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 without traverse of claims 1, 4, and 14-22 in the reply filed on 08/20/2026 is acknowledged. The examiner notes that Claim 3 depends from claim 2 and thus is not generic because it requires that the reactive film comprises at least one elemental metal. As a result, claim 3 is withdraw as being drawn to a non-elected group.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 04/18/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
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 1,4, and 14-22 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the substrate". There is no prior mention of “a substate” in claim 1; the preceding recitation introduces “an electrically conductive substrate”. For proper antecedent basis and clarity, the term should be recited as “electronically conductive substrate”.
Claim 14 introduces “a metal substrate” and subsequently recites “…on the surface of the substrate.” Claim 15 further recites “…wherein the substrate of the anode is a copper foil or mesh”. In each instance, “the substrate” lacks proper antecedent basis because it was originally introduced as “a metal substrate”. For clarity and consistency, “the substrate” in claims 14 and 15 should be amended to “the metal substrate”.
Because independent claims 1 and 14 are indefinite due to lack of antecedent basis, the claims dependent thereon (claims 4 and 15-22) are likewise indefinite and rejected.
Claims 14, 16, 18 and 22 IN independent claim 14, the element is introduced as “a lithium-reactive oxide film” and later referred to in the same claim as “the reactive oxide film”, “the film” and “the metal oxide film”. Subsequent depend claims inconsistently vary the naming of this element:
Claim 16 recites “the lithium-reactive oxide film”
Claim 18 recites “the film”
Claim 22 recited “the oxide film”
It appears that the terms “lithium-reactive oxide film”, “reactive oxide film”, “film” and “metal oxide film” are being used interchangeably to refer to the same component. Consistent terminology must be used throughout the claims to establish clear an unambiguous antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 1, 4, 14-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang US20220407182A1 in view of Lee US20200144599A1
Regarding claim 1, Jang teaches a rechargeable electrochemical cell comprising, in a fully discharged state [Para 0071]:
a cathode, a layered anode with an electrolyte there between (The present disclosure also provides a lithium secondary battery comprising a cathode, an anode, and the presently disclosed flame-resistant polymer composite separator, which is disposed between the cathode and the anode. [Para 0071])
wherein the cathode comprises an electrochemically reactive first metal selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, Mg, and Zn; (cathode active materials, such as LixV2O5 and Li2Sx [Para 0077] The inorganic cathode active material may be selected from: (a) bismuth selenide or bismuth telluride, (b) transition metal dichalcogenide or trichalcogenide, (c) sulfide, selenide, or telluride of niobium, zirconium, molybdenum, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, titanium, cobalt, manganese, iron, nickel, or a transition metal; (d) boron nitride, or (e) a combination thereof. The inorganic material may be selected from a transition metal dichalcogenide, a transition metal trichalcogenide, or a combination thereof. The inorganic material may be selected from TiS2, TaS2, MoS2, NbSe3, MnO2, CoO2, an iron oxide, a vanadium oxide, or a combination thereof. The metal oxide or metal phosphate may be selected from a layered compound LiMO2, spinel compound LiM2O4, olivine compound LiMPO4, silicate compound Li2MSiO4, Tavorite compound LiMPO4F, borate compound LiMBO3, or a combination thereof, wherein M is a transition metal or a mixture of multiple transition metals. [Para 0143-0145])
the layered anode comprises an electrically conductive substrate and a reactive film on a surface of the substrate in contact with the electrolyte (The present disclosure also provides a lithium secondary battery comprising a cathode, an anode, and the presently disclosed flame-resistant polymer composite separator, which is disposed between the cathode and the anode. [Para 0071])
the reactive film comprises (a) an elemental metal or a semimetal selected from the group consisting of B, Mg, Al, Ca, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Sr, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Te, Ba, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Bi, or (b) an oxide of a metal or a semimetal selected from the group consisting of Li, Be, B, Al, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, In, Sn, Sb, Te, La, Ce, Hf, Ta, W, Pb, and Bi ( the battery is a lithium-ion battery and the anode has an anode current collector and a layer of an anode active material supported by the anode current collector, wherein the anode active materials is selected from the group consisting of: (a) silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), phosphorus (P), bismuth (Bi), zinc (Zn), aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and cadmium (Cd); (b) alloys or intermetallic compounds of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Ni, Co, or Cd with other elements; (c) oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides, phosphides, selenides, and tellurides of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Fe, Ni, Co, V, or Cd, and their mixtures, composites, or lithium-containing composites; (d) salts and hydroxides of Sn; (e) lithium titanate, lithium manganate, lithium aluminate, lithium titanium niobium oxide, lithium-containing titanium oxide, lithium transition metal oxide, ZnCo2O4; (f) carbon or graphite particles (g) prelithiated versions thereof; and (h) combinations thereof [Para 0031])
the electrolyte comprises ions of the reactive metal of the cathode (The inorganic solid electrolytes that can be incorporated into a polymer matrix as an ion-conducting additive to make a separator include, but are not limited to, perovskite-type, NASICON-type, garnet-type and sulfide-type materials. A representative and well-known perovskite solid electrolyte is Li3xLa2/3-xTiO3 [Para 0084] lithium ions come out of the cathode active material, move to the anode, and deposit onto a surface of the anode current collector. [Para 0030])
wherein the reactive film alloys with, forms a mixed phase with, or reacts with, the first metal from the cathode during charging of the cell, and releases the first metal back to the cathode during discharging of the cell to reconstitute the reactive film (As the charging procedure continues, more lithium ions get to deposit onto the anode current collector, forming a lithium metal film or coating. During the subsequent discharge procedure, this lithium film or coating layer decreases in thickness due to dissolution of lithium into the electrolyte to become lithium ions [Para 0078]).
