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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/25/2026 has been considered by the examiner. Initialed copies accompany this action.
Drawings
The Drawings filed 6/25/2026 are approved by the examiner.
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 27-28 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 27 recites the limitation "the one or more elements in the second hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 28 is rejected as being dependent on a rejected claim.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 16-19, 21-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20230035993).
Regarding claims 16 and 18, Xu discloses a method for manufacturing a first aqueous slurry comprising first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles of at least one element for being used as a seed particles source in a precipitation process of a second hydroxide, wherein the at least one element includes at least one of Ni, Co, and Mn, wherein the method comprises: continuously supplying to a reactor vessel a first flow of a metal salt solution comprising the one or more elements; continuously supplying to the reactor vessel a second flow of an aqueous solution of one or more alkali hydroxides; continuously supplying to the reactor vessel a third flow of an ammonia aqueous solution (NH3(aq)), mixing said the first, second, and third flows to obtain the first aqueous slurry comprising the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles in the reactor vessel, and continuously removing a fourth flow of the first aqueous slurry from the reactor vessel, characterized in that: the first aqueous slurry has a pH value being at most 13.0 and at least 12.0, and in that the supply of the third flow is controlled so that a NH3(aq) concentration in the first aqueous slurry is at least 1.0 g/l and at most 5.0 g/l (col 16) to limit growth of the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles to a median particle size D50 between a range of at least 0.7 μm and at most 3.0 μm . See the Abstract, para 0028-31. Xu does not disclose said pH value being measured on a sample of the first aqueous slurry at 20° C. or that the pH value of the first aqueous slurry in the reactor vessel is at least 12.4. However, Xu also discloses that the high pH condition usually produces the small particles of rough morphology and poor sphericity, has difficulty in controlling the particle size, needs to adjust lots of parameters and has difficulty to be controlled accurately. By providing a preparation method of a high-nickel ternary precursor capable of controlling crystal face preferential growth through an addition amount of seed crystals, which solves the problems caused by increasing pH for maintaining particle size distribution in the prior art, including poor morphology of small particles, poor consistency of sphericity, and the peak of the indices of crystal face 001 is higher than the peak of 101 crystal face (para 0003-0004). It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the filling date of the invention to adjust the reaction/growth parameters and conditions such as the pH within the claimed range, to control the morphology and structure of the obtained particles. The rationale to support a conclusion that the claim would have been obvious is that a particular known technique was recognized as part of the ordinary capabilities of one skilled in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been capable of applying this known technique to a known method, that was ready for improvement and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2143.
Regarding claim 17, Xu discloses the first aqueous slurry in the reactor vessel has a temperature being at least 40° C. and at most 80° C (para 0028).
Regarding claim 19, Xu discloses the method according to claim 16, wherein the NH3(aq) concentration in the first aqueous slurry in the reactor vessel is at least 1.0 g/l and at most 4.0 g/l to limit the median particle size D50 of the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide between a range of at least 0.7 μm and at most 2.0 μm; or the NH3(aq) concentration in the first aqueous slurry in the reactor vessel is at least 2.0 g/l and at most 4.0 g/l to limit the median particle size D50 of the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide between a range of at least 1.0 μm and at most 2.0 μm (para 0028)
Regarding claims 21 and 22, Xu discloses the at least one element in the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles includes: Ni in a content x, wherein 5.0 mol %≤x %, Co in a content y, wherein 0≤y≤30.0 mol %, and Mn in a content z, wherein 0≤z≤85.0 mol %, Al in a content q, wherein 0≤q≤10.0 mol %, and one or more additional elements in a content r, wherein the additional elements are elements selected from the group consisting of B, Ba, Ca, Ce, Cr, Fe, La, Mg, Mo, Nb, Si, Sr, Ti, Y, V, W, Zn, Na, S and Zr, wherein 0≤r≤5.0 mol %, and wherein x, y, z, q, and r are contents expressed as mol % relative to the total molar content of the at least one element in the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide, and wherein x+y+z+q+r=100 mol % (para 0017).
Regarding claim 23, Xu discloses a method for manufacturing a second aqueous slurry comprising second hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles of one or more elements, wherein the one or more elements include at least one of Ni, Co, and Mn, wherein the method comprises: a. providing an amount of a first aqueous slurry comprising first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles into a reactor vessel, wherein the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles have a median particle size D50 between a range of at least 0.7 μm and at most 3.0 μm; b. supplying to the reactor vessel a fifth flow of a metal salt solution comprising the one or more elements; c. supplying to the reactor vessel a sixth flow of an aqueous solution of one or more alkali hydroxides; and d. maintaining conditions in the reactor vessel that cause a precipitation of the one or more elements from the metal salt solution as a hydroxide on the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide to obtain in the reactor vessel the second aqueous slurry comprising the second hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles of the one or more elements. See the Abstract, para 0028-29.
Regarding claim 24, Xu discloses the method according to claim 23, further comprising supplying to the reactor vessel a seventh flow of an aqueous solution of ammonia (NH3). See the Abstract, para 0028-29.
