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
Claims 5-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected method of making, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 6/01/2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of claims 1-4 in the reply filed on 6/01/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Applicant amended claim 6 to be dependent on claim 1, thus providing the groups with the same inventive concept. This is not found persuasive because the special technical feature shared between the groups does not provide a contribution over the prior art, as evidenced below, thus the two groups still lack unity of invention.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uchiyama et al. (US 2020/0350563 A1), in view of Luo et al. (US 2023/0034396 A1, priority date of 12/31/2019).
Regarding claim 1, Uchiyama teaches an anode material (Par. 0010; “negative electrode active material”), comprising a composite material (Par. 0010; “lithium silicate composite particles (herein sometimes referred to as LSX particles)”; LSX particle 20), wherein the composite material comprises a first skeleton (primary particles 25, Fig. 1; the term “skeleton” is interpreted as a structure primarily composed of the claimed material) and a second skeleton (carbon material 25, Fig. 1; the term “skeleton” is interpreted as a structure primarily composed of the claimed material) that are entangled with each other (Fig. 1; there is no definition of the term “entangled” in the present specification, thus this will be interpreted as a second skeleton which is present throughout and in contact with a first skeleton), and nano-silicon (silicon particles 22; Par. 0075, silicon particles are preferably 50 nm in diameter); the first skeleton comprises a lithium silicate material (Par. 0017; primary particles form a lithium silicate phase), the second skeleton comprises a carbon material (carbon material 25, Fig. 1), and the nano-silicon is distributed in the lithium silicate material (Par. 0010, “silicon particles dispersed in the lithium silicate phase”; Fig. 1). Uchiyama fails to teach LixMySiO4 as the lithium silicate material, wherein values of x and y satisfy charge balance and M comprises a metal element capable of reducing silicon oxides. Uchiyama does teach, however, that the lithium silicate comprises Li, Si, O, and M, where M may be an element other than Group 1, Group 16, or Group 18 elements, or Si (Par. 0010), and provides Mg and Al as examples (Par. 0013).
However, Luo teaches a lithium silicate anode material with a formula of LixMySiOx (Par. 0068, Li4SiO4; Claim 1 does not define the ranges of subscripts x and y, therefore x may be 4 and y may be 0).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the lithium silicate material taught by Uchiyama by incorporating a material with a formula of LixMySiO4, as taught by Luo. This would be done in order to improve the initial coulombic efficiency and cycle performance of the material, as stated in Luo (Par. 0068).
Regarding claim 2, modified Uchiyama teaches the anode material of claim 1, wherein the anode material satisfies multiple conditions: the anode material further comprises a carbon coating layer on a surface of the composite material (conductive layer 26; Par. 0046, the conductive material forming the conductive layer is an electrically conductive carbon material); the carbon coating layer has a thickness of 5nm to 80 nm (Par. 0022; 1 to 200 nm, preferably 5 to 100 nm; these ranges overlap the claimed range); M comprises Mg and/or Al (Par. 0013); the nano-silicon has a particle size of 5nm to 200nm (Par. 0075; 200 nm or less, preferably 50 nm or less); the carbon material comprises one of soft carbon (Par. 0026; amorphous carbon) and hard carbon (Par. 0026; non-graphitizable carbon); the nano-silicon accounts for 30% to 60% by mass of the anode material (Par. 0059; 20 mass % to 95 mass %, preferably 35 mass % to 75 mass %; these ranges overlap the claimed range); and the carbon coating layer comprises the carbon material (conductive layer 26; Par. 0046, the conductive material forming the conductive layer is an electrically conductive carbon material). In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists (See MPEP 2144.05(I)).
Regarding claim 3, Uchiyama teaches an anode material (Par. 0010; “negative electrode active material”), comprising a composite material (Par. 0010; “lithium silicate composite particles (herein sometimes referred to as LSX particles”; LSX particle 20), wherein the composite material comprises a lithium silicate material (Par. 0020; primary particles 24 form a lithium silicate phase), a carbon material (carbon material 25) and nano-silicon (silicon particles 22; Par. 0075, silicon particles are preferably 50 nm in diameter); the lithium silicate material is a porous structure (Par. 0053; the LXS particle is formed of an aggregate of primary particles), pores of the lithium silicate material are filled with the carbon material (Par. 0006, “a carbon material is present inside the lithium silicate composite particles”), and the nano-silicon is distributed in the lithium silicate material (Par. 0010, “silicon particles dispersed in the lithium silicate phase”; Fig. 1). Uchiyama fails to teach LixMySiO4 as the lithium silicate material, wherein values of x and y satisfy charge balance and M comprises a metal element capable of reducing silicon oxides. Uchiyama does teach, however, that the lithium silicate comprises Li, Si, O, and M, where M may be an element other than Group 1, Group 16, or Group 18 elements, or Si (Par. 0010), and provides Mg and Al as examples (Par. 0013).
However, Luo teaches a lithium silicate anode material with a formula of LixMySiOx (Par. 0068, Li4SiO4; Claim 1 does not define the ranges of subscripts x and y, therefore x may be 4 and y may be 0).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the lithium silicate material taught by Uchiyama by incorporating a material with a formula of LixMySiO4, as taught by Luo. This would be done in order to improve the initial coulombic efficiency and cycle performance of the material, as stated in Luo (Par. 0068).
Regarding claim 4, modified Uchiyama teaches the anode material of claim 3, wherein the anode material satisfies multiple conditions: the anode material further comprising a carbon coating layer on at least part of a surface of the composite material (conductive layer 26; Par. 0046, the conductive material forming the conductive layer is an electrically conductive carbon material); the carbon coating layer has a thickness of 5nm to 80nm (Par. 0022; 1 to 200 nm, preferably 5 to 100 nm; these ranges overlap the claimed range); M comprises Mg and/or Al (Par. 0013); the nano-silicon has a particle size of 5nm to 200nm (Par. 0075; 200 nm or less, preferably 50 nm or less); the carbon comprises one of soft carbon (Par. 0026; amorphous carbon) and hard carbon (Par. 0026; non-graphitizable carbon); the nano-silicon accounts for 30% to 60% by mass of the anode material (Par. 0059; 20 mass % to 95 mass %, preferably 35 mass % to 75 mass %; these ranges overlap the claimed range); and the anode material further comprising a carbon coating layer on at least part of a surface of the composite material, the carbon coating layer comprises the carbon material (conductive layer 26; Par. 0046, the conductive material forming the conductive layer is an electrically conductive carbon material). In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists (See MPEP 2144.05(I)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yoshida et al. (US 2007/0202414 A1) teaches a LiaMbSiOx material (Par. 0013, MdN2eX2f; M may be Li, N2 may be Al, and X2 may be SiO4) as an anode active material in an all-solid battery.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CAMERON M BAIRD whose telephone number is (571)272-9742. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am-5pm.
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/CAMERON M BAIRD/ Examiner, Art Unit 1728
/MATTHEW T MARTIN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1728
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