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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of claims 1-24 in the reply filed on 09 June 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim 25 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected method, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 09 June 2026.
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.
Claim 2 is 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.
Claim 2 recites the limitation “wherein when the compound included in the anion scavenger material is heated at a heat-up rate of 10°C/min, a temperature at which a weight of the compound is reduced to 80% of the weight of the compound at 30°C is greater than or equal to 120°C” which renders the meaning of the claim indefinite because seemingly applicant is claiming a method of heating the compound when the claims are drawn towards a product. For examination purposes the aforementioned recitation has been interpreted as “wherein when the compound included in the anion scavenger material is configured to be heated at a heat-up rate of 10°C/min, a temperature at which a weight of the compound is reduced to 80% of the weight of the compound at 30°C is greater than or equal to 120°C” (ie. a functional recitation which is not given patentable weight).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 8, 13-14, 16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi, Keitaro, et al. "Fluoride ion conductive polymer electrolytes for all-solid-state fluoride shuttle batteries." Electrochemistry 88.4 (2020): 310-313 (hereafter referred to as Takahashi; cited in IDS filed 25 December 2023) in view of Ito JP2004006237A (using machine English translation).
Regarding claim 1, Takahashi discloses a fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (Takahashi, Abstract) comprising:
an ion conductive polymer (Takahashi, section 2, P(EO/PO)),
a metal fluoride (Takahashi, section 2, MF (M = Li, Na)) and
an anion scavenger material (Takahashi, section 2, AA). Takahashi does not disclose wherein the anion scavenger material comprises a compound having a molecular weight of greater than or equal to 175.
Ito teaches wherein the anion scavenger material comprises a compound having a molecular weight of greater than or equal to 175 (Ito, Formula 7, n=1, Mw = 283.69). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to add the anion scavenger of Ito to Takahashi thereby endowing the electrolyte with an anion-capturing effect (Ito, [0049]).
Regarding claim 2, modified Takahashi also teaches wherein when the compound included in the anion scavenger material is heated at a heat-up rate of 10°C/min, a temperature at which a weight of the compound is reduced to 80% of the weight of the compound at 30°C is greater than or equal to 120°C (see 112(b) rejection above for interpretation).
Regarding claim 3, modified Takahashi also teaches wherein the ion conductive polymer comprises a polyether polymer (Takahashi, Abstract).
Regarding claim 4, modified Takahashi additionally teaches wherein the polyether polymer comprises a polymer compound containing an alkylene oxide as a repeating unit in a molecule of the polymer compound (Takahashi, section 2, P(EO/PO)), and the polymer compound has a crosslinked structure (Takahashi, section 2).
Regarding claim 5, modified Takahashi further teaches wherein the molecule of the polymer compound includes polyethylene oxide (Takahashi, section 2, P(EO)).
Regarding claim 6, modified Takahashi also teaches wherein the polymer compound has a main chain including a polyether unit (Takahashi, section 2, P(EO)) and a unit analogous to the polyether unit (Takahashi, section 2, P(PO)), and the polyether unit has a structure including repetition of -CH2CH2O- (Takahashi, section 2, P(EO)).
Regarding claim 8, modified Takahashi additionally teaches wherein the metal fluoride comprises sodium fluoride (Takahashi, section 2, MF (M = Na)).
Regarding claim 13, Takahashi discloses a fluoride shuttle battery (Takahashi, Title) comprising: a positive electrode (Takahashi, positive electrode), a negative electrode (Takahashi, negative electrode), and an electrolyte layer disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (Takahashi, [metallic electrode | polymer electrolyte | metallic electrode]),
wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of the positive electrode (Takahashi, metallic electrode and interface with polymer electrolyte), the negative electrode (Takahashi, interface with polymer electrolyte), and the electrolyte layer (Takahashi, polymer electrolyte) comprises a fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (Takahashi, Abstract) comprising:
an ion conductive polymer (Takahashi, section 2, P(EO/PO)),
a metal fluoride (Takahashi, section 2, MF (M = Li, Na)) and
an anion scavenger material (Takahashi, section 2, AA). Takahashi does not disclose wherein the anion scavenger material comprises a compound having a molecular weight of greater than or equal to 175.
