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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 4/16/24 and 8/21/25 have been considered by the examiner.
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 1-19 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.
Claim 1 recites “one or more of lithium-containing phosphates with olivine structure and modified compounds thereof, and the “modified compounds” means that the compounds are modified by doping and/or surface coating”, which is indefinite. It is unclear what “modified compounds thereof” encompasses. Examiner suggests “one or more of lithium-containing phosphates with olivine structure, doped lithium-containing phosphates with olivine structure and surface coated lithium-containing phosphates with olivine structure.
Claim 16 recites “the lithium-containing phosphate with olivine structure comprises…carbon”, which is indefinite as carbon is not a lithium-containing phosphate with olivine structure.
Claim 17 recites the limitations "the same area", “the first region”, “the second region”, “the distance”, “the center” and “the electrode plate” in lines 2-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. Furthermore, “the center” is singular and “the first region and the second region” is plural, thus, it is unclear how a distance is measured from a single “center”. In addition, it is unclear if “the electrode plate” is referencing the negative electrode plate or the positive electrode plate.
Claim 18 recites the limitations "the same area", “the first region”, “the second region”, “the distance”, “the center” and “the electrode plate” in lines 2-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. Furthermore, “the center” is singular and “the first region and the second region” is plural, thus, it is unclear how a distance is measured from a single “center”. In addition, it is unclear if “the electrode plate” is referencing the negative electrode plate or the positive electrode plate.
To the extent the claims are understood in view of the 35 USC 112 rejections above, note the following prior art rejections.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5-6, 14-16 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al., US 2020/0152964 A1 in view of Nakazawa et al., US 2017/0162906 A1.
Li teaches a lithium ion battery comprising a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, a separator and an electrolyte [0036]. The negative electrode plate comprises a negative electrode current collector and a negative active material layer disposed on at least one surface of the negative electrode current collector [0014]. The negative active material comprises a graphite material [0023]. The graphite material of the negative active material may be one or both of artificial graphite and natural graphite [0029]. The resistivity of the negative electrode plate is from 5 Ω.m to 100 Ω.m [0027]. The resistivity of the negative electrode plate may be 10 Ω.m [0022]. See also Table 1. The positive electrode plate comprises a positive electrode current collector and a positive active material layer disposed on at least one surface of the positive electrode current collector [0038]. The positive active material may be a lithium transition metal oxide material [0039-0044]. The mass percentage of the graphite material in the negative active material is 50 wt % or more, and the lower limit of the mass percentage of the graphite material in the negative active material is, for example, 50 wt %, 55 wt %, 60 wt %, 65 wt %. 70 wt %, 75 wt %, 80 wt %, 85 wt %, 90 wt %, or 95 wt % [0031]. The compact density of the negative active material layer is preferably from 1.5 g/cm3 to 1.75 g/cm3 [0026].
Li does not explicitly teach the positive active material may be a lithium-containing phosphate with olivine structure. However, Li teaches the positive active material performs reversible deintercalation/intercalation of lithium ions during operation. Li teaches the positive active material is preferably a manganese-containing positive active material due to high structural stability, low oxidation activity to an electrolyte, inhibition of gas production and improved safety [0039]. Nakazawa teaches a lithium secondary battery comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode and an electrolyte wherein the positive electrode active material is a lithium transition metal-based compound. See at least [0361] of Nakazawa
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that teaches examples of the phosphate compounds capable of desorbing and inserting Li ions include those classified as having an olivine structure that are typically represented by LiMePO4 including a specific example of LiMnPO4. Nakazawa further teaches the positive electrode active material may be a lithium transition metal complex oxide and the negative electrode active material may comprise natural graphite and artificial graphite [0263-0269; 0276]. Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed because one of skill would have found it obvious to use the LiMnPO4 positive active material of Nakazawa for the positive active material that performs reversible deintercalation/intercalation of lithium ions recited by Li because Nakazawa teaches LiMnPO4 and lithium transition metal complex oxide are typically used to desorb and insert lithium ions. In addition Li teaches the positive active material is preferably a manganese-containing positive active material due to high structural stability, low oxidation activity to an electrolyte, inhibition of gas production and improved safety [0039].
*
Claim(s) 3-4 and 7-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al., US 2020/0152964 A1 in view of Nakazawa et al., US 2017/0162906 A1, further in view of CN 109888368A, and/or in view of CN 109704323A.
