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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states: “The claimed electrolyte solutions suppress by-products generated in the electrolyte, thereby blocking discoloration through decomposition of the electrolyte itself, and improving internal resistance characteristics of the battery and high temperature storage efficiency (capacity maintenance/recovery rate). Such features are not disclosed in Kang, Maeda, or Chung.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees. As shown below, Examiner maintains that Kang anticipates the limitations of amended claim 1 by disclosing some of the listed claim additives and the amount of thiourea, so improved and unexpected results would not be considered.
Based on the remarks, if obviousness were considered arguendo for unexpected results, it appears that the improvement comes from the inclusion of the Chemical Formula compound and the listed additives over their absence, so one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the improvement from the disclosure in Kang.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-8 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kang et al. (PGPub 2023/0268553).
Considering Claim 1, Kang discloses a non-aqueous electrolyte solution (electrolyte with non-aqueous solvent [0047]) for a secondary battery (for rechargeable lithium battery [Abstract]), comprising:
(A) a lithium salt (lithium salt [0047]);
(B) a non-aqueous organic solvent (non-aqueous organic solvent [0047]); and
(C) at least one additive (smoothing additive [0007, 0071]) selected from the group consisting of a compound represented by Chemical Formula 2-1 (smoothing additive is thiourea [0071, 0016], which is Chemical Formula 2-1); and
(D) at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a lifespan prolonging additive and a high-temperature performance and power enhancing additive,
wherein the lifespan prolonging additive is selected from the group consisting of vinyl carbonate (cycle life additive of vinylene carbonate [0058]),
wherein the high-temperature performance and power enhancing additive is selected from the group consisting of lithium difluoro(oxalato)borate (lithium difluoro(oxalate)borate [0061, 0067]),
wherein an amount of the compound represented by Chemical Formula 2-1 is 10 to 100,000 ppm based on a total amount of the electrolyte solution (corresponds to 0.0010 wt% to 10 wt%, additive is 0.01 wt% to 5 wt% based on total weight of electrolyte [0007] such as 0.1 wt% of thiourea [0071]).
Considering Claim 4, Kang discloses that the lithium salt is at least one selected from the group consisting of LiPF6, LiBF4, LiSbF6, LiAsF6, LiClO4, LiN(C2F5SO2)2, LiN(CF3SO2)2 (each salt option [0061]).
Considering Claim 5, Kang discloses that the lithium salt is contained at a concentration of 0.1 to 2.0 M in the non-aqueous organic solvent (lithium salt concentration in organic solvent is 0.1 M to 2.0 M [0061]).
Considering Claim 6, Kang discloses that the non-aqueous organic solvent is at least one selected from the group consisting of linear carbonate, cyclic carbonate, linear ester (solvent may be dimethyl carbonate [0050], ethylene carbonate [0050], methyl propionate [0050]).
Considering Claim 7, Kang discloses that the non-aqueous organic solvent is at least one selected from the group consisting of linear carbonate, cyclic carbonate, linear ester (solvent may be dimethyl carbonate [0050], ethylene carbonate [0050], methyl propionate [0050]).
Considering Claim 8, Kang discloses that the non-aqueous organic solvent comprises the linear carbonate and the cyclic carbonate that are mixed in a volume ratio of 1:9 to 9:1 (linear carbonate and cyclic carbonate mixed in ratio of about 1:1 to about 9:1 [0053]).
Considering Claim 14, Kang discloses a lithium secondary battery (lithium secondary battery 100 [0065, Figure 1]), comprising:
(a) a cathode comprising a cathode active material capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium (positive electrode 10 [0065] comprising positive active material for lithium ions [0024, 0039]);
(b) an anode including an anode active material capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium (negative electrode 20 [0065] comprising negative active material for lithium ions [0024]);
(c) the non-aqueous electrolyte solution for a secondary battery of claim 1 (electrolyte [0065], see claim 1); and
(d) a separator (separator 30 [0065]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER P DOMONE whose telephone number is (571)270-7582. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-4:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Basia Ridley can be reached at (571)272-1453. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER P DOMONE/Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 1725
Prosecution Insights