DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 03/21/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements (IDS) filed 03/21/2024 have been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received 03/21/2024 are acceptable for examination purposes.
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.
Claim 1 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 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.
In claim 1 it is clear based on what percentage of silicon was calculated: based on total amount of a negative electrode active material or based on total amount of rhe negative material ( i.e. including binder and conducive additive).
Claims 2-8 depend from claim 1 directly or indirectly and fall therewith.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "a ratio", while the same ratio was already recited in claim 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
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.
Claim 1, 3,4, 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of US 2008/0248387 to Hinoki (Hinoki) in view of WO 2019087771 to Yamamoto (Yamamoto, US 20200403220 is used as English, language equivalent).
Regarding claim 1, Hinoki teaches a negative electrode (anode) for a secondary battery, comprising (Abstract): a core (current collector, Abstract) and a mixture layer formed on the core, wherein the mixture layer includes a first mixture layer, and a second mixture layer disposed on the first mixture layer (Fig. 1, claim 1). In addition, Hinoki teaches a degree of flexion of the outermost layer in the range from 3.0 to 24.0, and a flexion degree of lower layer is from1.8 to 3.0 (claims 2-4). Hinoki also teaches that porosity, density and flexion degree and such tortuosity can be adjusted by the pressure (para 51) Therefore, It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the flexion degree and as such tortuosity of the first and second layers in desired ratio in order to provide anode capable of suppressing the rapid entrance/exit of lithium ions during quick charge-discharge and ensuring the sufficient safety in use as an anode for a lithium-ion secondary battery, and the lithium-ion secondary battery using the anode. Hinoki discloses a graphite as the negative electrode active material, but does not expressly disclose, wherein the negative electrode active material contains graphite and a silicon material as an active material, and a content of the silicon material is greater than or equal to 0.5% by mass.
Yamamoto teaches a negative electrode for a secondary battery, wherein a negative electrode active material comprising carbon material and silicon (para 15). Specifically, Yamamoto teaches graphite as carbon material, and a content of silicon in the range 5 to 10% by mass, to a total mass of the negative electrode active material (para 35).Therefore such composition for the negative electrode material is well known in the art. It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the negative electrode active material of Hinoki with the active material comprising mixture of graphite and silicon, wherein content of silicon is greater than 0.5% by mass , as taught by Yamamoto, in order to ensure favorable cycle characteristics, in the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising the negative electrode including a carbon material and a silicon compound.
Regarding claim 3, Hinoki discloses a conductive aid (para 92).
Regarding claim 4, modified Hinoki discloses the invention as discussed above as applied to claim 3 and incorporated therein. Modified Hinoki does not expressly disclose a use of a fibrous carbon as a conductive additive. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to use the fibrous carbon , since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Regarding claim 7, Hinoki discloses that in the anode a thickness of the outermost layer is smaller than a thickness of the lower layer. This enables more adequate prevention of the deformation of the anode during quick charge-discharge (para 11). Specifically, modified Hinoki discloses wherein the thickness of the first mixture layer is 79.3% and the second mixture layer is 20.7% (Example 2).
Regarding claim 8, Hinoki discloses secondary battery comprising: the negative electrode, a positive electrode, and an electrolyte (para 38, Fig. 2).
It is noted that a specific example in the prior art which is within a claimed range anticipates the range. See MPEP 2131.03
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of US 2008/0248387 to Hinoki (Hinoki) in view of WO 2019087771 to Yamamoto (Yamamoto, US 20200403220 is used as English, language equivalent) and further in view US 20100285356 to Choi (Choi).
Regarding claim 5, modified Hinoki discloses the invention as discussed above as applied to claim 3 and incorporated therein. Modified Hinoki does not expressly disclose wherein a content (Q2) of the conductive agent in the second mixture layer is larger than a content (Q1) of the conductive agent in the first mixture layer.
Choi teaches an electrode for rechargeable lithium battery (Abstract) wherein the electrode comprising a first electrode composition layer provided on a surface of the current collector; and a second electrode composition layer farther than the first electrode composition layer from the current collector, wherein each of the first and second electrode composition layers comprises an active material and a conductive material, and wherein the amount of the conductive material of the first electrode composition layer is different from that of the conductive material of the second electrode composition layer (Claim 1). In addition, Choi teaches wherein the amount of the conductive material of the first electrode composition layer is greater than that of the conductive material of the second electrode composition layer. As such the ratio (Q2/Q1) is necessarily exceeds 1(para 24, claim 2 , re claim 6). It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the negative electrode of modified Hinoki by adjusting amount of the conductive additive in the first and second negative material layers, as taught by Choi, in order to provide an electrode suitable for batteries with high energy density.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) of independent claim 1, set forth in this Office action.
Closest prior art of record- US 2008/0248387, WO2019167493 (US 20200403220 is used as English, language equivalent), US 20100285356 US 20140170484 and US 20190173070 fail to teach or suggest each and every limitation of claim 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER USYATINSKY whose telephone number is (571)270-7703. The examiner can normally be reached IFP.
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/Alexander Usyatinsky/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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