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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ito et al. (US-20210376376-A1), hereafter referred to simply as Ito.
Regarding Claim 1, Ito teaches a solid electrolyte comprising: a lithium ion conducting phase comprising at least tantalum, phosphorus, and oxygen as constituent elements (“the solid electrolyte layer 30 includes LiTa2PO8 grains 31,” paragraph 20); and a compound phase comprising at least phosphorous and oxygen as constituent elements and being free of tantalum (“and solid electrolyte grains 32 having a NASICON structure,” paragraph 20; “it is preferable that the NASICON type solid electrolyte is Li—Al—Ge—PO4-based solid electrolyte,” paragraph 35),
wherein, in a scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy image (“It is possible to measure the area ratio of LiTa2PO8 and the NASICON type solid electrolyte in the cross section of the solid electrolyte layer 30 by observing the cross section with a SEM and performing an EDS element mapping analysis. It is possible to determine an area in which Ta is detected by the EDS element mapping as LiTa2PO8 and determine an area in which Ta is not detected by the EDS element mapping as the NASICON type solid electrolyte,” paragraph 34), an area proportion of the compound phase is 0.40% or more based on 100% in total of an area of the lithium ion conducting phase, an area of the compound phase, and an area of voids (“the area ratio of LiTa2PO8 was less than 90% in the cross section of the solid electrolyte layer 30. The area ratio of the NASICON type solid electrolyte is more than 10%,” paragraph 32), and
and the solid electrolyte comprises at least lithium, tantalum, phosphorus, and oxygen as constituent elements (“the solid electrolyte layer 30 includes LiTa2PO8 grains 31,” paragraph 20).
Regarding Claim 4, Ito further teaches an all-solid-state battery (“the present invention relates to solid electrolyte, an all solid battery, and a manufacturing method of the all solid battery,” paragraph 2) comprising:a positive electrode having a positive electrode active material (“The electrode active material having the olivine type crystal structure acts as a positive electrode active material in the first electrode layer 11 acting as a positive electrode,” paragraph 25);a negative electrode having a negative electrode active material (“the second electrode layer 21 acting as a negative electrode,” paragraph 25; “The second electrode layer 21 may include known material as the negative electrode active material,” paragraph 27); anda solid electrolyte layer between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, whereinthe solid electrolyte layer comprises the solid electrolyte according to claim 1 (“the all solid battery 100 has a structure in which a first electrode 10 and a second electrode 20 sandwich a solid electrolyte layer 30,” paragraph 18; “the first electrode 10 is used as a positive electrode, and the second electrode 20 is used as a negative electrode,” paragraph 19; 10, 20, and 30 in Fig. 1A).
Regarding Claim 5, Ito further teaches the all-solid-state battery according to claim 4, wherein the positive electrode active material comprises one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of LiM3PO4, LiM5VO4, Li2M6P2O7, LiVP2O7, Lix7Vy7M7z7, Li1+x8Alx8M82−x8(PO4)3, LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2, LiCoO2, LiNiO2, LiMn2O4, Li2CoP2O7, Li3V2(PO4)3, Li3Fe2(PO4)3, LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4, and Li4Ti5O12,M3 is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Mn, Co, Ni, Fe, Al, Ti, and V, or two elements V and O (“a positive electrode includes a material having an olivine type crystal structure, as an electrode active material,” paragraph 23; “LiCoPO4 including Co may be used as a typical example of the electrode active material having the olivine type crystal structure,” paragraph 24).
Regarding Claim 6, Ito further teaches the all-solid-state battery according to claim 4, wherein the negative electrode active material comprises one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of LiM3PO4, LiM5VO4, Li2M6P2O7, LiVP2O7, Lix7Vy7M7z7, Li1+x8Alx8M82−x8(PO4)3, (Li3−a9x9+(5−b9)y9M9x9)(V1−y9M10y9)O4, LiNb2O7, Li4Ti5O12, Li4Ti5PO12, TiO2, LiSi, and graphite,M3 is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Mn, Co, Ni, Fe, Al, Ti, and V, or two elements V and O (“Conventional technology of secondary batteries may be applied to the negative electrode active material. For example, titanium oxide, lithium-titanium complex oxide, lithium-titanium complex salt of phosphoric acid salt, a carbon, a vanadium lithium phosphate,” paragraph 27).
