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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-16 are currently pending.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-11 & 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamaguchi (WO 2020/105330 A1, hereinafter using, for citation purposes, corresponding US 2022/0013769 A1).
Regarding claims 1-3, 9-11 & 15-16, Yamaguchi teaches a lithium secondary battery comprising an anode comprising an alloy of 1 mass% silicon and aluminum with a content ratio of an inevitable impurity of less than 0.1 mass%, wherein a thickness of the anode is 200 microns or less ([0139]-[0144]) but is silent as to in X-ray diffraction measurement of an anode surface of the anode using CuKa as a radiation source, a crystallite size calculated from a half width of a diffraction peak of an aluminum (311) plane is less than 1000 A (claim 1) and less than 900 A (claims 9 & 15). However, the instant specification notes that when the aluminum alloy 1 of the instant invention is used, the crystallite size of the anode surface can be controlled to less than 900 A ([0080]). Accordingly, Yamaguchi discloses a method of forming an aluminum alloy ([0057]-[0092] & [0139]-[0144]) which is substantially identical the method of forming the aluminum alloy 1 of the instant invention (see [0075]-[0088] of the instant specification). Therefore, the aluminum alloy formed by the method described in Yamaguchi would be expected to possess a crystallite size of the anode surface of less than 900 A.
Regarding claims 4 & 6-8, Yamaguchi teaches an anode for a lithium secondary battery comprising: a cladding material including an anode active material comprising an alloy of 1 mass% silicon and aluminum with a content ratio of an inevitable impurity of less than 0.1 mass%; and a current collector layer consisting of an element M2 such as Cu and Ni, wherein a thickness of the anode for a lithium secondary battery is 200 microns or less ([0132]-[0144]) but is silent as to in X-ray diffraction measurement of an anode surface of the anode using CuKa as a radiation source, a crystallite size calculated from a half width of a diffraction peak of an aluminum (311) plane is less than 1000 A (claim 1) and less than 900 A (claims 9 & 15). However, the instant specification notes that when the aluminum alloy 1 of the instant invention is used, the crystallite size of the anode surface can be controlled to less than 900 A ([0080]). Accordingly, Yamaguchi discloses a method of forming an aluminum alloy ([0057]-[0092] & [0139]-[0144]) which is substantially identical the method of forming the aluminum alloy 1 of the instant invention (see [0075]-[0088] of the instant specification). Therefore, the aluminum alloy formed by the method described in Yamaguchi would be expected to possess a crystallite size of the anode surface of less than 900 A.
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.
Claims 5 & 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi (WO 2020/105330 A1, hereinafter using, for citation purposes, corresponding US 2022/0013769 A1) in view of Seki (US 2016/0276653 A1).
Regarding claims 5 & 12-14, Yamaguchi teaches the anode of claim 4 but is silent as to the material of the current collector layer being an aluminum alloy having a lower content ratio of Al than the anode active material. Seki teaches an anode current collector comprising an aluminum alloy containing 1.0 to 2.0 mass % (hereafter, simply referred to as “%”) of Fe, 0.01 to 0.2% of Si, 0.0001 to 0.2% of Cu, and 0.005 to 0.3% of Ti, and the remainder is Al and inevitable impurities ([0029]-[0037]) such that the aluminum alloy has a lower content ratio of Al than the anode active material (i.e having about 99 wt% Al). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention, to use an aluminum alloy as described in Seki because it has not only high electric conductivity but also high strength before and after a drying step and can be manufactured at low cost as taught by Seki ([0021]). It is noted that the limitations of claims 12-14 are already disclosed in Yamaguchi.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yamaguchi (US 2021/0391573 A1, hereinafter cited as Yamaguchi’573) discloses an anode comprising an anode active material including an aluminum alloy and a current collector layer comprising a metal including aluminum ([0033]-[0060] & [0154]-[0158]).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANAEL T ZEMUI whose telephone number is (571)272-4894. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm (EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, BARBARA GILLIAM can be reached at (571)272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATHANAEL T ZEMUI/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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