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 1-13 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. Each independent claim 1 and 6 recites natural graphite that has been formed into “a cabbage shape or random shape”. Regarding cabbage shape, there is no art recognized understanding of what this shape may be, and while a wide variety of leafy vegetables going by the name cabbage are known, it is unclear what is required of a micron or sub-micron carbon particle to have a cabbage shape.
Regarding random shape, “random” is understood to describe a distribution, or to describe an outcome that is allowed to occur without user control. However, it is not understood what is meant by the term when it modifies “shape”.
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) 1, 3-5, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Korean Patent Publication No. KR20140039348 to Jo citing to the enclosed machine translation (“Jo”), U.S. Patent Application No. 2022/0371899 to Piao (“Piao”) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0267624 to Sasaki (“Sasaki”) in combination. Regarding claims 1 and 3, Jo discloses anode active materials for use in lithium ion secondary batteries comprising graphite particles coated with phosphorus. The phosphorous is derived from treatment with phosphoric acid which will result with either a C-P-O or C-O-P connection between the phosphorus and carbon surface. Discloses natural graphite as its graphite material but is silent regarding whether it is spheronized. Nonetheless, it was known in the art that spheronized flaky natural graphite is a preferred form of graphite to use as active material because it results in a preferred packing density for preventing swelling, etc. Piao at paragraph [0035], [0036], and [0056]. Thus, the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have had reason to use spheronized flaky natural graphite as the graphite material in order to prevent swelling and other adverse effects.
Jo is also silent regarding coating its graphite anode particles with amorphous or low crystalline carbon. Nonetheless, coating such graphite particles with amorphous carbon was known to reduce unwanted reactivity with electrolyte solution. Sasaki at paragraph [0035]. Thus, the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have found coating the graphite particles of Jo with amorphous carbon in order to reduce unwanted reaction with electrolyte.
Further regarding claim 4, the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would find the amount of the coating to include to be nothing more than routine optimization to arrive at a particle that maintains excellent active material properties while sufficiently reducing reactivity with electrolyte.
Further regarding claim 5, it is noted that the claim is in product-by-process format and because all of the recited materials yield an amorphous carbon layer, the claim is not found to distinguish over the art of record1.
Finally regarding claim 13, the batteries of Jo incorporating anode active material include electrolyte and cathode, as required for a lithium ion battery.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WYATT P MCCONNELL whose telephone number is (571)270-7531. The examiner can normally be reached 9am to 5pm M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WYATT P MCCONNELL/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
1 While not needed for this rejection, the Office nonetheless brings to Applicant’s attention U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0040875 at paragraphs [0043] and [0044] showing that the materials used to make the amorphous carbon layer and amount of amorphous carbon to include that are claimed are commonly used in the art.