Ito teaches wherein the anion scavenger material comprises a compound having a molecular weight of greater than or equal to 175 (Ito, Formula 7, n=1, Mw = 283.69). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to add the anion scavenger of Ito to Takahashi thereby endowing the electrolyte with an anion-capturing effect (Ito, [0049]), satisfying the limitation of the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 14, modified Takahashi further teaches wherein the positive electrode comprises: a positive electrode active material including a first metal element (Takahashi, metallic electrode) and a first solid electrolyte (Takahashi, interface with polymer electrolyte), and the first solid electrolyte comprises the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (see claim 13).
Regarding claim 16, modified Takahashi also teaches wherein the negative electrode comprises: a negative electrode active material including a first metal element (Takahashi, metallic electrode) and a second solid electrolyte (Takahashi, interface with polymer electrolyte), and the second solid electrolyte comprises the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (see claim 13).
Regarding claim 18, modified Takahashi additionally teaches wherein the electrolyte layer comprises a third solid electrolyte (Takahashi, polymer electrolyte), and the third solid electrolyte comprises the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (see claim 13).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (see above for full reference) in view of Ito JP2004006237A (using machine English translation) and further in view of Sung KR20180036413A (using machine English translation provided).
Regarding claim 7, modified Takahashi does not teach wherein the polymer compound contains a branched side chain having a free terminal chain.
Sung teaches wherein the polymer compound contains a branched side chain having a free terminal chain (Sung, [0056]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the polymer of Sung to modified Takahashi thereby suppressing the increase in resistance of the solid electrolyte layer (Sung, [0056]).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (see above for full reference) in view of Ito JP2004006237A (using machine English translation) and further in view of Amatucci US20110262816A1.
Regarding claim 9, modified Takahashi does not teach wherein the metal fluoride comprises cesium fluoride.
Amatucci teaches wherein the metal fluoride comprises cesium fluoride (Amatucci, [0136]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the metal fluoride of Amatucci to modified Takahashi thereby having a fluoride conductivity that is stable towards reduction or oxidation (Amatucci, [0134]).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (see above for full reference) in view of Ito JP2004006237A (using machine English translation) and further in view of Mizuno US20240105996A1 (with priority to 4 May 2021).
Regarding claim 10, modified Takahashi does not teach wherein the compound included in the anion scavenger material is 2,4,6-triphenylboroxine.
Mizuno teaches wherein the compound included in the anion scavenger material is 2,4,6-triphenylboroxine (Mizuno, [0184]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the scavenger material of Mizuno to modified Takahashi thereby suppressing self-discharge of the battery and further improving the battery performance (Mizuno, [0187]).
Claim(s) 11, 19-20, 22 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita JP2020091967A (using machine English translation provided) in view of Takahashi (see above for full reference) and further in view of Ito JP2004006237A (using machine English translation).
Regarding claim 11, Morita discloses a composite solid electrolyte material (Morita, [0029]) comprising a fluoride ion conductive inorganic solid electrolyte (Morita, [0038]). Morita does not disclose comprising: the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte according to claim 1.
Takahashi teaches a fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (Takahashi, Abstract) comprising: an ion conductive polymer (Takahashi, section 2, P(EO/PO)), a metal fluoride (Takahashi, section 2, MF (M = Li, Na)) and an anion scavenger material (Takahashi, section 2, AA). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte of Takahashi to Morita thereby improving the performance (Takahashi, section 4). Morita as modified by Takahashi does not teach wherein the anion scavenger material comprises a compound having a molecular weight of greater than or equal to 175.
Ito teaches wherein the anion scavenger material comprises a compound having a molecular weight of greater than or equal to 175 (Ito, Formula 7, n=1, Mw = 283.69). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to add the anion scavenger of Ito to Morita as modified by Takahashi thereby endowing the electrolyte with an anion-capturing effect (Ito, [0049]).
Regarding claim 19, Takahashi discloses a fluoride shuttle battery (Takahashi, Title) comprising: a positive electrode (Takahashi, positive electrode), a negative electrode (Takahashi, negative electrode), and an electrolyte layer disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (Takahashi, [metallic electrode | polymer electrolyte | metallic electrode]),
wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of the positive electrode (Takahashi, metallic electrode and interface with polymer electrolyte), the negative electrode (Takahashi, interface with polymer electrolyte), and the electrolyte layer (Takahashi, polymer electrolyte) comprises a fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (Takahashi, Abstract) comprising:
an ion conductive polymer (Takahashi, section 2, P(EO/PO)),
a metal fluoride (Takahashi, section 2, MF (M = Li, Na)) and
an anion scavenger material (Takahashi, section 2, AA). Takahashi does not disclose wherein the anion scavenger material comprises a compound having a molecular weight of greater than or equal to 175 and a composite electrolyte comprising a fluoride ion conductive inorganic solid electrolyte..
