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 .
2. Claims 1-7 are pending in this office action.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. Information disclosure statements (IDS), submitted February 26, 2024, and April 3, 2025, have been received and considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-3 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (CN106410180A).
With regard to Claims 1 and 3, Li et al. disclose a positive electrode active material for a secondary battery, comprising: a lithium metal composite oxide having a crystal structure based on a rock-salt structure belonging to a space group Fm-3m, wherein the lithium metal composite oxide has an empty space at cation sites in the crystal structure, wherein the lithium metal composite oxide contains a first metal element other than Li, and a second metal element other than Li and the first metal element, and the first metal element is at least one selected from the group consisting of Gd, Ce, Eu, Sm, and Yb, as represented by the molecular structural formula: LiaMnbNcMdO2, wherein N is one or more of Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb, and M is one of more of rare earth elements Sc, La, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu and 1≤a≤1.5, 0<b≤1, 0<c≤1, 0<d≤0.1, and a+b+c+d=2 (paragraphs 0014-0016; Examples 1-4).
With regard to Claim 2, Li et al. disclose wherein the second metal element contains Mn, as represented by the molecular structural formula: LiaMnbNcMdO2, wherein N is one or more of Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb, and M is one of more of rare earth elements Sc, La, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu and 1≤a≤1.5, 0<b≤1, 0<c≤1, 0<d≤0.1, and a+b+c+d=2 (paragraphs 0014-0016; Examples 1-4).
With regard to Claim 5, Li et al. disclose wherein the lithium metal composite oxide is represented by a formula: LiaMnbM1cM2dO2-eFe, and in the formula, M1 is at least one selected from the group consisting of Gd, Ce, Eu, Sm, and Yb, M2 is a metal element other than Li, Mn, Gd, Ce, Eu, Sm, and Yb, and 0<a≤1.35, 0.4≤b≤0.9, 0<c≤0.15, 0≤d≤0.1, 0≤e≤0.75, and 1.75≤a+b+c+d≤2 are satisfied, as represented by the molecular structural formula: LiaMnbNcMdO2, wherein N is one or more of Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb, and M is one of more of rare earth elements Sc, La, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu and 1≤a≤1.5, 0<b≤1, 0<c≤1, 0<d≤0.1, and a+b+c+d=2 (paragraphs 0014-0016; Examples 1-4).
With regard to Claim 6, Li et al. disclose wherein in the formula, M2 is at least one selected from the group consisting of Ti, Ni, Co, Sn, Nb, Mo, Bi, V, Cr, Y, Zr, Zn, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Pt, Au, Ag, Ru, Ta, W, La, Pr, Dy, and Er, represented by the molecular structural formula: LiaMnbNcMdO2, wherein N is one or more of Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb, and M is one of more of rare earth elements Sc, La, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu and 1≤a≤1.5, 0<b≤1, 0<c≤1, 0<d≤0.1, and a+b+c+d=2 (paragraphs 0014-0016; Examples 1-4).
With regard to Claim 7, Li et al. disclose a secondary battery, comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; and an electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode includes the positive electrode active material for a secondary battery noted above (paragraph 0027).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN106410180A), as applied to Claims 1-3 and 5-7 above, and in further view of Zhang et al. (WO 2021/153527 A1) using Zhang et al. (US 2023/0045802 A1) as an English equivalent.
With regard to Claim 4, Li et al. disclose the positive electrode active material for a secondary battery in paragraph 7 above, but do not specifically disclose wherein the lithium metal composite oxide contains fluorine.
Zhang et al. disclose a positive electrode active substance for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery containing a lithium-transition metal composite oxide which has a crystal structure belonging to the space group Fm-3m and is represented by the compositional formula LixMnyMaObFc, wherein M is at least one type of element excluding Mn; x+y+a=b+c=2; 1<x≤1.35; 0≤y≤0.9; 0≤a≤0.2; and 1.3≤b≤1.8 (paragraphs 0006, 0025-0033). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the positive electrode active material of Li et al. to include the lithium metal composite oxide containing fluorine, because Zhang et al. teach introducing a predetermined amount of fluoride ions increases the battery capacity (paragraph 0011).
Conclusion
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARIE O APICELLA whose telephone number is (571)272-8614. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 5:00PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Buie-Hatcher can be reached at 571-270-3879. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KARIE O'NEILL APICELLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
Prosecution Insights