Jang fails to teach the reactive film has a thickness of about 1 to 100 nm.
Lee teaches the reactive film has a thickness of about 1 to 100 nm (the thin film may be disposed between the anode current collector and the anodeless coating layer. A thickness of the thin film may be in a range of about 1 nanometer (nm) to about 500 nm, or in a range of about 50 nanometer to about 300 nm [Para 0048]) The materials of Lee overlap the active materials of Jang, see [Para 48 and 87-89] of Lee and [Para 31] of Jang.
It would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to size the reactive layer on the anode substrate of Jang to a thickness within the range of about 1 to 100 nm because Lee teaches when a thickness of the thin film 24 is less than 1 nm, the performance of the thin film 24 may not be sufficient to improve upon a performance characteristic of the battery 1. When a thickness of the thin film 24 is greater than 500 nm, the thin film 24 may be intercalated with lithium, thus reducing a deposition amount of lithium on an anode, which may lead to deteriorating characteristics of the all-solid secondary battery 1. [Para 0089].
Regarding claim 4, modified Jang teaches the electrochemical cell of claim 1
Jang also teaches the electrochemical cell of claim 1, wherein the reactive film of the anode has a three-dimensional, non-planar morphology (The materials described in paragraph 0031 would necessarily have a three-dimensional, non-planar morphology when deposited on the anode current collector.)
Regarding claim 14, Jang teaches a rechargeable lithium electrochemical cell comprising, in a fully discharged state [Para 0071]:
a cathode comprising lithium (cathode active materials, such as LixV2O5 and Li2Sx [Para 0077] The inorganic cathode active material may be selected from: (a) bismuth selenide or bismuth telluride, (b) transition metal dichalcogenide or trichalcogenide, (c) sulfide, selenide, or telluride of niobium, zirconium, molybdenum, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, titanium, cobalt, manganese, iron, nickel, or a transition metal; (d) boron nitride, or (e) a combination thereof. The inorganic material may be selected from a transition metal dichalcogenide, a transition metal trichalcogenide, or a combination thereof. The inorganic material may be selected from TiS2, TaS2, MoS2, NbSe3, MnO2, CoO2, an iron oxide, a vanadium oxide, or a combination thereof. The metal oxide or metal phosphate may be selected from a layered compound LiMO2, spinel compound LiM2O4, olivine compound LiMPO4, silicate compound Li2MSiO4, Tavorite compound LiMPO4F, borate compound LiMBO3, or a combination thereof, wherein M is a transition metal or a mixture of multiple transition metals. [Para 0143-0145]))
layered anode with a lithium electrolyte therebetween (The present disclosure also provides a lithium secondary battery comprising a cathode, an anode, and the presently disclosed flame-resistant polymer composite separator, which is disposed between the cathode and the anode. [Para 0071])
wherein the layered anode comprises a metal substrate and a lithium-reactive oxide film (the anode in the lithium secondary battery has an amount of lithium or lithium alloy as an anode active material supported by an anode current collector. [Para 0030] The anode current collector may be selected from, for instance, a Cu foil, a Cu-coated polymer film [Para 0032])
wherein the oxide film comprises an oxide of a metal or a semimetal selected from the group consisting of Li, Be, B, Al, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, In, Sn, Sb, Te, La, Ce, Hf, Ta, W, Pb, and Bi (the anode active materials is selected from the group consisting of lithium titanate, lithium manganate, lithium aluminate, lithium titanium niobium oxide, lithium-containing titanium oxide, lithium transition metal oxide, ZnCo2O4 [Para 0030-0031]);
the film reacts with lithium from the cathode during charging of the cell, and releases the lithium back to the cathode to reconstitute the metal oxide film during discharging of the cell. (The first battery charge operation, lithium ions come out of the cathode active material, move to the anode, and deposit onto a surface of the anode current collector. The battery is a lithium-ion battery and the anode has an anode current collector and a layer of an anode active material supported by the anode current collector, wherein the anode active materials is selected from the group consisting of: oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides, phosphides, selenides, and tellurides of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Fe, Ni, Co, V, or Cd, and their mixtures, composites, or lithium-containing composites; (d) salts and hydroxides of Sn; (e) lithium titanate, lithium manganate, lithium aluminate, lithium titanium niobium oxide, lithium-containing titanium oxide, lithium transition metal oxide, ZnCo2O4 .[Para 0030-0031])
Jang fails to teach the reactive film has a thickness of about 1 to 100 nm.
