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 § 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. Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US20200161634).
2. Regarding claims 1 and 8, Kim teaches a negative electrode composition comprising: a silicon-containing active material; a negative electrode conductive material; and a negative electrode binder (Polyvinyl alcohol as a binder [0154]; A binder and water were added to the dry mixed mixture and mixed at 25° C. for 40 minutes to obtain a negative active material slurry [0167]), wherein the negative electrode conductive material comprises a dot-shaped conductive material and a planar conductive material, wherein the planar conductive material has a BET specific surface area of 100.0 m2/g or more, and wherein the silicon-containing active material is present in an amount of 60 parts by weight or more based on 100 parts by weight of the negative electrode composition (see Fig. below).
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3. 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 Kim with optimized ranges for the benefit of developing battery materials to provide improved capacity and charging characteristics [0005]. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists (MPEP 2144.05).
4. Regarding claims 2 and 3, Kim teaches wherein the negative electrode composition comprises 35 parts by weight to 65 parts by weight of the dot-shaped conductive material (10 parts by weight to about 80 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the total weight of the composite [0067]) and 35 parts by weight to 65 parts by weight of the planar conductive material based on 100 parts by weight of the negative electrode conductive material (an amount of the carbonaceous material may be from about 20 parts by weight to about 95 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight, of the total weight of the porous silicon composite and the carbonaceous material [0084])
5. Regarding claim 4, Kim teaches wherein the negative electrode conductive material is comprised in an amount of 10 parts by weight or more and 40 parts by weight or less, based on 100 parts by weight of the negative electrode composition (The amount of the composite conducting agent in the electrode may be, for example, from about 0.1 parts by weight to about 10 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the total weight of the electrode [0091]).
6. Regarding claim 5, Kim teaches wherein the planar conductive material has a D10 of 0.5 μm or more and 1.5 μm or less, a D50 of 2.5 μm or more and 3.5 μm or less, and a D90 of 7.0 μm or more and 15.0 μm or less (artificial graphite (CG1, having a particle diameter of 11.7 μm [0153]).
7. Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches wherein the silicon-containing active material comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of SiOx, wherein x=0, SiOx, wherein 0<x<2, SiC, and a Si alloy (formula SiOx wherein 0<x<2 [0012])
8. Regarding claim 7, Kim teaches wherein the silicon-containing silicon based active material comprises at least one or more-selected from SiOx, wherein 0<x<2 (formula SiOx wherein 0<x<2 [0012]).
9. Regarding claim 9, Kim teaches wherein in the performing of the first mixing and second mixing, mixing is performed at 2,000 rpm to 3,000 rpm for 10 minutes to 60 minutes (at about 1500 rpm [0166]; A mixing time varies according to the rotation speed, or the like, and may be, for example, in the range of about 10 minutes to about 100 minutes [0088]).
10. Regarding claim 10, Kim teaches wherein negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery, comprising: a negative electrode current collector layer; and a negative electrode active material layer comprising the negative electrode composition on one surface or both surfaces of the negative electrode current collector layer ( the electrode has a structure in which an electrode active material layer, which comprises a first electrode active material 11, a second electrode active material 14, and composite conducting agent comprising a carbonaceous conductive material 13, and a graphene-silica composite 12, are disposed on a current collector 10 [0054]).
11. Regarding claim 11, Kim teaches wherein the negative electrode current collector layer has a thickness of 1 μm or more and 100 μm or less, and wherein the negative electrode active material layer has a thickness of 20 μm or more and 500 μm or less (The negative active material slurry was coated on a Cu foil using a doctor blade to form a film having a thickness of 20 μm [0168]).
12. Regarding claim 12, Kim teaches wherein lithium secondary battery comprising: a positive electrode; the negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery; a separator between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and an electrolyte (The separator 124 may be interposed between the positive electrode 123 and the negative electrode 122 to form a battery assembly. A plurality of such battery assemblies may be stacked in a bi-cell structure and impregnated with an organic electrolytic solution. The resultant battery assembly may be put into a pouch and sealed to complete the manufacture of a lithium-ion polymer battery [0143]).
Conclusion
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/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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