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 § 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, 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.
Claim 1 claims “a positive electrode active material in a form of a single particle” and recites “wherein the positive electrode active material is configured so that after a positive electrode, which includes a positive electrode active material layer containing 80 wt% or more of the positive electrode active material based on a total weight of the positive electrode active material layer, is rolled, a density of the positive electrode active material layer after the rolling is 2.7 g/cm3 or more, and when the positive electrode active material layer is analyzed by XRD (X-ray diffraction), a ratio of an area of a (003) peak to an area of all peaks identified in a 20 range of 100 to 900 satisfies 30% or more”
It is unclear what is being claimed, e.g. a positive electrode active material in a form of a single particle” as recited in the preamble, a positive electrode as recited in line 4, a positive electrode composition as recited in line 4-6, a method of rolling and the characteristic of the material resulted from the method, a method of measuring (X-ray diffraction) and the characteristic of the method of measuring. As such, claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite in that it fails to point out what is included or excluded by the claim language. This claim is an omnibus type claim.
Claims 2-18 are rejected on the same ground of rejection.
For the purpose of this office action, the recitations in claims 1-2 and 10-11 are construed as the intended use of the positive electrode active material in a form of a single particle.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the single crystal grain" in 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the positive electrode active material layers" in 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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) 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(2) as being anticipated by Choi et al. (US 2021/0305558, Cite No. 5 in U.S. Patent Application Publication of IDS 05/28/2025).
Regarding claims 1-2 and 6-8, Choi et al. discloses a positive active material in a form of a single particle (see figs. 1-3) is a lithium composite transition metal oxide having formula LigNi1-(h+i+j+k)CohM4iM5jM6kOl (see formula 2, [0071]) with M4 being Mn, M5 and M6 independently selected from Al, Ba, B, Ce, Cr, Mg, Mo, P, W, Ti, Nb, Zr (see [0072]), and more specifically Li1.0Ni0.9Co0.078Mn0.022O2 (see example 13). The lithium composite transition metal oxide taught by Choi et al. contains nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and manganese (Mn) as claimed in claim 6. Li1.0Ni0.9Co0.078Mn0.022O2 of Choi et al. is a lithium composite transition metal oxide containing (Ni), cobalt (Co) and manganese (Mn) with more than 60 mole% of nickel (Ni) and having the formula 1 as claimed in claims 6-8.
Choi et al. discloses all the structural and material limitations of the claimed positive active material in a form of a single particle as claimed. The reference is deemed to be anticipatory.
Recitations of the positive electrode active material is configured so that after a positive electrode, which includes a positive electrode active material layer containing 80 wt% or more of the positive electrode active material based on a total weight of the positive electrode active material layer, is rolled, a density of the positive electrode active material layer after the rolling is 2.7 g/cm3 or more, and when the positive electrode active material layer is analyzed by XRD (X-ray diffraction), a ratio of an area of a (003) peak to an area of all peaks identified in a 20 range of 100 to 900 satisfies 30% or more” in claim 1 and “the positive electrode active material is configured so that when the positive electrode active material layers before and after the rolling of the positive electrode are analyzed by XRD, a difference in the ratios of the area of the (003) peak to the area of the all peaks identified in a 20 range of 100 to 900 satisfies 10% or more” are directed to the intended use of the positive electrode active material in a form of a single particle. Said recitations do not differentiate claimed positive electrode active material in a form of single particle from prior art. See MPEP § 2114 and 2115. Further, it has been held that process limitations do not have patentable weight in an apparatus claim; so long as the disclosed material is capable of being subjected to the the process limitations, the limitations are deemed to have been met. See Ex parte Thibault, 164 USPQ 666, 667 (Bd. App. 1969) that states “Expressions relating the apparatus to contents thereof and to an intended operation are of no significance in determining patentability of the apparatus claim.” The positive electrode active material in a form of a single particle is surely capable of being subjected to a rolling process to form a positive electrode to have a density as claimed and to an analysis process of XRD to obtain the peaks as claimed, because Choi et al. explicitly teaches using the positive electrode active material in a form of a single particle for forming a positive electrode.
Regarding claim 3, Choi et al. discloses a positive active material as in claim 1 above, and shows the positive electrode active material in the form of the single particle having an elongated shape (see figs. 1-3) which have a ratio of a length in an a-axis direction (or the longest length) to a length in a c-axis direction (or a shorter length) of greater than 1 (see figs. 1-3).
Regarding claim 4, Choi et al. discloses a positive active material as in claim 1 above, and shows the positive electrode active material in the form of the single particle is composed of 2, 5, 10 or 1-10 single crystal grains (or primary particles, see figs. 1-3, [0044]).
Regarding claim 5, Choi et al. discloses a positive active material as in claim 4 above, and teaches a single crystal grain (or a primary particle) having an average diameter (or size) of 1.0 to 5.0 mm (see [0063]), which is right within the claimed range of 0.1 mm to 10 mm.
Regarding claim 9, Choi et al. discloses a positive active material as in claim 1 above, and also teaches a positive electrode comprising a current collector and a positive electrode material comprising the positive electrode material in a single form ([0090]).
Regarding claims 10-11, the recitations are directed to the characteristics of an analysis process of a material being made by a rolling process. Choi et al. discloses all the structural and material limitations of the claimed positive electrode, the reference is deemed to be anticipatory. The positive electrode of Choi et al. made by the same material as claimed will display the characteristics as claimed. See MPEP 2112.
Regarding claim 12, Choi et al. discloses a positive electrode as in claim 9 above, and discloses coating the positive electrode current collector with the positive electrode active material (see [0092]) and shows the positive electrode active material in the form of the single particle has a round shape (see figs. 1-3). As such, the positive electrode active material in the form of the single particle always has a c-axis direction of the crystal aligned in a direction perpendicular to an upper surface of the current collector.
Regarding claim 13, Choi et al. discloses a positive electrode as in claim 9 above, and shows the positive electrode active material in the form of the single particle having an elongated shape (see figs. 1-3) which have a ratio of a length in an a-axis direction (or the longest length) to a length in a c-axis direction (or a shorter length) of greater than 1 (see figs. 1-3).
Regarding claim 14, Choi et al. discloses a positive electrode as in claim 9 above, and shows the positive electrode active material in the form of the single particle is composed of 2, 5, 10 or 1-10 single crystal grains (or primary particles, see figs. 1-3, [0044]).
Regarding claim 15, Choi et al. discloses a positive electrode as in claim 9 above, and teaches a single crystal grain (or a primary particle) having an average diameter (or size) of 1.0 to 5.0 mm (see [0063]), which is right within the claimed range of 0.1 mm to 10 mm.
Regarding claims 16-18, Choi et al. disclose a positive electrode as in claim 9 above, and teaches the positive electrode active material in the form of the single particle is a lithium composite transition metal oxide containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese with more than 60mol% of nickel and having formula as claimed in claims 16-18 (see claim 1 above, or [0071-0072] and example 13 of Choi et al.).
Conclusion
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THANH-TRUC TRINH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1726
/THANH TRUC TRINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726
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