Regarding Claim 7, Ito further teaches an all-solid-state battery comprising:a positive electrode having a positive electrode active material (“The electrode active material having the olivine type crystal structure acts as a positive electrode active material in the first electrode layer 11 acting as a positive electrode,” paragraph 25);a negative electrode having a negative electrode active material (“the second electrode layer 21 acting as a negative electrode,” paragraph 25; “The second electrode layer 21 may include known material as the negative electrode active material,” paragraph 27); anda solid electrolyte layer between the positive electrode and the negative electrode (“the all solid battery 100 has a structure in which a first electrode 10 and a second electrode 20 sandwich a solid electrolyte layer 30,” paragraph 18; “the first electrode 10 is used as a positive electrode, and the second electrode 20 is used as a negative electrode,” paragraph 19; 10, 20, and 30 in Fig. 1A),whereinthe positive electrode, negative electrode, and solid electrolyte layer comprises the solid electrolyte according to claim 1 (“paste for internal electrode is made in order to make the first electrode layer 11 and the second electrode layer 21. For example, a conductive auxiliary agent, an active material, a solid electrolyte material, a binder, a plasticizer and so on are evenly dispersed into water or organic solvent. Thus, paste for electrode layer is obtained. The above-mentioned solid electrolyte paste may be used as the solid electrolyte material,” paragraph 50; 11 and 21 in Fig. 1A show that these are part of the positive and negative electrodes 10 and 20).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tatsuji et al. (JP-2006108026-A), hereafter referred to simply as Tatsuji.
Regarding Claim 8, Tatsuji teaches a solid electrolyte material comprising at least lithium, tantalum, phosphorus, and oxygen as constituent elements [“The composition of the fabricated solid electrolyte was determined by adjusting the high-frequency power applied to the target, resulting in Li3.5P0.5Si0.5T0.2O4 (where T is one selected from the group consisting of W, Mo, and Ta),” paragraph 74], the solid electrolyte material optionally comprising at least one element selected from the following element M1 and the following element M2 as an optional constituent element, and the solid electrolyte material having a value A represented by the following expression (1) of more than 50: element M1; one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Bi, Nb, Zr, Ga, Sn, Hf, W, and Mo element M2; one or more elements selected from the group consisting of B, Si, Al, and GeA = (number of P atoms + total number of element M2 atoms)/(number of Ta atoms + total number of element M1 atoms) × 100. Tatsuji teaches Li3.5P0.5Si0.5T0.2O4 (where T is one selected from the group consisting of W, Mo, and Ta). In this case, number of P atoms = 0.5, total number of M2 atoms = 0, total number of M1 atoms (Si) = 0.5, and number of Ta atoms = 0.2. A = (0.5 + 0.5)/(0.2 + 0) x 100 = 500, exceeding the value of 50.
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.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito, in view of Hlushkou et al. (“The influence of void space on ion transport in a composite cathode for all-solid-state batteries,” Journal of Power Sources 2018), hereafter referred to simply as Hlushkou.
Regarding Claim 2, Ito does not explicitly teach the solid electrolyte according to claim 1, wherein, in a scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy image, no voids are observed, or voids are observed and an area proportion of the voids is smaller than the area proportion of the compound phase. However, Hlushkou teaches that the existence of voids substantively impedes ion transport in the solid electrolyte, particularly at the interface between the cathode and electrolyte (“The voids not only reduced the volume fraction of the phase available for ion transport, but also transformed the geometry of the solid electrolyte phase into a far more tortuous one through the generation of a large number of fine, highly tortuous paths hindering ion transport,” paragraph 2 of the Conclusion).
Considering the presence of voids negatively affects a solid electrolyte’s ionic conductivity, as taught by Hlushkou, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to optimize the solid electrolyte taught by Ito to have as few voids as possible. Please see MPEP § 2144.05(II).
Regarding Claim 3, Ito does not explicitly teach the solid electrolyte according to claim 2, wherein the area proportion of the voids is 3.0% or less based on 100% in total of the area of the lithium ion conducting phase, the area of the compound phase, and the area of voids. However, Hlushkou teaches that the existence of voids substantively impedes ion transport in the solid electrolyte, particularly at the interface between the cathode and electrolyte (“The voids not only reduced the volume fraction of the phase available for ion transport, but also transformed the geometry of the solid electrolyte phase into a far more tortuous one through the generation of a large number of fine, highly tortuous paths hindering ion transport,” paragraph 2 of the Conclusion).
Considering the presence of voids negatively affects a solid electrolyte’s ionic conductivity, as taught by Hlushkou, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to optimize the solid electrolyte taught by Ito to have as few voids as possible. Please see MPEP § 2144.05(II).
Conclusion
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/JORDAN P WILKERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 1783
/MARIA V EWALD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1783
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