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 § 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 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hashimoto et al. (WO 2021/205821 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Hashimoto teaches a coated active material including positive electrode active material and a coating layer which covers at least a portion of the surface of the positive electrode active material (Paragraph [0040]), and the coating layer contains the first solid electrolyte (Paragraph [0041]).
Hashimoto teaches the coating layer as a first solid electrolyte represented by the compositional formula LiaMebYcX6 which satisfies (1) a+mb+3c=6 and c>0, (2) Me includes at least one element selected from the group consisting of metallic elements other than Li and Y, and metalloid elements, (3) m is the valence of Me, (4) X includes at least one selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and I, and (5) Me may include at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Zn, Sc, Al, Ga, Bi, Zr, Hf, Ti, Sn, Ta, and Nb (Paragraphs [0081]-[0083]). The element Me of Hashimoto may be at least one element selected from the group that includes Al, and in combination with the existing components of the formula of Hashimoto, namely Y, arrives at the same composition as claimed in the instant application.
Interpretation Table
Instant application
Hashimoto et al. (WO 2021/205821 A1)
Li
Li
Ti
“Me” (at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Zn, Sc, Al, Ga, Bi, Zr, Hf, Ti, Sn, Ta, Nb)
“M” (at least one selected from the group consisting of Ca, Mg, Al, Y, Zr)
Y
F
“X” (at least one selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and I)
Hashimoto teaches a specific surface area of the positive electrode active material as represented by Sα and a specific surface area of the coating active material as represented by Sβ, where 0.81 < Sβ/Sα < 0.97 (Paragraph [0046]). Ratios taught by Hashimoto fall within the claimed range. “If the prior art discloses a point within the claimed range, the prior art anticipates the claim.” UCB, Inc. v. Actavis Labs. UT, Inc., 65 F.4th 679, 687, 2023 USPQ2d 448 (Fed. Cir. 2023). See MPEP § 2131.03.
Regarding Claim 2, Hashimoto teaches the coated active material includes the positive electrode active material and the coating layer (Paragraph [0040]).
Regarding Claims 3 and 4, Hashimoto teaches a specific surface area of the positive electrode active material as represented by Sα and a specific surface area of the coating active material as represented by Sβ, where 0.81 < Sβ/Sα < 0.97 (Paragraph [0046]). Ratios taught by Hashimoto fall within the claimed range. “If the prior art discloses a point within the claimed range, the prior art anticipates the claim.” UCB, Inc. v. Actavis Labs. UT, Inc., 65 F.4th 679, 687, 2023 USPQ2d 448 (Fed. Cir. 2023). See MPEP § 2131.03.
Regarding Claims 5 and 6, Hashimoto teaches the coating layer as a first solid electrolyte represented by the compositional formula LiaMebYcX6 which satisfies (1) a+mb+3c=6 and c>0, (2) Me includes at least one element selected from the group consisting of metallic elements other than Li and Y, and metalloid elements, (3) m is the valence of Me, (4) X includes at least one selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and I, and (5) Me may include at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Zn, Sc, Al, Ga, Bi, Zr, Hf, Ti, Sn, Ta, and Nb (Paragraphs [0081]-[0083]). The element Me of Hashimoto may be at least one element selected from the group that includes Al, and in combination with the existing components of the formula of Hashimoto, namely Y, arrives at the same composition as claimed in the instant application.
Regarding Claim 7, Hashimoto teaches the coating layer as a first solid electrolyte represented by the compositional formula LiaMebYcX6 which satisfies (1) a+mb+3c=6 and c>0, (2) Me includes at least one element selected from the group consisting of metallic elements other than Li and Y, and metalloid elements, (3) m is the valence of Me, (4) X includes at least one selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and I, and (5) Me may include at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Zn, Sc, Al, Ga, Bi, Zr, Hf, Ti, Sn, Ta, and Nb (Paragraphs [0081]-[0083]). In accordance with the Interpretation Table above, Li is common to both Hashimoto and the instant application, “Me” of Hashimoto is equated to Ti of the instant application with a valence m of 4, Y of Hashimoto is equated to “M” of the instant application, and “X” of Hashimoto is equated to F of the instant application. The compositional formula LiaMebYcX6 of Hashimoto satisfies its condition a+mb+3c=6 by using values of 2.4, 0.6, 0.4, and 4 for a, b, c, and m respectively.