Li teaches a lithium ion battery comprising a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, a separator and an electrolyte [0036]. The negative electrode plate comprises a negative electrode current collector and a negative active material layer disposed on at least one surface of the negative electrode current collector [0014]. The negative active material comprises a graphite material [0023]. The graphite material of the negative active material may be one or both of artificial graphite and natural graphite [0029]. The resistivity of the negative electrode plate is from 5 Ω.m to 100 Ω.m [0027]. The resistivity of the negative electrode plate may be 10 Ω.m [0022]. See also Table 1. The positive electrode plate comprises a positive electrode current collector and a positive active material layer disposed on at least one surface of the positive electrode current collector [0038]. The positive active material may be a lithium transition metal oxide material [0039-0044]. The mass percentage of the graphite material in the negative active material is 50 wt % or more, and the lower limit of the mass percentage of the graphite material in the negative active material is, for example, 50 wt %, 55 wt %, 60 wt %, 65 wt %. 70 wt %, 75 wt %, 80 wt %, 85 wt %, 90 wt %, or 95 wt % [0031]. The compact density of the negative active material layer is preferably from 1.5 g/cm3 to 1.75 g/cm3 [0026].
Li does not explicitly teach the positive active material may be a lithium-containing phosphate with olivine structure. However, Li teaches the positive active material performs reversible deintercalation/intercalation of lithium ions during operation. Li teaches the positive active material is preferably a manganese-containing positive active material due to high structural stability, low oxidation activity to an electrolyte, inhibition of gas production and improved safety [0039]. Nakazawa teaches a lithium secondary battery comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode and an electrolyte wherein the positive electrode active material is a lithium transition metal-based compound. See at least [0361] of Nakazawa
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that teaches examples of the phosphate compounds capable of desorbing and inserting Li ions include those classified as having an olivine structure that are typically represented by LiMePO4 including a specific example of LiMnPO4. Nakazawa further teaches the positive electrode active material may be a lithium transition metal complex oxide and the negative electrode active material may comprise natural graphite and artificial graphite [0263-0269; 0276]. Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed because one of skill would have found it obvious to use the LiMnPO4 positive active material of Nakazawa for the positive active material that performs reversible deintercalation/intercalation of lithium ions of Li because Nakazawa teaches the LiMnPO4 and lithium transition metal complex oxide are typically used to desorb and insert lithium ions. In addition Li teaches the positive active material is preferably a manganese-containing positive active material due to high structural stability, low oxidation activity to an electrolyte, inhibition of gas production and improved safety [0039].
CN 109888368A teaches a lithium ion battery comprising a negative electrode sheet, a positive electrode sheet, a separator and an electrolyte. The negative electrode sheet includes a negative active material comprising a carbon material including artificial graphite and natural graphite having a mass ratio of (5-7) : (3-5). The carbon material may have a median diameter of 5-15 mm. Both natural graphite and artificial graphite have high crystallinity. One of skill in the art would have been motivated to provide the negative active material comprising artificial graphite and natural graphite of Li in the mass ratio and having the median diameter as disclosed by CN 109888368A because the mass ratio and median diameter of the natural graphite and artificial graphite where known in the art for negative active material of lithium ion batteries. CN 109888368A teaches the content of the artificial graphite being greater than the content of natural graphite is beneficial to improve the cycle performance of the lithium ion battery. The particle size of the carbon material is small, which ensures the integrity of the crystal and excellent electrochemical performance.
CN 109704323A teaches a lithium ion battery comprising a negative electrode sheet, a positive electrode sheet, a separator and an electrolyte. The negative electrode sheet includes a negative active material comprising a graphitized carbon material including artificial graphite and natural graphite. The graphitized carbon material having a graphitization degree of 93% to 97%, a compacting density of 1.40-1.85 g/cm3 and an average particle diameter Dv50 of 5-15 mm. One of skill in the art would have been motivated to provide the negative active material comprising artificial graphite and natural graphite of Li having the graphitization degree and Dv50 disclosed by CN 109704323A to provide a negative active material having high specific capacity, long cycle life and excellent rate performance, as taught by 109704323A. See also Table 1 and Table 2 of 109704323A.
Conclusion
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/TRACY M DOVE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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