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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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 of this title, 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.
1. Claim 1-13, 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1), or in the alternative, are rejected as being obvious over Abe et al. (US20170214091).
2. Regarding claims 1, 2, 4-13, 16, 17, Abe teaches a lithium-ion battery electrolyte, comprising: an electrolyte compound composition (EC/VC/DMC/MEC/FB, Table 1, Example 11); a lithium salt composition comprising one or more compounds comprise lithium difluoro(bisoxalato) phosphate (LiDFOP) with (LiPF6 and LiDFOP + LIDFOB), Table 1, Example 11)
3. Regarding claim 3, Abe teaches the lithium-ion battery electrolyte comprises fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) (As for suitable combinations of such cyclic carbonates, VC and FEC [0058]),
a concentration of the one or more compounds in the lithium-ion battery electrolyte is in a range of about 0.1 mol. % to about 20 mol. % (a ratio between a sum total mol concentration…“second lithium salts”:“tertiary carboxylic acid ester”=1:99 to 49:51 and more preferably 5:95 to 45:55 [0043]; This indicates concentration of the one or more compounds is 1 mol%, 5 mol%,…)
4. Regarding claims 9 and 10, Abe teaches the non-FEC cyclic carbonate is ethylene carbonate (EC) (EC/VC/DMC/MEC/FB (29/1/35/20/10), Table 1, Example 11)
5. Regarding claim 12, Abe teaches the electrolyte compound composition comprises one or more additive compounds is lithium bis(oxalato)borate (LiBOB) (As a lithium salt having an oxalic acid structure contained in the nonaqueous electrolytic solution is bis(oxalato)borate (LiBOB) [0030]), a total concentration of the one or more additive compounds in the lithium-ion battery electrolyte being about 10 mol. % or lower (wherein a ratio of mol concentration of the second lithium salt to mol concentration of the tertiary carboxylic acid ester represented by formula (I) is 1:99 to 49:51, see claim 14)
6. Regarding claim 13, Abe teaches a lithium-ion battery (lithium ion secondary battery [0094]), comprising: an anode current collector; a cathode current collector;
an anode disposed on or in the anode current collector (The negative electrode mixture paste was applied to one surface on a copper foil (current collector) [0129]); a cathode disposed on or in the cathode current collector (The positive electrode mixture paste was applied to one surface on an aluminum foil (current collector) [0129]); wherein: the anode comprises composite particles comprising silicon and carbon (As for the negative electrode active material for a lithium secondary battery a carbon material capable of absorbing and releasing lithium (graphitizable carbon, non-graphitizable carbon, silicon (simple substance), used alone in one kind or in combination of two or more kinds [0107])
7. Regarding claim 16, Abe teaches a a mass of the silicon is in a range of about 3 wt. % to about 80 wt. % of a total mass of the anode (Also, silicon (simple substance); 5% by mass [0129])
8. Regarding claim 17, Abe teaches the anode comprises graphitic carbon particles substantially free of silicon (Among the negative electrode active materials, considering absorbance and releasing ability with respect to lithium ions, high-crystalline carbon material such as artificial graphite, natural graphite [0108]).
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 of this title, 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.
9. Claims 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abe et al. (US20170214091) as applied to claim 1 in view of Chen et al. (US 20240290956, PCT filed 11/28/22).
10. Chen teaches the composite particles comprise porous carbon in which the silicon is deposited, at least some of the silicon is present in the porous carbon as Si nanoparticles (composite material includes a porous carbon substrate wherein the silicon nanoparticles, are dispersedly distributed on the surface and/or within the pores of the porous carbon substrate, abstract) for the benefit of improving the cycle performance of lithium batteries (abstract)
11. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Abe with Chen’s teachings for the benefit of improving the cycle performance of lithium batteries.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLATUNJI GODO whose telephone number is (571)272-3104. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 5:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Smith can be reached on 571-272-8760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
Prosecution Insights