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 Group I, claims 1-8 in the reply filed on May 23rd, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 9-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 23rd, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 4, and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sohn (KR 2011-0116934 A) (the attached machine translation is referenced below).
Regarding claim 1, Sohn teaches a method for preparing a pretreated product for recovering valuable metals of a lithium secondary battery (Sohn, [0028]-[0071]), the method comprising:
preparing a cathode active material mixture from a cathode of the lithium secondary battery (Sohn, [0028], “Disconnect with battery module”; [0033], “Disconnect into battery cell”; and [0037], “Discharge” constitute preparing a cathode active material mixture from a cathode of the lithium secondary battery, as discussed in [0045]);
drying or pulverizing the cathode active material mixture (Sohn, [0046]-[0048], “Dehydration and Drying” and [0054]-[0058], “Crushing and Particle size separation”); and
classifying the dried or pulverized cathode active material mixture to have an average particle diameter (D50) of less than 210 μm (Sohn, [0058], “-65mesh” means that the particles passed through a 65 mesh, or 210 μm, screen, meaning that all particles have a particle diameter of less than 210 μm, meaning that D50 is necessarily less than 210 μm).
Regarding claim 4, Sohn teaches the method according to claim 1, as discussed above, wherein the pulverizing is performed by using an impact crusher (Sohn, [0055]-[0057], grinding was used for pulverization, which entails impacting particles to crush them).
Regarding claim 6, Sohn teaches the method according to claim 1, as discussed above, comprising the steps, which are sequentially performed, of:
drying the cathode active material mixture (Sohn, [0046]-[0048], “Dehydration and Drying”);
pulverizing the dried cathode active material mixture (Sohn, [0054]-[0058], “Crushing and Particle size separation”); and
classifying the dried or pulverized cathode active material mixture to have an average particle diameter (D50) of less than 210 μm (Sohn, [0058], “-65mesh” means that the particles passed through a 65 mesh, or 210 μm, screen, meaning that all particles have a particle diameter of less than 210 μm, meaning that D50 is necessarily less than 210 μm).
Regarding claim 7, Sohn teaches the method according to claim 1, as discussed above, wherein the prepared cathode active material mixture comprises macroaggregated particles having a particle diameter of 1 mm to 2.4 mm (Sohn, [0056], -8 + 18 mesh portion consists of particles between 1 and 2.4 mm in diameter) and fine powder having a particle diameter of less than 210 μm (Sohn, [0056], the -65mesh portion has a diameter of less than 210 μm; As pulverization continues after this 30 second time point, the cathode active material mixture at this time point reads on “the prepared cathode active material mixture”).
Regarding claim 8, Sohn teaches the method according to claim 7, as discussed above, wherein the classified cathode material mixture does not include any macroaggregated particles (Sohn, [0057], no macroaggregated particles could have passed through the 65 mesh sieve).
Claims 1-2, 4, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Min (CN 112054265 A, 2020) (the translation provided with the attached original document is referenced below).
Regarding claim 1, Min teaches a method for preparing a pretreated product for recovering valuable metals of a lithium secondary battery (Min, [0051]-[0057]), the method comprising:
preparing a cathode active material mixture from a cathode of the lithium secondary battery (Min, [0053], “positive pole piece” is cathode, and removing aluminum foil is a preparing step);
drying or pulverizing the cathode active material mixture (Min, [0054]-[0055], vacuum dried at 200°C and mechanically crushed); and
classifying the dried or pulverized cathode active material mixture to have an average particle diameter (D50) of 3.5 μm (Min, [0055], sieved).
Regarding claim 2, Min teaches the method according to claim 1, as discussed above, wherein the cathode comprises a cathode current collector and a cathode active material layer formed on the cathode current collector (Min, [0053], NCM811 is the cathode active material, and aluminum is the cathode current collector; see also Paragraphs [0037] and [0056]), and
the preparing of the cathode active material mixture comprises removing the cathode current collector from the cathode (Min, [0053], aluminum foil is removed).
Regarding claim 4, Min teaches the method according to claim 1, as discussed above, wherein the pulverizing is performed by using an impact crusher (Min, [0055], the separated ternary cathode material is mechanically crushed, i.e., by impacting the material).
Regarding claim 6, Min teaches the method according to claim 1, as discussed above, comprising the steps, which are sequentially performed, of:
drying the cathode active material mixture (Min, [0054] vacuum dried at 200°C);pulverizing the dried cathode active material mixture (Min, [0055], mechanically crushed); and
classifying the pulverized cathode active material mixture to have an average particle diameter (D50) of 3.5 μm (Min, [0055], sieved).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Min (CN 112054265 A, 2020) (the translation provided with the attached original document is referenced below), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wu (CN 102593514 A, 2012) (the translation provided with the attached original document is referenced below).
Regarding claim 3, Min teaches the method according to claim 1, as discussed above, wherein the drying is performed at 200°C (Min, [0054]), which differs from the claimed range of 60°C to 100°C, for an unspecified duration, as opposed to the claimed 48 hours to 96 hours. However, Wu teaches an analogous drying process of a ternary lithium ion battery cathode-containing device conducted at 80-85°C in an oven for 48 hours (Wu, [0052]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have substituted Min’s vacuum drying at 200°C for Wu’s oven drying at 80-85°C for 48 hours in the absence of a vacuum. Applying a known technique to a known device (method or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results is likely to be obvious. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143, D.). In the instant case, Min’s method was ready for improvement because it required the use of vacuum instrumentation, and drying at 80-85°C for 48 hours without applying a vacuum, as taught by Wu (Wu, [0052]), would yield the predictable result of drying the cathode material while obviating the need for a vacuum oven.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Min (CN 112054265 A) (the translation provided with the attached original document is referenced below), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamaguchi (JP 2014-199774 A) (the attached machine translation is referenced below).
Regarding claim 5, Min teaches the method according to claim 1, as discussed above, wherein the classifying is performed by screening the dried or pulverized cathode active material mixture (Min, [0055], sieved). Min does not explicitly teach that the screening is also accompanied by vibrating the mixture. However, Yamaguchi teaches that a vibrating sieve is a preferable sieve for sieving recycled cathode material from a lithium ion battery (Yamaguchi, [0050]-[0051], [0068]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have had Min’s sieve be a vibrating sieve, and to thereby have vibrated the mixture during the screening (sieving) operation, as Yamaguchi teaches that a vibrating sieve is preferable for this purpose (Yamaguchi, [0051]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY J. BAUM whose telephone number is (571)270-0895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:00.
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/ZACHARY JOHN BAUM/Examiner, Art Unit 1736
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