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 .
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 11-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO 2021/034145 using US 2022/0166027 (US ‘027) as a English translation.
As to Claim 1, US ‘027 discloses an example composition of 0.4 wt % carbon nanotube blended with 0.45 wt % polyvinylpyrrolidone and 0.15 % tannic acid which is aromatic compound containing hydroxyl groups (Table 1). The viscosity of the composition is measured at 1.42 Pa-s at 25 deg C (Table 1, para. 0127).
However, the reference fails to disclose the shear rate at which the viscosity is measured.
The Examiner respectfully submits due to the similarity of the prior art composition in terms of materials and utility, the prior art would inherently display the claimed viscosity range at the temperature and shear rate required by the instant claim.
As to Claims 2 and 3, see discussion of Claim 1 above.
As to Claim 4, the example shows a PVP to tannic acid ratio of roughly 4:1 discussed above.
As to Claim 5, the nanotubes can be single walled (para. 0033).
As to Claim 6, the particle size of nanotubes is 0.6 to 10 nm (para. 0034, 0021).
As to Claim 7, see discussion of Claim 1 above.
As to Claims 11 and 12, the Examiner respectfully submits due to the similarity of the prior art composition in terms of materials and utility, the prior art would inherently display the claimed physical properties as required by the instant claims.
As to Claim 13, see discussion of Claim 1 above.
As to Claims 14-17, the reference discloses embodiments comprising an active material, a slurry, a negative electrode and a lithium battery comprising the material disclosed in Claim 1 above (para. 0002, 0071, 0081, 0087).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US ‘027 in view of WO 2021/080006 using US 2022/0376262 as a English translation.
As to Claims 8 and 9, US ‘027 fails to disclose the use of alkali metal elements in the electrode slurry dispersion.
As to the difference, US ‘262 discloses the use of alkali metal containing compounds including lithium carbonate as dispersants in electrode slurries containing carbon nanotubes (para. 0064,0074,0076).
It would have been obvious to utilize the claimed alkali metal compounds of US ‘262 in the composition of US ‘027 as US ‘262 discloses the use of said compounds to help with dispersion in electrode slurries.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Specifically, none of the prior art discloses a ratio between the metal salt and PVP dispersants as required by the claim nor is there any teaching, suggestion or motivation to arrive at the claimed subject matter in the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAISON P THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-8917. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 9:00 am-3:30 pm EST.
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/J.P.T/Examiner, Art Unit 1762
/jt/ 1/15/2026
/MARK KOPEC/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762