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 § 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 of this title, 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.
1. Claims 1-13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (US20220216507, PCT filed: 2/19/2019)
2. Regarding claims 1, 2, 4-12, Sun teaches solid electrolyte material consisting essentially of Li, Yb, and X, wherein X is at least two selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and I (Specifically, the present invention provides a lithium secondary battery additive represented by the following formula, LibMaXc [0005], wherein M is…Yb, X is…Cl, Br; 0.2≤b≤6; 0.1≤a≤3; and 1≤c≤9 [0006]).
3. Although Sun’s material M and X in formula LibMaXc can be selected from a specific list of materials, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun with the formula LibMaXc [0005], wherein M is…Yb, X is…Cl, Br; 0.2≤b≤6; 0.1≤a≤3; and 1≤c≤9 for the benefit of a solid electrolyte material with high lithium ionic conductivity [0064]
4. Regarding claim 3, Sun teaches wherein the solid electrolyte material is represented by the following compositional formula (1): Li6-3aYbaCl6-x-y-zBrxIyFz (1) (LibMaXc [0005], wherein M is…Yb, X is…Cl, Br; 0.2≤b≤6; 0.1≤a≤3; and 1≤c≤9 [0006]; It is noted LibMaXc reads of claim 3 of Applicant when y = 0 and z = 0).
5. Regarding claim 13, Sun teaches X-ray diffractometry of the solid electrolyte material using Cu-Kα radiation gives an X-ray diffraction pattern having:
at least two peaks in the range of diffraction angles 2θ of greater than or equal to 26.0° and less than or equal to 35.0°(the X-ray diffraction (measured using copper Kα rays) pattern of the solid electrolyte material is shown in FIG. 24 [0082]; at least two peaks in the range of diffraction angles 2θ around 30°, see Fig. 24), and at least one peak in the range of diffraction angles 2θ of greater than or equal to 13.0° and less than or equal to 17.0° (the solid electrolyte material further has a first crystalline phase, the first crystalline phase has peaks at positions of 2θ=14.6°±0.15°, 16.7°±0.15° and 34.3°±0.15° in X-ray diffraction measurement using copper Kα rays, see claim 41).
6. Regarding claim 15, Sun teaches a battery comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; and an electrolyte layer disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the electrolyte layer contains the solid electrolyte material (an all-solid-state lithium battery having a cathode active material layer, an anode active material layer, and a solid electrolyte layer formed between the cathode active material layer and the anode active material layer [0091]).
7. Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (US20220216507, PCT filed: 2/19/2019) in view of Mo et al. (US20210399334
Filed 6/23/20)
8. Regarding claim 14, the complete discussion of Sun as applied to claim 1 is incorporated herein. However, they are silent about the limitations of claim 14
9. Mo teaches Lix-m(M1)mM1-n(M2)nCl4-o(X)o [0022] comprise a crystal lattice structure having a monoclinic phase [0026] for the benefit of providing efficient Li ion conductors useful as solid electrolytes for lithium batteries [0129].
10. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun with Mo’s monoclinic phase for the benefit of providing efficient Li ion conductors useful as solid electrolytes for lithium batteries.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLATUNJI GODO whose telephone number is (571)272-3104. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 5:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Smith can be reached on 571-272-8760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752