Lee teaches the reactive film has a thickness of about 1 to 100 nm (the thin film may be disposed between the anode current collector and the anodeless coating layer. A thickness of the thin film may be in a range of about 1 nanometer (nm) to about 500 nm, or in a range of about 50 nanometer to about 300 nm [Para 0048]. The materials of Lee overlap the active materials of Jang, see [Para 48 and 87-89] of Lee and [Para 31] of Jang.
It would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to size the reactive layer on the anode substrate of Jang to a thickness within the range of about 1 to 100 nm because Lee teaches When a thickness of the thin film 24 is less than 1 nm, the performance of the thin film 24 may not be sufficient to improve upon a performance characteristic of the battery 1. When a thickness of the thin film 24 is greater than 500 nm, the thin film 24 may be intercalated with lithium, thus reducing a deposition amount of lithium on an anode, which may lead to deteriorating characteristics of the all-solid secondary battery 1. [Para 0089]
Regarding claim 15, modified Jang teaches the electrochemical cell of claim 14
Jang also teaches the substrate of the anode is a copper foil or mesh (The anode current collector may be selected from, for instance, a Cu foil [Para 0032]).
Regarding claim 16, 17, 18 modified Jang teaches the electrochemical cell of claim 14
Jang also teaches the lithium-reactive oxide film comprises an oxide of at least one metal or semimetal selected from the group consisting of B, Ti, Zr, Nb, Zn, Al, Ga, In, and Sn, wherein the metal oxide or semimetal oxide also comprises lithium ions, the film comprises a lithium aluminum oxide (The first battery charge operation, lithium ions come out of the cathode active material, move to the anode, and deposit onto a surface of the anode current collector. The battery is a lithium-ion battery and the anode has an anode current collector and a layer of an anode active material supported by the anode current collector, wherein the anode active materials is selected from the group consisting of: oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides, phosphides, selenides, and tellurides of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Fe, Ni, Co, V, or Cd, and their mixtures, composites, or lithium-containing composites; (d) salts and hydroxides of Sn; (e) lithium titanate, lithium manganate, lithium aluminate, lithium titanium niobium oxide, lithium-containing titanium oxide, lithium transition metal oxide, ZnCo2O4 .[Para 0030-0031])
Regarding claim 19, modified Jang teaches the electrochemical cell of claim 14,
Jang also teaches the lithium electrolyte is a liquid electrolyte comprising a lithium electrolyte salt in a non-aqueous aprotic solvent ( electrolyte in the lithium battery may be selected from an organic liquid electrolyte, ionic liquid electrolyte, polymer gel electrolyte, solid polymer electrolyte, inorganic solid-state electrolyte, quasi-solid electrolyte having a lithium salt dissolved in an organic or ionic liquid with a lithium salt concentration higher than 2.0 M, or a combination thereof [Para 0038] a separator backbone composed of particles of Li7La3Zr2O12 embedded in an aramid fiber-based nonwoven fabric layer. This cell was then injected with the reactive solution mixture (10% by weight based on the total cell weight) [Para 0167])
Regarding claim 20, modified Jang teaches the electrochemical cell of claim 14,
Jang also teaches the lithium electrolyte is a polymer electrolyte comprising a lithium electrolyte salt dispersed in a polymer matrix. (polymer composite separator comprises (a) a binder or matrix polymer; (b) 0.1% to 50% by weight of a lithium salt dispersed in the binder/matrix polymer [Para 0013)
Regarding claim 21, modified Jang teaches the electrochemical cell of claim 20,
Jang also teaches also discloses the polymer electrolyte further comprises a non-aqueous aprotic solvent dispersed in the polymer matrix. (The first liquid solvent is preferably selected from the group consisting of vinylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, fluoroethylene carbonate, vinyl sulfite [Para 0014] matrix polymer is a polymerization or crosslinking product of a reactive additive comprising (i) a first liquid solvent that is polymerizable, (ii) an initiator or crosslinking agent, and (iii) the lithium salt [Para 0013])
Regarding claim 22, modified Jang teaches the electrochemical cell of claim 14,
Jang also teaches the oxide film of the anode has a three-dimensional, non-planar morphology. (the materials described in paragraph 0031 would necessarily have a three-dimensional, non-planar morphology when deposited on the anode current collector)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CALEB UCHECHUKWU ORJI whose telephone number is (571)270-3370. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00am- 5:00pm ET Mon-Thur.
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/CALEB U ORJI/Examiner, Art Unit 1713
/ERIN F BERGNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