Regarding claim 25, Xu discloses the method according to claim 23, wherein in step a), providing an amount of a first aqueous slurry includes performing a method for manufacturing a first aqueous slurry comprising first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles of at least one element for being used as a seed particles source in a precipitation process of a second hydroxide, wherein the at least one element includes at least one of Ni, Co, and Mn, wherein the method comprises: continuously supplying to a reactor vessel a first flow of a metal salt solution comprising the one or more elements; continuously supplying to the reactor vessel a second flow of an aqueous solution of one or more alkali hydroxides; continuously supplying to the reactor vessel a third flow of an ammonia aqueous solution (NH3), mixing said first, second, and third flows to obtain the first aqueous slurry comprising the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles in the reactor vessel and continuously removing a fourth flow of the first aqueous slurry from the reactor vessel, characterized in that: the first aqueous slurry has a pH value being at most 13.0 and at least 12.0, said pH value being measured on a sample of the first aqueous slurry at 20° C., and in that the supply of the third flow is controlled so that a NH3(aq) concentration in the first aqueous slurry is at least 1.0 g/l and at most 5.0 g/l to limit growth of the first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles to a median particle size D50 between a range of at least 0.7 μm and at most 3.0 μm (para 0028, 0029, and 0031),
Regarding claim 26, Xu discloses the method according to claim 24, wherein c) contains at least one of the following: the sixth flow is controlled so that the second aqueous slurry in the reactor vessel has a pH value of at most 12.2, wherein the pH value of the second aqueous slurry is the pH value as measured on a sample of the second aqueous slurry at 20° C.; the seventh flow is controlled so that a NH.sub.3(aq) concentration in the second aqueous slurry is at least 1.0 g/l and at most 20.0 g/l; applying a mixing energy, wherein the mixing energy is at most 40 KW per m.sup.3 of the second aqueous slurry; and/or the mixing energy is at least 5 KW per m.sup.3 of the second aqueous slurry; and maintaining a temperature of the second aqueous slurry in the reactor vessel of at least 45° C (pH was `0.5-11.5, para 0029)
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20230035993) as applied above, further in view of Fukui et al. (US2015/0364761).
Regarding claim 20, Xu discloses a method for manufacturing a first aqueous slurry comprising first hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles as described above and is incorporated herein by reference. Xu does not disclose the step of mixing is performed with a mixing energy, wherein the mixing energy is at least 15 KW per m.sup.3 of the first aqueous slurry. Fukui discloses controlling the agitation power requirement per unit volume of reaction solution into a range of 0.5 kW/m3 to 4 kW/m3 at least during the nucleation process, the average particle size of the composite hydroxide that is obtained is controlled and the narrow particle distribution is achieved (para 0115). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the invention to control the agitation power requirement per unit volume of reaction during the nucleation process of Xu, to obtain the composite hydroxide having a suitable particle size and high uniformity, as suggested by Fukui.
Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20230035993) as applied above, further in view of Kase et al. (US9,543,580).
Regarding claim 29, Xu discloses a method for manufacturing a second aqueous slurry comprising second hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles of one or more elements as described above and is incorporated herein by reference. Xu does not a method for separating the hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles from a liquid fraction of the aqueous slurry, and drying the separated hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles to a powderous hydroxide or oxyhydroxide. Kase discloses a method for manufacturing a nickel-cobalt composite hydroxide, which was continuously collected from the crystallization reaction tank II by overflow, and then, the nickel-cobalt composite hydroxide was suitably solid-liquid separated, washed by water, and dried, whereby a nickel-cobalt composite hydroxide in powder form was obtained (col 22). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the invention to separate and dry the hydroxide or oxyhydroxide particles obtained from the method of Xu using the steps disclosed by Kase, with reasonable expectation of success because known technique (liquid-solid separation and drying) was recognized as part of the ordinary capabilities of one skilled in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been capable of applying this known technique to a known method the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2143.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20230035993) and Kase et al. (US9,543,580) as applied above, further in view of Fukui et al. (US2015/0364761).
Regarding claim 30, Kase discloses a method for manufacturing a positive electrode active material comprising mixing the powderous hydroxide or oxyhydroxide with a lithium source to obtain a mixture and baked whereby a lithium-nickel-cobalt composite oxide, that is, a positive electrode active material for nonaqueous-electrolyte secondary batteries can be obtained (col 20). Kase does not disclose baking/sintering the mixture at a temperature between 650° C. and 1000° C. Fukui discloses a method for producing lithium nickel composite oxide for use as a positive electrode active material, the method comprising calcination of the lithium nickel composite oxide at 650° C. to 1000° C (para 0219). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the invention to bake the lithium nickel composite oxide of Xu in view of Kase at a temperature between 650° C. and 1000° C, because Fukui discloses that when the calcination temperature is less than 650° C., the diffusion of lithium into the nickel composite oxide is not sufficient, and surplus lithium and unreacted nickel composite oxide remains, or the crystal structure is not sufficiently uniform, and thus when used in a battery, sufficient battery characteristics are not obtained. When the calcination temperature is greater than 1000° C., intense sintering occurs between particles of the lithium nickel composite oxide, and abnormal particle growth occurs, so the particles become coarse and it is not possible to maintain a state of spherical secondary particles. In either case, not only is there a drop in battery capacity, the value of the cathode resistance also becomes high (para 0219).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAIDUNG D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5455. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 10a-3p.
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/HAIDUNG D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
9/29/2026
