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 species claims [3+4] in the reply filed on April 29, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 5 and 6 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on April 29, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 7-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 2019/0123337).
Hasegawa teaches a negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery as well as a lithium secondary battery (title) comprising an anode facing the cathode and an electrolyte.
Regarding the cathode active material of claims 1, 10, and 11, Hasegawa teaches the use of overlithiated lithium manganate of formula Li1.2Ni0.2Mn0.6O2 (par. 102).
Regarding the fluorine-based organic solvent of claims 1-4, Hasegawa teaches that the non-aqueous electrolytic solution (par. 53) may include aliphatic carboxylic acid esters (par. 54), such as 2,2-difluoroethyl acetate (par. 57). Regarding the content of the fluorine-based organic solvent of claims 1 and 9, Hasegawa teaches that the various types of organic solvents for use in the electrolytic solution, of which are taught to include both cyclic carbonates and aliphatic carboxylic acid esters inclusive o fluorine-based organic solvents and non-fluorine-based organic solvents, may be used alone or as a mixture of two or more thereof (par. 54). As such, and further regarding claim 8 (in addition to claims 1 and 9), one of ordinary skill would have been able to determine suitable amounts of the aliphatic carboxylic acid esters, such as 2,2-difluoroethyl acetate (par. 57) and cyclic carbonates, such as EC and FEC, in amounts ranging from 0-100%, accounting for instances where each component is not present (0%), solely present (100%), and present in combination with at least one additional component (greater than 0% and less than 100%). The overlapping ranges constitute prima facie obviousness.
Regarding the lithium salt of claims 1 and 7, Hasegawa teaches that examples of the supporting electrolyte for the electrolytic solution include lithium salts such as LiPF6 and LiBF4 (par. 61).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COLIN W SLIFKA whose telephone number is (571)270-5830. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM-5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ching-Yiu (Coris) Fung can be reached at 571-270-5713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Colin W. Slifka/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732
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