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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in the 1st line of claim 1, add “said electrolytic solution” before “comprising” for clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regard to independent claim 1, the phrase “may be” (present in two instances in the 2nd line from the end of the claim) is indefinite, as “may be” recites an optional function of being “the same as or different from each other”. In this instance, it is suggested to replace “may be” with “are” to more distinctly define both instances of this limitation in the claim. Since claims 2-11 depend from claim 1, these claims are rejected under 35 USC 112(b) for the same reason.
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)(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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2020-13881 A, of which a complete copy of the Japanese document with a machine translation was provided with the Information Disclosure Statement dated November 9, 2023.
Regarding independent claim 1, as well as claims 9-11, JP ‘881 discloses a non-aqueous electrolytic solution for a battery (see abstract; pages 2-6 of the Japanese document; paragraphs [0017], [0138], and [0233] of the translation; and claims 1-6 of the translation), in which the non-aqueous electrolytic solution includes the following composition:
a sulfuric ester compound (see pages 2-5 of the Japanese document; and claims 2 and 3 of the translation); and
a formula (P) having R1, R2, R3, R4, L1, and PO42- groups, as shown in applicants’ claim 1 (see page 6 of the Japanese document), wherein
each of R1 to R4 independently represents an alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, L1 represents an alkylene group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and wherein n represents an integer of 0 (see claims 2, 3, and 6 of the translation).
However, since JP ‘881 discloses that n = 0, formula (P) of applicants’ claim 1 would not require both R4 and L1, rendering formula (P) in its simplest form to include only one each of the R1, R2, R3, and PO42- groups, as anticipated by the PO4 based compound at the top of page 6 of the Japanese document, as well as in claims 2, 3, and 6 of the translation.
Regarding claim 2, JP ‘881 discloses that the compound represented by the formula (P) includes compound (P-1) in the form of PO4 with one or more alkyl groups or compound (P-2) in the form of PO4 with three or more aromatic groups (see page 6 of the Japanese document).
Regarding claim 3, JP ‘881 discloses that the sulfuric ester compound includes a cyclic sulfuric ester compound (see pages 3-5 of the Japanese document; and claims 2 and 3 of the translation).
Regarding claims 4 and 5, JP ‘881 discloses that the sulfuric ester compound includes a compound represented by formula (C), wherein each of Rc1 to Rc4 independently represents a hydrocarbon group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and the compound represented by formula (C) includes compound (C-4) – see page 3 of the Japanese document; and claims 2 and 3 of the translation.
Regarding claim 6, JP ‘881 discloses that a number ratio (sulfuric acid groups / phosphoric acid groups) of a number of sulfuric acid groups contained in a total amount of the sulfuric ester compound to a number of phosphoric acid groups contained in a total amount of the compound represented by formula (P) would necessarily be more than 0 since there would be a minimum of one of each of the sulfuric acid groups and the phosphoric acid groups in formula (P) – see abstract; pages 2-6 of the Japanese document; and claims 2, 3, and 6 of the translation.
Regarding claim 7, JP ‘881 discloses that a content of the compound represented by formula (P) would be from 0.1% by mass to 1.0% by mass with respect to a total amount of the non-aqueous electrolytic solution for a battery (0.1% by mass to 3% by mass – see claim 6 of the translation).
Regarding claim 8, JP ‘881 discloses a cyclic carbonate ester compound containing a carbon-carbon unsaturated bond (see paragraph [0038] of the translation).
Regarding claims 9-11, JP ‘881 discloses a lithium secondary battery precursor comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and the non-aqueous electrolytic solution for a battery of claim 1, and further including a method of producing a lithium secondary battery by providing the lithium secondary battery precursor, then charging and discharging the lithium secondary battery precursor to obtain a lithium secondary battery obtained by charging and discharging the lithium secondary battery (see paragraphs [0017] and [0233] of the translation; and claim 1 of the translation).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN P KERNS whose telephone number is (571)272-1178. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-430pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Walker can be reached at (571)272-3458. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN P KERNS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735 July 28, 2026
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