The conditions set forth by Claim 7 of the instant application to fulfill 1.7 ≤ Li/(Ti+M) ≤ 4.2 are also satisfied by the corresponding solutions for Li, Ti, and M from the solutions of Hashimoto, wherein values of 2.4, 0.6, and 0.4 for Li, Ti, and M respectively result in a solution to Li/(Ti+M) of 2.4 which is within the claimed range. “If the prior art discloses a point within the claimed range, the prior art anticipates the claim.” UCB, Inc. v. Actavis Labs. UT, Inc., 65 F.4th 679, 687, 2023 USPQ2d 448 (Fed. Cir. 2023). See MPEP § 2131.03. See Calculation Table 1 below.
Calculation Table 1
Instant application
Hashimoto et al. (WO 2021/205821 A1)
Subscript in formula LiaMebYcX6 from Hashimoto
Solution from Hashimoto
Li
Li
a
2.4
Ti
“Me”
b
0.6
(m=4)
“M”
Y
c
0.4
F
“X”
6
-
Regarding Claim 8-10, Hashimoto teaches the coating layer as a first solid electrolyte represented by the compositional formula LiaMebYcX6 which satisfies (1) a+mb+3c=6 and c>0, (2) Me includes at least one element selected from the group consisting of metallic elements other than Li and Y, and metalloid elements, (3) m is the valence of Me, (4) X includes at least one selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and I, and (5) Me may include at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Zn, Sc, Al, Ga, Bi, Zr, Hf, Ti, Sn, Ta, and Nb (Paragraphs [0081]-[0083]). In accordance with the Interpretation Table above, Li is common to both Hashimoto and the instant application, “Me” of Hashimoto is equated to Ti of the instant application with a valence m of 4, Y of Hashimoto is equated to “M” of the instant application, and “X” of Hashimoto is equated to F of the instant application. The compositional formula LiaMebYcX6 of Hashimoto satisfies its condition a+mb+3c=6 by using values of 2.4, 0.6, 0.4, and 4 for a, b, c, and m respectively.
The conditions set forth by Claim 8 of the instant application to fulfill the formula Li6-(4-x)b(Ti1-xMx)bF6 where 0<x<1 and 0<b≤1.5 can be determined using the solutions of Hashimoto to solve the system of equations of the instant application. See Calculation Table 2 below. The conditions are satisfied by the values of 0.4 and 1 for x and b respectively, which are obtained using the solutions to the Hashimoto equation. The solutions of 0.4 and 1, for the values of x and b respectively, fall within the claimed ranges of 0<x<1 and 0<b≤1.5 of Claim 8, as well as 0.1≤x≤0.9 of Claim 9 and 0.8≤b≤1.2 of Claim 10. “If the prior art discloses a point within the claimed range, the prior art anticipates the claim.” UCB, Inc. v. Actavis Labs. UT, Inc., 65 F.4th 679, 687, 2023 USPQ2d 448 (Fed. Cir. 2023). See MPEP § 2131.03.
Calculation Table 2
Instant application
Subscript in formula Li6-(4-x)b(Ti1-xMx)bF6 from instant application
Hashimoto et al. (WO 2021/205821 A1)
Subscript in formula LiaMebYcX6 from Hashimoto
Solution from Hashimoto
Li
6-(4-x)b
Li
a
2.4
Ti
(1-x)b
“Me”
b
0.6
(m=4)
“M”
xb
Y
c
0.4
F
6
“X”
6
-
Regarding Claim 11, Hashimoto teaches a positive electrode active material, coating layer, and second solid electrolyte (Paragraph [0064]).
Regarding Claim 12, Hashimoto teaches the second solid electrolyte may be a sulfide solid electrolyte (Paragraph [0146]).
Regarding Claim 13, Hashimoto teaches a battery using positive electrode, a solid electrolyte layer, and a negative electrode (Paragraph [0239]; Figure 2).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Vivian Cheng whose telephone number is (571)270-1930. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 7:30am-5pm ET, Fri 7:30am-12pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Frank Vineis can be reached at (571)270-1547. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/V.S.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1781
/FRANK J VINEIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1781
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