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 .
The Applicant has amended independent claim 1 and dependent claims 2-11 and 13; claim 12 is canceled. The pending claims are claims 1-11, 13.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/27/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al., WO 2022053881 (Liu et al., US 20240014446), in view of Park et al., KR 20240056435.
Regarding claim 1, Liu et al., teaches a lithium secondary battery (lithium battery) (0020) comprising an anode (0006-0007); a cathode facing the anode (0020); a separator interposed between the anode and cathode (0028); a non-aqueous electrolyte (0006), wherein the anode includes an anode active material, wherein anode active material includes carbon-based active materials (0006-0007; claim 1 of Liu), wherein the non-aqueous electrolyte (abstract; 0006-0007) comprises: a lithium salt (alkali-metal salt) (abstract; 0006-0007; 0027; claims 14, 15, 16); and an organic solvent (abstract; 0016-0017; 0174-0177) comprises a cyclic carbonate compound (fluoroethylene carbonate) (0030; 0095); and a
compound represented by Chemical Formula: F-
PNG
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59
59
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Greyscale
wherein R2 and R3 each are hydrogen (Example 11 of Liu et al.; 0006), an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms (0006), or an aryl group having up to 6 carbon atoms (0006); and wherein the organic solvent comprises the compound represented by Example 11 (Structure 4 of Liu) in an amount from about 10 vol% to about 30 vol% (“from 0% to 25%) (0023); (“5% to about 50%) (0025-0026) (Table 1).
Liu disclose an example of traditional carbonate-based electrolyte which includes FEC (fluoroethylene carbonate) (cyclic carbonate) (0030; 0095) and EMC (ethylmethyl carbonate) (linear carbonate). The use of FEC as a cyclic carbonate compound would have thus been obvious for the carbonate compound.
Park et al., teaches a silicon-based active material (0123) for a negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery (0123).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to insert the teachings of Park into the teachings of Liu because Park teaches that “In the case of the negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery according to the present application, the above weight portion of a silicon-based active material is used to maximize capacity characteristics, and compared to the case where a conventional carbon-based active material is used as the main active material, the volume expansion during charging and discharging is significantly greater.(0123).
Regarding claim 2, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) wherein at least one of R2 and R3 is methyl (0006; 0024; 0027).
Regarding claim 3, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) wherein the compound represented by Chemical Formula 1-1 is represented by Chemical Formula 1 of FSO2N(CH3)2 0006; 0024;Table 1).
Regarding claim 4, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) comprising the compound represented by Chemical Formula 1-1 in an amount of about 20 vol% (“from 0% to 25%) (0034); (“5% to about 50%) (0094-0095)).
Regarding claim 5, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) wherein the cyclic carbonate compound (0019); (fluoroethylene carbonate; FEC) (0030).
Regarding claim 6, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) fluoroethylene carbonate (0030).
Liu disclose an example of traditional carbonate-based electrolyte which includes FEC (fluoroethylene carbonate) (cyclic carbonate) (0030) and EMC (ethylmethyl carbonate) (linear carbonate) (0030). The use of FEC as a cyclic carbonate compound or EC (ethylene carbonate) would have thus been obvious for the carbonate compound.
Liu disclose an example of traditional carbonate-based electrolyte which includes FEC (fluoroethylene carbonate) (cyclic carbonate) (0019) and EMC (ethylmethyl carbonate) (linear carbonate). The use of FEC as a cyclic carbonate compound or EC (ethylene carbonate) would have thus been obvious for the carbonate compound.
Regarding claim 7, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) wherein the organic solvent further comprises at least one linear carbonate compounds selected from the group consisting of ethyl methyl carbonate (0030; 0095).
Regarding claim 8, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) further comprising an additional compound selected from the group consisting of an ether-based organic compound (0016; 0030), a nitrile-based organic compound (0095), and mixtures thereof.
Regarding claim 9, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) further comprising an additive selected from the group consisting of LiBOB (0096).
Regarding claim 10, Liu et al., teaches lithium battery (0028; 0104) wherein the lithium salt comprising Li+ (0024) and an anion selected from the group consisting of (0006; 0019; 0027; 0094; 0096): F-, PF6 -, AsF6 -, (CF3SO2)2CH-, CH3SO3 -, CF3(CF2)7SO3 -, CF3CO2 -, CH3CO2 -, and (CF3CF2SO2)2N -, and mixtures of (0006; 0019; 0027).
Regarding claim 11, Liu et al., does not teach lithium battery wherein the non-aqueous electrolyte comprises the lithium salt at a molar concentration of 0.5 M to 5.0 M.
Park et al., teaches a lithium salt concentration 0f 1 M (0202).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to insert the teachings of Park into the teachings of Liu because Park teaches that an electrolyte prepared with vinylene carbonate mixed with fluoroethylene carbonate and diethyl carbonate and lithium salt at a concentration of 1 M (0202) is advantageous to the electrolyte (0202).
Regarding claim 13, Liu et al., does not teach lithium battery wherein the anode is active material, further includes silicon-based active materials.
Park et al., teaches a lithium battery wherein anode is active material including silicon-based active materials (0006; 0123).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to insert the teachings of Park into the teachings of Liu “to increase capacity by using silicon-based compounds such as Si/C or SiOx, which have a capacity more than 10 times greater than graphite-based materials, as negative electrode active materials.” (0007).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant argues that “Liu does not disclose or suggest the specific embodiments involving: (i) a combination of a cyclic carbonate and a compound represented by Formula 1-1, and (ii) the use of the compound represented by Formula 1-1 in a specific volume content.
In view of this, Liu does not disclose or suggest the claimed lithium secondary battery comprising an anode including a carbon-based active material and a non-aqueous electrolyte including an organic solvent comprising (i) a cyclic carbonate combined with a sulfamoyl fluoride, or that (ii) a sulfamoyl fluoride should be used in an amount of 10-30 vol%.”
However, the new reference, Park et al., KR 20240056435, is provided in a 35 USC 103 Rejection, which teaches a lithium secondary battery comprising an anode including the claim limitations above.
Conclusion
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ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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