Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026
Application No. 18/408,128

ANODE ACTIVE MATERIAL FOR SODIUM SECONDARY BATTERY AND SODIUM SECONDARY BATTERY COMPRISING SAME

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jan 09, 2024
Priority
Jan 26, 2023 — RE 10-2023-0009952
Examiner
ZENG, LINGWEN R
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Korea Basic Science Institute
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
415 granted / 542 resolved
+16.6% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+20.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
567
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
64.5%
+24.5% vs TC avg
§102
23.8%
-16.2% vs TC avg
§112
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 542 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 01/09/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Specification Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details. The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided. In this case, the term “the present disclosure relates” should be amended. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (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. Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Bioinspired redox-coupled conversion reaction in FeOOH-acetate hybrid nanoplatelets for Na ion battery by Bum Chul Park et al. With respect to claim 1, Park et al. teach an anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, which has a layered crystal structure and is formed of nanoplatelets containing iron oxide having organic anions, and in which the nanoplatelets are provided in plural numbers and formed in a stacking structure spaced apart at a first interval (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 2, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the iron oxide includes FeOOH or Fe3O4, and the organic anions include an acetate (CHCOO-)-based compound (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 3, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the organic anions include an acetate group, and the acetate group is connected to the iron oxide by bidentate bridging (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 4, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the nanoplatelets include a lepidocrocite-type structure (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 5, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the nanoplatelets are 1.8 to 2 times the lattice spacing of orthorhombic lepidocrocite (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 6, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the layered crystal structure has lattice constants of a=3.035±0.003 Å, b=22.86±0.02 Å, and c=3.8120±0.001 Å (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 7, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the first spacing is 1.14 nm to 1.29 nm as a spacing between (101) planes (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 8, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein FeOOH nanoparticles are reversibly converted into Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles in the charge/discharge process, the FeOOH nanoparticles and Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles each have an average diameter of 10 nm or less, and the crystallinity of the Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles is higher than that of the FeOOH nanoparticles (Park et al.: Page 5 right column bottom). With respect to claim 9, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the nanoplatelets have a disk-shaped morphology, and the nanoplatelets have a width of 27±5 nm and an axial thickness of 19±6 nm (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 10, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery includes a repeatedly stacked nanoplatelet structure and perform intercalation of sodium ions and a biotic-reaction-type conversion reaction (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 11, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the anode active material includes an iron oxide having an acetate group, the iron oxide is FeOOH nanoparticles or Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles, the anode active material is reduced from FeOOH nanoparticles to Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles during charging, the acetate group is oxidized, and bicarbonate is formed by the oxidation of the acetate group so that it acts as a host for storing sodium ions (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 12, Park et al. teach the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery, wherein the acetate group is oxidized to produce bicarbonate ions (HCO.sup.3−), and the bicarbonate ions act as a host for storing sodium ions to produce any one or more of sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO.sub.3) and sodium carbonate (Na.sub.2CO.sub.3) (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 13, Park et al. teach a sodium secondary battery comprising: an anode containing the anode active material for a sodium secondary battery according to claim 1; and a cathode containing sodium, wherein the anode contains Na.sub.2CO.sub.3 or Na.sub.2O in the surface thereof, and Na.sub.2CO.sub.3 is provided in a larger amount than Na.sub.2O (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). With respect to claim 14, Park et al. teach the sodium secondary battery of claim 13, wherein the anode active material includes iron oxide having an acetate group, the iron oxide is FeOOH nanoparticles or Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles, the anode active material is reduced from FeOOH nanoparticles to Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 nanoparticles during charging, the acetate group is oxidized to produce bicarbonate ions (HCO.sup.3−), and the bicarbonate ions act as a host for storing sodium ions to produce any one or more of sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO.sub.3) and sodium carbonate (Na.sub.2CO.sub.3) (Park et al.: Pages 1-3). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINGWEN R ZENG whose telephone number is (571)272-6649. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm. 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, Tiffany Legette can be reached on (571) 270-7078. 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. /LINGWEN R ZENG/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 9/16/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 09, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12749709
AN ELECTROLYTE FOR MAGNESIUM ION BATTERIES
4y 4m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12749677
NEGATIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL, NEGATIVE ELECTRODE COMPRISING NEGATIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL, SECONDARY BATTERY COMPRISING NEGATIVE ELECTRODE, AND METHOD FOR PREPARING NEGATIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL
3y 3m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12749782
ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE AND ELECTRIC DEVICE
2y 9m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12738521
METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING PROTONIC CERAMIC FUEL CELL, AND PROTONIC CERAMIC FUEL CELL MANUFACTURED THEREBY
3y 3m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12738550
BASE, VOLTAGE SAMPLING ASSEMBLY, AND VOLTAGE TESTING APPARATUS
3y 2m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+20.3%)
3y 1m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 542 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month