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 § 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.
1. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
2. In claim 6, since the required limitation of a “lithium metal negative electrode” is an anode, it is unclear what the Applicant means by “an anode-free battery”.
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.
3. Claims 1-3, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al. (US 12272809 filed 11/16/2020)
4. Regarding claims 1-3 and 6, Du teaches lithium metal negative electrode secondary battery (The present disclosure relates to secondary batteries, col. 7 ln 15) comprising: a positive electrode; a separator; a negative electrode and electrolyte solution, wherein the electrolyte solution includes lithium ions ((In some instances, a lithium metal battery may consist of an organic liquid electrolyte, in addition to the ceramic polymer composite, such as dimethyl carbonate with one molar of lithium hexafluorophosphate, col. 34 ln 5-9), the separator is interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, the separator includes a porous base material and a covering layer, the porous base material has a first main face and a second main face, the first main face faces the positive electrode, the second main face faces the negative electrode, the covering layer covers the second main face,
the covering layer includes a lithium-ion conductor, and the lithium-ion conductor has a lithium-ion conductivity from 1.0×10−13 to 2.0×10−9 S/cm (see Fig. below).
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5. 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 Du to have ionic conductivity preferably having lower electronic conductivity (<10−7 S/cm) for the benefit of providing sufficient heat to maintain the required ionic conductivity in batteries (Detailed Description). 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. Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al. (US 12272809 filed 11/16/2020) in view Gaben (US 20230246188, PCT filed: 6/23/21)
4. Gaben teaches wherein the covering layer has a thickness from 0.5 to 15 μm (the thickness of this solid electrolyte is even more preferentially less than 10 μm [0096]), wherein the lithium-ion conductor includes lithium phosphate (Li3PO4 [0039-0040]) for the benefit of compact batteries storing high energy densities [0004].
5. 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 Du with Gaben for the benefit of compact batteries storing high energy densities.
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.
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/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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