound for the inner core represented by formula 1 of claim 1 is:
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Applicant election for the coating layer is a plant polysaccharide. Applicant states claims 1-12 and 19-21 read upon the elected species of Formula 1.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 1 “comprising s an” should recite “comprising an”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in the last line “or a derivatives thereof” is not grammatically correct. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-12 and 19-21 are 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.
The claims recite improper group language. Examiner suggests all recitations of “selected from” be amended to recite “selected from the group consisting of”. Furthermore, all groups should be closed by a single “and”. For example, “selected from the group consisting of A, B and C”. See MPEP 2117. Using “consisting of” creates a strong presumption that the claim excludes unrecited elements, which can affect patentability and infringement analysis. Properly drafted Markush groups help clarify claim scope, prevent indefiniteness rejections under 35 U.S.C. §112, and ensure that examiners recognize the claim as a Markush grouping. All claims require correction.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the polysaccharide" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 2, the phrase "optionally" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 2 recites the limitation "sugar unit of the polymer" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 4, the phrase "optionally" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the substituent" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 5, the phrase "optionally" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). See also claims 6-11 that recite the indefinite term “optionally”.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the coating amount" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the surface" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 8, the phrase "and/or" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). See also claim 9.
Claim 11 recites the limitations "the lattice change", “the Li/Mn antisite defect”, “the surface” and “the compacted density”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 19 recites the limitations "a positive electrode active material" the “the content”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 20 recites the limitation "a positive electrode active material" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 21 recites the limitation "a secondary battery" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-12 and 19-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu, US2016/0190584 A1 in view of Kondo et al., JP 2015-144071 A.
Wu teaches a Li-ion battery positive electrode material. The positive electrode material can reduce the relative volume change rate of the positive electrode material in insertion and deinsertion states of Li ions, and meanwhile can efficiently restrain Mn in the positive material from dissolving out during charging and discharging cycles, thereby improving the crystal structure stability of the positive electrode in the working state. A Li-ion battery applying such a positive electrode material has excellent cycle performance, safety and high-temperature storage performance (abstract).
The positive electrode material has a core/coating structure wherein the core comprises a compound of Formula I that is electrically neutral and a carbon coating layer [0005-0006; 0010]. The carbon source of the coating is selected from at least one of glucose, saccharose, fructose, maltose, lactose, monocrystal rock sugar, starch, cellulose, citric acid, ascorbic acid, stearic acid, polyethylene glycol, polystyrene, pitch, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl butyral, phenolic resin, and furfural resin. At least starch and cellulose are plant polysaccharides. The structure of cellulose:
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and starch is a polymeric carbohydrate.
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Wu does not explicitly teach the compound of Formula 1 contains Mo in a molar amount of 0.001 to 0.1. However, the invention as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing because Konda teaches lithium manganese phosphates coated with a polysaccharide are known to contain different elements doped in a slight amount, or those in which a part of metal elements is substituted by different elements, such as Mo. One of skill would have been motivated to dope a slight amount of Mo or substitute part of a metal element with Mo in the positive electrode active material of Formula 1 of Wu as Konda teaches such doping/substitution was known in the art for lithium manganese phosphates.
Kondo teaches a positive electrode active material 10 having a matrix/base particle 12 (inner core) and a polysaccharide 16 attached to the surface of the matrix particle 12 (coating). The positive electrode material 10 may comprise a conductive layer 14. See at least Figure 1-3.
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The base particle 12 may be a lithium metal phosphate, LiMPO4, wherein M is at least one selected from the group consisting of Co, Ni, Mn and Fe. The LiMPO4 compound may comprise different elements doped in a slight amount, or those in which a part of metal elements is substituted by different elements. Examples of such different elements include Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Zn, Ga, Zr, Nb, Mo, Sn, Hf, W and the like (page 5). The source of such polysaccharides is not particularly limited, and those derived from microorganisms, animals, plants and the like can be used (page 4).
Regarding claims 4-5, Wu teaches the carbon source of the coating is selected from at least one of glucose, saccharose, fructose, maltose, lactose, monocrystal rock sugar, starch, cellulose, citric acid, ascorbic acid, stearic acid, polyethylene glycol, polystyrene, pitch, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl butyral, phenolic resin, and furfural resin. At least starch and cellulose are plant polysaccharides. The structure of cellulose:
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and starch is a polymeric carbohydrate.
Regarding claim 6, see at least Table 2 of Wu. Wu teaches the content of carbon in the coating layer is not higher than 20% by weight of the positive electrode material (claim 4) and the content of the compound having the chemical constitution represented by formula I is no less than 70% by weight of the positive electrode material. More preferably, the lower limit of the content of the compound having the chemical constitution represented by formula I is preferably, but not limited to, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% and 95% by weight of the positive electrode material [0009].
Regarding claims 7 and 12, Kondo teaches a conductive layer is formed o the surface of the base material particles. For example, a conductive layer containing carbon. The polysaccharide is attached to the conductive layer (pages 6-7).
Regarding claims 19-21, the positive active material, a binder PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) and a conductive carbon black were mixed, thereby preparing a mixture containing the positive active material. In the mixture, the solid component includes 94 wt % of the positive active material, 4 wt % of PVDF and 2 wt % of conductive carbon black. The mixture was formulated into a slurry of the positive active material and the slurry was evenly coated on both surfaces of an aluminum foil (current collector), which was then dried (forming a film layer) and compacted by a roller press, obtaining a positive electrode containing the positive active material [0061]. See [0067] for preparation of the lithium ion battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY DOVE whose telephone number is (571)272-1285. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-3:00.
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/TRACY M DOVE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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