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 .
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.
Status of Application
Claim 1 is pending and presented for examination.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant's request for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d). Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by “Fabrication of LiNiO2 using NiSO4 Recovered from NCM (Li[Ni,Co,Mn]O2) Secondary Battery Scraps and Its Electrochemical Properties” to Kwang et al. (hereinafter, “Kwang at __”).
Regarding claim 1, Kwang discloses a method of forming nickel sulfate solution (Kwang at 287 R col) comprising:
Leaching a nickel cathode material to produce a leachate (NCM, “Title” & “Table 1”);
Producing a neutralized solution from the leachate (289 R col); and
Producing a filtrate from the neutralized solution (290 L col).
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO2021226719 to Sonoc et al. (hereinafter, “Sonoc at __”; cited and provided by Applicants, with citations to the US equivalent of US PG Pub No. 20230187720).
Regarding claim 1, Sonoc discloses a method of making a nickel sulfate solution (Sonoc at [0076]) comprising:
Leaching a nickel cathode (lithium-ion battery containing Ni, Sonoc at “Abstract”) to produce a leachate (via formic acid to form a formate);
Neutralizing the solution to produce a neutralized solution rom the leachate ([0048])
Producing a filtrate from the neutralized solution ([0033]). While Sonoc does later dewater the nickel sulfate, it is still in a solution prior to this step.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by RU2364641 to Evich et al. (hereinafter, “Evich at __”; cited and provided by Applicants).
Regarding claim 1, Evich discloses a method of producing a nickel sulfate solution (Ishida at “Abstract”) comprising:
Leaching a nickel cathode material (“Abstract”) to a sulfuric acid leach to produce a leachate (Id.);
Neutralizing the solution via addition of soda ash (page 6 second paragraph); and
Filtering the neutralized solution to form a filtrate (Id.).
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C> 103 as being unpatentable over WO2022094706 to Fraser et al. (hereinafter, “Fraser at __”; citation made to the US equivalent of US20230049318) in view of JP2017115179 to Kamihara et al. (hereinafter, “Kamihara at __”).
Regarding claim 1, Fraser discloses a method of making a crystallized nickel sulfate which requires formation of a solution of such (Fraser at “Abstract”) comprising:
Leaching a nickel material to produce a leachate ([0026]);
Neutralizing the leached solution to form a neutralized solution (Id.); and
Filtering the neutralized solution to produce a filtrate ([0044]).
However, Fraser does not expressly state that the nickel material is a nickel cathode.
Kamihara, in a method of recovering nickel sulfate from a nickel cathode (Kamihara at “Abstract” & 2 [9])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to perform the method of Fraser in view of the nickel cathode material of Kamihara. The teaching or suggested motivation in doing so being recovery of valuable metals such as Co, Ni, and Mn from a base nickel cathode source and this imparts a predictable result to combine these together (see KSR v Teleflex 398 550 U.S. (2007)).
Conclusion
Claim 1 is rejected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD M RUMP whose telephone number is (571)270-5848. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 06:45 AM to 04:45 PM.
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RICHARD M. RUMP
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1759
/RICHARD M RUMP/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759