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 .
The Applicant has amended independent claim 1. The pending claims are claims 1-9.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/12/2025 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3- 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen, CN 103633306.
Regarding claim 1, Chen teaches an anode active material (abstract; 0002) for a lithium secondary battery (abstract), comprising: a carbon-based particle (0010-0011) comprising pores (0011) formed in at least one of an inside of the particle (0011) and a surface of the particle (0011); and silicon formed at an inside of the pores (0011) of the carbon-based particle (0011) or on the surface of the carbon-based particle (0011), wherein silicon has an amorphous structure (0012) or a crystallite size of silicon (0014).
Chen teaches a pore size of the carbon-based particle is 10 nm or less (0011).Chen does not teach “measured by an X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis”.
Measured by an X-ray diffraction analysis is a product-by-process. "[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985).
Regarding analysis of the other properties, “Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977).”
Chen teaches one embodiment (one aspect) wherein “silicon carbide (SiC) is not formed in the pores of the carbon-based particle or on the surface of the carbon-based particle” as described below
As seen in (0010), Chen teaches one aspect or embodiment which provides a silicon-carbon composite (silicon-carbide), wherein the silicon-containing particles (silicon-carbide) are distributed near the graphite particles, and teaches the silicon-carbide particles are not formed in the pores of the carbon-based particles (0010) or on the surface of the carbon-based (graphite) particle (0010).
Regarding claim 3, Chen teaches graphite (0012; 0014; 0033), porous carbon (0010; 0014; 0033).
Regarding claim 4, Chen teaches wherein the pore size of the carbon-based particle is less than 10 nm (0011).
Regarding claim 5, Chen teaches wherein the carbon-based particle has an amorphous structure (0011).
Regarding claim 6, Chen teaches anode active material (abstract; 0002) for a lithium secondary battery of claim 1 (abstract; 0002), wherein the crystallite size of silicon (0011) is 4 nm or less (0011).
Regarding claim 7, Chen does not teach the peak intensity ratio in the Raman spectrum of silicon is 1.0 or less. However, "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 8, Chen teaches wherein silicon has an amorphous structure (0011).
Regarding claim 9, Chen teaches a lithium secondary battery (abstract; 0002), comprising: an anode comprising an anode active material (abstract; 0002) for a lithium secondary battery (0002) according to claim 1; and a cathode facing the anode (0061).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen, CN 103633306., in view of Kim Joon Sup et al., KR 20200100557.
Regarding claim 2, Chen, modified by Kim et al, does not teach wherein the crystallite size of silicon is measured by Equation 1: [Equation 1] L=0.9λβ cos θ wherein, in Equation 1, L is the crystallite size (nm), λ is an X-ray wavelength (nm), β is a full width at half maximum (rad) from a peak of a (111) plane of silicon, and θ is a diffraction angle (rad).
However, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would be able to measure the crystallite size, via determining x-ray wavelength, peak of a plane of silicon, and a diffraction angle and one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to insert the teachings of Kim into the teachings of Chen because Kim teaches:
“crystallization of silicon (Si) in the silicon-based coating layer occurs, and the crystal grain size of silicon (Si) can be prevented from increasing due to the amorphous silicon carbide matrix, and the silicon component in the coating layer can maintain a low degree of crystallization.” (0107).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/12/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant argues that “Chen fails to disclose that SiC is not formed in the pores or on the surface of the carbon-based particle. There is no rationale to modify the teachings of Chen to exclude SiC from being formed in the pores or on the surface of the carbon-based particle.”.
However, Chen teaches one aspect or embodiment (0011; 0033), where silicon-carbon composite anode material, comprising silicon-containing particles, and a porous carbon layer, wherein the silicon-containing particles are distributed near the graphite particles, and the porous carbon layer coats the surfaces of the graphite particles and the silicon-containing particles bond them together (0010-0012).
Additionally, Chen teaches “The silicon-containing particles refer to silicon compound particles and composite particles containing silicon. Specifically, the silicon compound is an oxide of silicon, and the silicon containing composite particles are silicon-containing multiphase materials, silicon alloys, or silicon materials with a conductive carbon coating.” (0012).So although Chen may not teach the silicon carbide specifically, it teaches silicon-containing particles or silicon compound, either of which may be a silicon carbide.
Conclusion
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ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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