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 1-10 and 18-20 in the reply filed on 8 September 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 11-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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 1-5, 7-10 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN111710845A1 (Deng), which is listed in Applicant’s information disclosure statement.
Regarding claims 1-5 and 7-10, Deng teaches a negative electrode active material comprises silicon oxide and lithium silicate Li4SiO4 ([0006] and [0021]), which meets the claimed metal silicate, and a hydrophobic coating layer comprising lauric acid or stearic acid([0015]-[0018]), which meets the claimed hydrocarbon coating layer and fatty acid.
Regarding the maximum absorbance peak Pa, Pb, the ratio of area value Sa/Sb, the area value Sa, Sb of FT-IR spectrum at the corresponding wave number of claims 1-5, Deng teaches the same silicon oxide of same metal silicate and the same coating layer of the same fatty acid, the claimed FT-IR characteristics, i.e., peak area, ratio, peak absorbance wave number effects and physical properties, would naturally arise and be achieved by Deng’s material. "Products of identical chemical composition can not have mutually exclusive properties." In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 709, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1658 (Fed. Cir. 1990). See MPEP § 2112.01.
Regarding claims 18 and 20, Deng teaches a lithium secondary battery comprises a negative electrode prepared from the active material comprising silicon oxide, lithium silicate and hydrocarbon coating ([0054] and [0105]).
Regarding claim 19, Deng teaches the negative electrode further comprises graphite ([0107]).
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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deng.
The teachings of Deng are set forth above.
While teaching the coating layer comprise stearic acid ([0018]), Deng does not teach the instantly claimed oleic acid, however, oleic acid has the same number of carbon atoms as that of stearic acid and is structurally sufficiently similar to oleic acid thus exhibiting similar hydrophobicity that one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to utilize oleic acid in the hydrophobic coating layer of Deng. "An obviousness rejection based on similarity in chemical structure and function entails the motivation of one skilled in the art to make a claimed compound, in the expectation that compounds similar in structure will have similar properties." In re Payne, 606 F.2d 303, 313, 203 USPQ 245, 254 (CCPA 1979). See In re Papesch, 315 F.2d 381, 137 USPQ 43 (CCPA 1963). See MPEP2144.09 I and II. Consequently , the presence of Pc1 and Pc2 peaks derived from the carboxylic group of oleic acid.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AIQUN LI whose telephone number is (571)270-7736. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am -4:00 pm.
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/AIQUN LI/Ph.D., Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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