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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hiratsuka et al. (US20150243982).
2. Regarding claim 1, Hiratsuka teaches a positive electrode active material for an all-solid-state battery (positive electrode active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries (abstract); The nonaqueous electrolyte…may be a solid electrolyte [0056]), comprising a lithium metal oxide in the form of a single particle (lithium complex oxide thus obtained, represented by the general formula Li0.98Ni0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 [0066]) having a particle strength of 300 MPa to 1500 MPa (Each particle has a compressive breaking strength (abstract) of 355.24 MPa, Compressive Breaking Strength, Table 1, Example 2) and an average particle size of 10 μm or less (average particle diameter of 5 μm or more and 20 μm or less [0066]; In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists (MPEP 2144.05)).
3. 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 optimized the range of Hirtasuka’s volume average particle diameter (D50) from the standpoint of obtaining an effect on the cycle characteristic in charging the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising a lithium complex oxide particle [0027]
4. Regarding claim 2, Hiratsuka teaches wherein the lithium metal oxide is represented by Chemical Formula below: LixMyO2 (where M includes at least one selected from Co, Mn, Ni, Al, Fe, V, Zn, Cr, Ti, Ta, Mg, Mo, Zr, W, Sn, Hf, Nd, and Gd, 0<x≤1.5, and 0<y≤1) (lithium complex oxide thus obtained, represented by the general formula Li0.98Ni0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 [0066]).
5. Regarding claim 3, Hiratsuka teaches wherein the lithium metal oxide is LiNiaCobMncO2 (0.6≤a≤0.9, a+b+c=1) (LiNixCoyM(1-x-y)O2(wherein M represents at least one element selected from among metal elements, 0.3≦x<1.0 and 0<y≦0.5 (abstract); Moreover, it is preferable from the standpoint of cost and safety that the metal element M comprises manganese (Mn) [0022])
6. Regarding claim 4, Hiratsuka teaches wherein the lithium metal oxide has a particle strength of 500 MPa or more (Each particle has a compressive breaking strength of from 200 MPa to 500 MPa (abstract)) and an average particle size of 1 μm to 7 μm (average particle diameter of 5 μm or more and 20 μm or less [0066]).
7. Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oh et al. (US 20190081321).
8. Regarding claims 12 and 13, Oh teaches an all-solid-state battery electrode comprising: a positive; and a negative electrode (The lithium secondary battery 100 may be an all-solid battery in which the electrolyte 130 is a solid electrolyte [0081]; lithium secondary battery 100 includes an anode 110 including the electrode composition, a cathode 120 facing the anode 110, and an electrolyte 130 interposed between the cathode 120 and the anode 110 [0080]), the positive electrode including: a solid electrolyte; a conductive material (The cathode 120 may include a cathode active material, a solid electrolyte, a conductive material [0082]); and a positive electrode active material of a lithium metal oxide (The cathode active material may be a compound containing…a transition metal oxide including a lithium element [0082]) in the form of a single particle having a particle strength of 300 MPa to 1500 MPa (active material may have a crushing strength between 40 MPa and 1000 MPa [0014]) and an average particle size of 10 μm or less (electrode active material 10 includes a first active material 11 [0053]; The first active material may have a particle size between 10 μm and 20 μm [0016]; In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists (MPEP 2144.05)).
9. Oh is silent the transition metal oxide including a lithium element has a particle strength of 300 MPa to 1500 MPa.
10. Since Oh teaches a cathode 120 may include a cathode active material, and a solid electrolyte [0082], and Oh similarly teaches the anode 110 similarly includes the electrode composition [0084] and the electrode composition may further include a solid electrolyte 20 [0067], then 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 Oh’s positive electrode with active material may have a crushing strength between 40 MPa and 1000 MPa [0014] for the benefit of improved safety and increase in high performance of the battery [0003].
11. Claims 5-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadowaki et al. (US20210226209 filed 1/13/2021)
12. Regarding claim 5, Kadowaki teaches a method of manufacturing a positive electrode active material for an all-solid-state battery (Manufacturing of Positive Electrode Active Material 0471]; Using the positive electrode active material obtained by the above manufacturing method, the all-solid lithium ion battery was manufactured [0510]), the method comprising:
preparing a lithium metal oxide raw material by mixing a transition metal composite precursor and a lithium source (Nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide particles 2 and lithium hydroxide powder were weighed and mixed at a molar ratio of Li/(Ni+Co+Mn)=1.05 [0475]) followed by primary heat treatment (a plurality of heating steps are carried out [0251]); pulverizing the lithium metal oxide raw material (The lithium metal composite oxide obtained by calcining is appropriately classified after pulverization [0276]); and
producing a lithium metal oxide in the form of a single particle having a particle strength of 300 MPa to 1500 MPa (The average crush strength of the lithium metal composite oxide included in the positive electrode active material exceeds 50 MPa [0036]) and an average particle size of 10 μm or less (8.0 μm or less is even more preferable, and 2.0 μm or more and 7.0 μm or less is particularly preferable [0124]) through secondary heat treatment for the pulverized lithium metal oxide raw material (it is preferable to use a grinder as the pulverizing machine at the time of the above pulverizing, and a stone mill type grinder is particularly preferable. In a case where a stone mill type grinder is used, it is preferable to adjust the clearance between the upper mill and the lower mill according to the aggregated state of the lithium metal composite oxide [0278]).
