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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mitsumoto et al. (“Mitsumoto”, US 2020/0194788 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Mitsumoto discloses a positive electrode active substance for all solid-state lithium secondary battery (title) (reads on claim 9). Mitsumoto teaches a lithium manganese-containing composite oxide (abstract) (reads on claim 8).
Mitsumoto does not expressly teach a cumulative relative particle amount of particles having a particle size of 1.5 microns or less, which is 25% or less of a total amount of particles in a particle size distribution graph. However, such is depicted in Fig. 1 of Mitsumoto where nearly all the bars are above 1.5 microns. The shape of the distribution is substantially similar to Applicant’s, and thus, there would be a reasonable expectation that Mitsumoto meets the limitations of claims 4, 6, and 7.
As to claims 2 and 3, Mitsumoto teaches a heat treatment step ([0176]) which would read on firing, and teaches the heat treatment atmosphere is set to a pressure of more than 0.19 MPa, preferably more than 0.20 MPa or more, as necessary ([0177]).
As to claim 5, Mitsumoto teaches Dmin is preferably 0.1 to 2.0 microns ([0101], but can be adjusted within the above range to enhance cycle characteristics ([0102]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL H. LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-2548. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Orlando can be reached at 5712705038. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DANIEL H. LEE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1746
/DANIEL H LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
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