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 .
Drawings
The Drawings filed 16 January 2024 are approved by the examiner.
Citation Notation
The following citations are made for the convenience of the reader:
Citations to PG publications are made to paragraph number under the ¶ format. Citations to other publications made under the format “ col 1/2” or pp 1 are directed to column and line number or to a page - whichever is appropriate. It is noted that any reference to a figure or a table is also directed to any accompanying text in the specification or the document. Notwithstanding those citations, the reference(s) is (are) relied upon for the teachings as a whole.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-4 and 6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 9, “separation” should be “separated”;
In claims 2-4, “and” should be added before the last limitation (e.g. before “a particle”);
In claim 6, “a” should be added before “heat treatment”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 3 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. Regarding claim 3, the “x” variable is not defined.
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.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a))(1) as being anticipated by Zhou (CN-116826018-A, a machine translation is provided).
Claim 1: Zhou discloses “a preparation method of a high-performance silicon-carbon composite graphite material, which comprises the following specific steps:
1) Grinding and sieving graphite material, silicon material and binder; 2) Putting the screened graphite material, silicon material and binder into a high-speed
mixer for uniform mixing, and then putting into a mould for compression into ingots; 3) And 2) performing heat treatment carbonization on the ingot obtained in
the step 2) in inert gas, cooling to room temperature, crushing, grinding, mixing, sieving and magnetically separating to obtain the high-performance silicon carbon
composite graphite material.” (abs, see also examples)
Claims 2-5 and 8: Zhou discloses the claimed particle size, the artificial graphite/mesocarbon microbeads, the silicon material, the resin and the loading ratios (pg. 2 and examples).
Claims 6 and 7: Zhou discloses the experimental conditions/variables such as the heating treatment and inert gas (abs, pg.2-3 and examples).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yamamoto discloses a process of making carbon silicon composites via grinding, sieving, a high-speed mixing, molding, performing a heat treatment, pulverizing and separating.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRI V NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6965. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arrie Lanee Reuthers can be reached at 571.272.7026. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRI V NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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