13. Although Kadowaki does not specifically teach the range of 300 MPa to 1500 MPa, Kadowaki teaches crush strength of the lithium metal composite oxide included in the positive electrode active material exceeds 50 MPa [0036], then 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 optimized Kadowaki’s positive electrode with active material may have a crushing strength for the benefit of good cycle characteristics which means that the amount of decrease in the battery capacity due to repeated charging and discharging is small, and that the capacity ratio at the time of remeasurement does not easily decrease with respect to the initial capacity [0010]
14. Regarding claim 6, Kadowaki teaches, wherein the transition metal composite precursor is a spherical transition metal composite hydroxide or transition metal composite carbonate prepared by a co-precipitation method (a nickel salt solution, a cobalt salt solution, a manganese salt solution, and a complexing agent are reacted by a coprecipitation method, particularly, a continuous coprecipitation method…to manufacture a metal composite hydroxide represented by Ni(1-y-z)CoyMnz(OH)2 (in the formula, y+z<1) [0205]; a spherical shape [0399])
15. Regarding claim 7, Kadowaki teaches wherein the lithium metal oxide raw material is secondary particles having an average particle size of 10 μm or less (8.0 μm or less is even more preferable, and 2.0 μm or more and 7.0 μm or less is particularly preferable [0124]) in which primary particles of hundreds of nanometers are agglomerated (In the present invention, “primary particles” means…particle size is less than 0.5 μm [0164]; In the present invention, “secondary particles” means aggregations of the primary particles formed by aggregating primary particles [0165]).
16. Regarding claim 8, Kadowaki teaches wherein the lithium metal oxide raw material in which the primary particles are agglomerated is pulverized through a ball milling process (it is preferable to use a grinder as the pulverizing machine at the time of the above pulverizing, and a stone mill type grinder is particularly preferable. In a case where a stone mill type grinder is used, it is preferable to adjust the clearance between the upper mill and the lower mill according to the aggregated state of the lithium metal composite oxide [0278]).
17. Regarding claim 9, Kadowaki teaches wherein the lithium metal oxide is represented by Chemical Formula below: LixMyO2 (where M includes at least one selected from Co, Mn, Ni, Al, Fe, V, Zn, Cr, Ti, Ta, Mg, Mo, Zr, W, Sn, Hf, Nd, and Gd, 0<x≤1.5, and 0<y≤1) (More specifically, the lithium metal composite oxide is represented by composition formula Li[Lix(Ni(1-y-z-w)CoyMnzMw)1-x]O2 (here, M is at least one type of element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Cu, Ti, Mg, Al, W, B, Mo, Nb, Zn, Sn, Zr, Ga, La, and V, and −0.1≤x≤0.30, 0≤y≤0.40, 0≤z≤0.40, 0≤w≤0.10, and 0<y+z+w are satisfied) [0044-0045])
18. Regarding claim 10, Kadowaki teaches wherein the transition metal composite precursor is NiaCobMnc(OH)2 or NiaCobMncO2 (0.6≤a≤0.9, a+b+c=1) (metal composite hydroxide represented by Ni(1-y-z)CoyMnz(OH)2 (in the formula, y+z<1) [0205]), and the lithium metal oxide is LiNiaCobMncO2 (0.6≤a≤0.9, a+b+c=1) (More specifically, the lithium metal composite oxide is represented by composition formula Li[Lix(Ni(1-y-z-w)CoyMnzMw)1-x]O2 (here, M is at least one type of element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Cu, Ti, Mg, Al, W, B, Mo, Nb, Zn, Sn, Zr, Ga, La, and V, and −0.1≤x≤0.30, 0≤y≤0.40, 0≤z≤0.40, 0≤w≤0.10, and 0<y+z+w are satisfied) [0044-0045]).
19. Regarding claim 10, Kadowaki teaches wherein the lithium metal oxide has a particle strength of 500 MPa or more (The average crush strength of the lithium metal composite oxide included in the positive electrode active material exceeds 50 MPa [0036]) and an average particle size of 1 μm to 7 μm (2.0 μm or more and 7.0 μm or less is particularly preferable [0124]).
Conclusion
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/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752