DETAILED ACTION
Application 18/705092, “FLAME-RETARDANT NON-AQUEOUS ELECTROLYTIC SOLUTION AND SECONDARY BATTERY USING SAME”, is the national stage entry of a PCT application filed on 10/21/22 and claims priority from a foreign application filed on 11/5/21.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action on the merits is in response to communication filed on 4/3/26.
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.
Claims 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhan (CN 113161610; citations taken from Machine Translation).
Regarding claims 1-9, Zhan teaches a non-aqueous electrolytic solution (T003, T010, T023) comprising at least a non-aqueous solvent and an electrolyte [e.g. LiN(CF3SO2)2 as in claim 6] dissolved in the non-aqueous solvent (T010,T023; “C2F6LiNO4S2” at T031-T032), wherein the non-aqueous solvent contains at least one of phosphoric acid esters of chemical formulae (1) to (3) [e.g. trimethyl phosphate claim 5] (T027-T030; “triethyl phosphate” at T039), the electrolyte contains at least one of a difluorophosphoric acid salt and a nitric acid salt (“lithium difluorophosphate” at T051-T052 includes lithium cation as in claims 3 and 4), and optionally further comprises a cyclic carbonic acid ester such as ethylene carbonate [as in claims 7 and 8] (T051, T055, T079); and a content of the phosphoric acid ester is 20 mass % or more with respect to a total mass of the flame-retardant non-aqueous electrolytic solution (T039 suggests the phosphoric acid ester as the primary organic solvent, suggesting more than 20 mass%; see also T092 and T095), wherein the non-aqueous solution is flame-retardant (T018,T030). As to claim 2, Zhan further teaches wherein a molar fraction of at least one of the difluorophosphoric acid salt and the nitric acid salt is 0.1 or more with respect to a total number of moles of the electrolyte (T054 teaches the difluorophosphoric acid content being above the claimed minimum). As to claim 9, Zhan further teaches the non-aqueous electrolyte solution as a subcomponent of a secondary battery further comprising a positive electrode and a negative electrode (T010, T085-T089).
Relevant or Related Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, though not necessarily pertinent to applicant’s invention as claimed.
Yokoyama (USP 5580684) battery comprising phosphoric acid ester with LiPF6 salt;
Inoue (US 2003/0180618) battery comprising phosphoric acid ester with LiPF6 salt;
Zhang (US 20190148775) battery comprising trimethyl phosphate as a solvent and LiNO3 as a salt.
Conclusion
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/JEREMIAH R SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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