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 .
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) 1-8 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2020/0176753) in view of Nakamura et al. (US 2023/0327112).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a lithium secondary battery (the abstract) comprising: a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator disposed between the positive electrode and negative electrode ([0019]); wherein in the negative electrode, a negative electrode active layer containing a carbon-based negative electrode active material and a coating layer containing silicon-containing particles are sequentially located on a negative ([0016], [0020], [0057] and [0062]-[0063]).
Lee fails to teach volume resistance of the negative electrode as claimed.
However, Nakamura teaches volume resistance of the negative electrode as claimed ([0175]).
In view of Nakamura’s teaching, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee by incorporating the teaching as taught by Nakamura so that the conductivity between the active material increases and thus the internal resistance of the lithium battery can be reduced (see Nakamura: [0175] and [0176]).
Regarding claim 2, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Nakamura further teaches wherein the negative electrode has a volume resistance of about 8.0 X 10⁻³ Ω·cm to 9.0 X 10⁻¹ Ω cm ([0175]-[0176]).
Regarding claim 3, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the silicon-containing particles contain particles in which a ratio of a silicon element and an oxygen element is about 1:0.5 to 1.5 ([0069], [0099], [0101] and [0115]).
Regarding claim 4, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the silicon-containing particles have an average particle size (D50) of about 1 µm to 20 µm ([0065], [0101] and [0115]).
Regarding claim 5, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the silicon-containing particles include a carbon layer on surface thereof ([0025]).
Regarding claim 6, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the coating layer contains about 70 parts by weight or more of silicon-containing particles and about 30 parts by weight or less of binder relative to the total of 100 parts by weight of the coating layer ([0069] and [0101]).
Regarding claim 7, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the coating layer has an average thickness about 1.5 µm to 30 µm, and a thickness ratio of the coating layer to the negative electrode active layer is about 0.01 to 0.3 ([0074], [0099] and [0101]).
Regarding claim 8, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the positive electrode includes a positive electrode active layer on a positive electrode current collector, the positive electrode active layer containing one or more types of positive electrode active materials among compounds represented by the following Formulas 1 and 2:
[Chemical Formula 1]
LiFeaM¹₁-XO₄
[Chemical Formula 2]
in the Formulas 1 and 2,
M¹ is one or more types of elements selected from the group consisting of W,
Cu, Fe, V, Cr, CO, Ni, Mn, Ti, Zr, Zn, Al, In, Ta, Y, La, Sr, Ga, Sc, Gd, Sm, Ca, Ce, Nb, Mg, B, and Mo,
X is one or more types selected from the group consisting of P, Si, S, As and Sb,
a satisfies 0M² is one or more types of elements selected from the group consisting of W, Cu, Fe, V, Cr, Ti, Zr, Zn, Al, In, Ta, Y, La, Sr, Ga, Sc, Gd, Sm, Ca, Ce, Nb, Mg, B, and Mo, and
X, y, Z, W and V satisfy 1.0≤x≤1.30, 0respectively, and y+z+w+v=1 ([0084]).
Regarding claim 12, Lee teaches a negative electrode for lithium secondary battery (the abstract), the negative electrode comprising: a negative electrode active layer containing a carbon-based negative electrode active material and a coating layer containing silicon-containing particles, on a negative electrode current collector, wherein the silicon-containing particles included in the coating layer contain particles in which a ratio of a silicon element and an oxygen element is about 1:05 to 1.5 ([0016], [0020], [0057], [0062]-[0063], [0069], [0099], [0101], [0115] and claims 1-10).
Lee fails to teach volume resistance of the negative electrode as claimed.
However, Nakamura teaches volume resistance of the negative electrode as claimed ([0175]).
In view of Nakamura’s teaching, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee by incorporating the teaching as taught by Nakamura so that the conductivity between the active material increases and thus the internal resistance of the lithium battery can be reduced (see Nakamura: [0175] and [0176]).
Regarding claim 13, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the silicon-containing particles include a carbon layer on surfaces thereof and have an average particle size (D50) of about 1 µm to 20 µm ([0025], [0065], [0101] and [0115]).
Regarding claim 14, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the coating layer contains about 70 parts by weight or more of silicon-containing particles and about 30 parts by weight or less of binder relative to the total of 100 parts by weight of the coating layer ([0069] and [0101]).
Regarding claim 15, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Lee further teaches wherein the coating layer has an average thickness about 1.5 µm to 30 µm, and a thickness ratio of the coating layer to the negative electrode active layer is about 0.01 to 0.3 ([0074], [0099] and [0101]).
Claim(s) 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as modified by Nakamura as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hanai et al. (US 2013/0082658).
Regarding claim 9, Lee as modified by Nakamura teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above except for the lithium secondary battery system comprising a plurality of cell assemblies; a charger/discharger; a sensor and controller as claimed.
However, Hanai teaches battery pack system comprising a plurality of cell assemblies (10-15); a charger/discharger (21-25); a sensor (28 and 32) and controller (44) as claimed (fig. 1, the abstract and [0044]-[0075]).
In view of Hanai’s teaching, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Lee and Nakamura by incorporating the teaching as taught by Hanai in order to arrive at the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 10, Lee as modified by Nakamura and Hanai teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Hanai further teaches wherein the controller performs a series of process including: selecting a cell assembly having error rate of about 5% or more, in comparison between an average electricity amount of the cell assemblies and an electricity amount of an individual cell assembly; among individual lithium secondary batteries provided in the corresponding selected cell assembly selected at the selecting, determining that an internal short has occurred in a corresponding lithium secondary battery having electricity amount measured by the sensor is lower than an applied electricity amount of each lithium secondary battery by about 0.5% or more; and stopping charging or discharging of the cell assembly including the corresponding lithium secondary battery determined to be internally short-circuited (figs. 1-4).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as modified by Nakamura and Hanai as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Lim et al. (US 2022/0359923).
Regarding claim 11, Lee as modified by Nakamura and Hanai teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above except for a temperature sensor as claimed.
However, Lim teaches battery module comprises temperature sensor as claimed ([0032]-[0037]).
In view of Lim’s teaching, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combinations of Lee, Nakamura and Hanai by incorporating the teaching as taught by Lim so as to measure the temperature of each batter cell (Hanai: [0037]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
References: Lebreux et al. (US 2025/0360826); Choe et al. (US 2021/0013731); Konishi et al. (US 2020/0075937); Jung (US 10,205,331); Lim (WO 2017/003168A1) and Jung (US 2016/0322838) are cited because they are related to battery module.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tuyen Kim Vo whose telephone number is (571)270-1657. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs: 8AM-6:30PM.
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/TUYEN K VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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