Ito teaches wherein the anion scavenger material comprises a compound having a molecular weight of greater than or equal to 175 (Ito, Formula 7, n=1, Mw = 283.69). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to add the anion scavenger of Ito to Takahashi thereby endowing the electrolyte with an anion-capturing effect (Ito, [0049]), satisfying the limitation of the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte according to claim 1. Takahashi as modified by Ito does not teach a composite electrolyte comprising a fluoride ion conductive inorganic solid electrolyte.
Morita discloses a composite solid electrolyte material (Morita, [0029]) comprising a fluoride ion conductive inorganic solid electrolyte (Morita, [0038]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the composite solid electrolyte material of Morita to Takahashi as modified by Ito thereby creating a fluoride battery having high theoretical energy (Morita, [0004], [0047]).
Regarding claim 20, modified Takahashi further teaches wherein the positive electrode comprises: a positive electrode active material including a first metal element (Takahashi, metallic electrode) and a first solid electrolyte (Takahashi, interface with polymer electrolyte), and the first solid electrolyte comprises the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (see claim 13).
Regarding claim 22, modified Takahashi also teaches wherein the negative electrode comprises: a negative electrode active material including a first metal element (Takahashi, metallic electrode) and a second solid electrolyte (Takahashi, interface with polymer electrolyte), and the second solid electrolyte comprises the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (see claim 13).
Regarding claim 24, modified Takahashi additionally teaches wherein the electrolyte layer comprises a third solid electrolyte (Takahashi, polymer electrolyte), and the third solid electrolyte comprises the fluoride ion conductive polymeric solid electrolyte (see claim 13).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita JP2020091967A (using machine English translation provided) in view of Takahashi (see above for full reference) and Ito JP2004006237A (using machine English translation) and further in view of Dieudonné, Belto, et al. "The key role of the composition and structural features in fluoride ion conductivity in tysonite Ce1−xSrxF3−x solid solutions." Dalton Transactions 46.11 (2017): 3761-3769 (hereafter referred to as Dieudonné).
Regarding claim 12, modified Morita does not teach wherein the fluoride ion conductive inorganic solid electrolyte has a fluoride ionic conductivity of greater than or equal to 1 × 10-8 S·cm-1 at 25°C.
Dieudonné teaches wherein the fluoride ion conductive inorganic solid electrolyte has a fluoride ionic conductivity of greater than or equal to 1 × 10-8 S·cm-1 at 25°C (Dieudonné, Fig. 11, 3×10−4 S/cm at RT). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan to substitute the fluoride ion conductive inorganic solid electrolyte of Dieudonné in modified Morita thereby improving ionic conductivity (Dieudonné, conclusion).
Claim(s) 15 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (see above for full reference) in view of Ito JP2004006237A (using machine English translation) and further in view of Potanin RU2187178C2 (using machine English translation provided).
Regarding claim 15, modified Takahashi does not teach wherein the first metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of copper and silver.
Potanin teaches wherein the first metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of silver (Potanin, [0010]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the first metal of Potanin to modified Takahashi thereby having high reversibility of electrode processes (Potanin, [0005]).
Regarding claim 17, modified Takahashi does not teach wherein the second metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of lead and tin.
Potanin teaches wherein the second metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of lead (Potanin, [0010]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the second metal of Potanin to modified Takahashi thereby having high reversibility of electrode processes (Potanin, [0005]).
Claim(s) 21 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita JP2020091967A (using machine English translation provided) in view of Takahashi (see above for full reference) and Ito JP2004006237A (using machine English translation) further in view of Potanin RU2187178C2 (using machine English translation provided).
Regarding claim 21, modified Morita does not teach wherein the first metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of copper and silver.
Potanin teaches wherein the first metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of silver (Potanin, [0010]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the first metal of Potanin to modified Morita thereby having high reversibility of electrode processes (Potanin, [0005]).
Regarding claim 23, modified Morita does not teach wherein the second metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of lead and tin.
Potanin teaches wherein the second metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of lead (Potanin, [0010]). Therefore it would be obvious to the skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the second metal of Potanin to modified Takahashi thereby having high reversibility of electrode processes (Potanin, [0005]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Choi WO2019226663A1 (discloses a fluoride ion battery comprising overlapping material and structure of the claimed invention).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JARED HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4590. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/JARED HANSEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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