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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 4/11/24 and 12/2/25 were filed on 4/11/24 and 12/2/25. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 4/11/24 are accepted by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al (US 2022/0238865).
Regarding claims 1-4, Takahashi et al discloses a secondary battery, comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode “10” comprising: a positive electrode substrate “11” (positive electrode core); and
a positive electrode active material layer “12” (positive electrode mixture layer) formed on a surface of the positive electrode substrate, wherein the positive electrode active material layer contains, as a positive electrode active material, a first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles “sc1” that are single particles (non-aggregated particles) having D50 (median diameter on a volumetric basis) of 3.2 um, and a second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles “mc1” that are secondary particles having D50 (median diameter on a volumetric basis) of 12.8 um formed by aggregation of primary particles having an average particle diameter of 0.1 um to 0.2 um; and the positive electrode active material layer has a first layer “1” formed closer to the positive electrode substrate, and a second layer “2” formed on the first layer,
wherein the first layer contains 100 mass% of the first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles based on a total mass of the positive electrode active material contained in the first layer; and
the second layer contains at least second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles;
wherein a mass ratio between the first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles and the second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles in the second layer is 50:50;
wherein a thickness ratio of the second layer to the thickness of positive electrode active material layer is 0.75 corresponding to a proportion of the first layer in the positive electrode mixture layer that is 25 mass% ([0051]-[0053],[0061],[0065], [0081],[0144]-[0155], Table 1, and Fig. 3).
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ko et al (US 2020/0041023).
Regarding claims 1-4, Ko et al discloses a secondary battery, comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode “20” comprising: a positive electrode collector “21” (positive electrode core); and
a positive electrode mixture layer “22” formed on a surface of the positive electrode collector, wherein the positive electrode mixture layer contains, as a positive electrode active material, a second positive active material (first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) that are single particles (non-aggregated particles) having an average particle diameter (median diameter on a volumetric basis) of 2 um or more and less than 30 um, and first positive electrode active material (second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) that are secondary particles having an average particle size (median diameter on a volumetric basis) of 2 um or more and less than 30 um formed by aggregation of primary particles having an average particle diameter of 50 nm or more and 500 nm (0.5 um) or less; and the positive electrode mixture layer has a collector-side region “22b” (first layer) formed closer to the positive electrode collector, and a surface-side region “22a” (second layer) formed on the collector-side region,
wherein the collector-side region/first positive electrode mixture layer (first layer) contain the first positive electrode active material (second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) and the second positive electrode active material (first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles), and
the surface-side region/second positive electrode mixture layer (second layer) contains the first positive electrode active material (second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) and the second positive electrode active material (first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles);
wherein a content of the first positive electrode active material (in the first layer and the second layer) is 30 mass% or less based on the total amount of the first positive electrode active material and the second positive electrode active material (in the first layer and the second layer);
wherein the surface-side region (second layer) contains a content ratio of the first positive electrode active material (second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) that is preferably 60 mass% or more based on the total amount of the first positive electrode active material contained in the positive electrode mixture layer (first layer+second layer) and the content of the first positive electrode active material (second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) in the first layer that is 40 mass%; so, if the content of the first positive electrode active material (in the first layer and the second layer) is 30 mass% and the content of the second positive electrode active material (in the first layer and the second layer) is 70 mass%, the content of the second positive electrode active material (first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) would be 88 mass% in the first layer and 82 mass% in the second layer; and
wherein a mass ratio between the second positive electrode active material (first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) and the first positive electrode active material (second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles) in the second layer that is 40:60 ([0020],[0032],[0043]-[0049],[0054] and Fig. 3).
However, Ko et al does not expressly teach a content of the first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles having a median diameter on a volumetric basis of greater than or equal to 2 um and less than or equal to 10 um and a second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles that are secondary particles having a median diameter on a volumetric basis of greater than or equal to 10 um and less than or equal to 30 um (claim 1); and a proportion of the first layer in the positive electrode mixture layer that is greater than or equal to 10 mass% and less than or equal to 50 mass% (claim 3).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Ko positive electrode to include a content of the first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles having a median diameter on a volumetric basis of greater than or equal to 2 um and less than or equal to 10 um; a second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles that are secondary particles having a median diameter on a volumetric basis of greater than or equal to 10 um and less than or equal to 30 um; and a proportion of the first layer in the positive electrode mixture layer that is greater than or equal to 10 mass% and less than or equal to 50 mass% because it has been held that the discovery of an optimum value of a result effective variable in a known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Boesch, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454. 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955)). There is no evidence of criticality of the claimed median diameter of the first lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles, median diameter of the secondary particles of second lithium-containing transition metal composite oxide particles, and proportion of the first layer in the positive electrode mixture layer.
Conclusion
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/T.S.C/Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 8/9/2026
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