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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-7 and 12 drawn to a perovskite battery and an electric apparatus, in the reply filed on 3/4/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 8-11, drawn to a method for preparing a perovskite battery, are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/4/2026.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Corani et al. (“Ultrafast Dynamics of Hole Injection and Recombination in Organometal Halide Perovskite Using Nickel Oxide as p-Type Contact Electrode”) as evidenced by Kitao et al. (“Preparation and Electrochromic Properties of RF-Sputtered NiOx Films Prepared in Ar/O2/H2 Atmosphere”)
Corani et al. discloses a perovskite battery (see the figure in abstract and fig. 1(c)) comprising:
a first electrode (see ITO in the figure in the abstract, or fig. 1(c));
a hole transport layer (see NiO/NiOx in the figure in the abstract, or fig. 1(c));
a perovskite layer (see perovskite layer in the figure in the abstract, or fig. 1(c));
an electron transport layer (see PCBM in the figure in the abstract, or fig. 1(c)); and
a second electrode (see Al in the figure in the abstract, or fig. 1(c)) that are arranged sequentially (see the figure in the abstract, or fig. 1(c));
wherein
the hole transport layer (NiO/NiOx) comprises a body layer (NiOx) and a surface layer (NiO) disposed on a side (or the top side) of the body layer (NiOx) close to the perovskite layer (see the figure in the abstract or fig. 1(c)),
the hole transport layer (NiO/NiOx) comprises nickel oxide (NiOx or non-stoichiometric nickel oxide) that contains trivalent nickel ion, and
an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer (or stoichiometric nickel oxide NiO) is less than an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the body layer (non-stoichiometric NiOx).
It is noted that NiO is a stoichiometric nickel oxide that has Ni2+ (or divalent nickel ions to balance with O2-), while NiOx is a non-stoichiometric nickel oxide that has a mixture of divalent nickel ion (Ni2+) and trivalent nickel ion (Ni3+, see the concept in evidentiary reference to Kitao et al., more specifically second paragraph of the “1. Introduction” and first paragraph of “3.6 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy” and fig. 7 of Kitao et al.). In other words, the atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions (or about 0%) in the surface layer (NiO) is less than an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions (or greater than 0%) in the body layer (NiOx).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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.
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 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yuan et al. (CN 112599608, Cite No. 1 of Foreign Patent Documents in IDS 3/4/2026) as evidenced by Zhang et al. (“Modulation of Ni3+ and crystallization of dopant-free NiOx hole transporting layer for efficient p-i-n perovskite solar cells”) or in the alternative, in view of Zhang et al.
Yuan et al. discloses a perovskite battery comprising:
a first electrode (see FTO in fig. 1 of the original document);
a hole transport layer (see LP-NiOx/HP-NiOx in fig. 1 of the original document);
a perovskite layer (see PVSK layer in fig. 1 of the original document);
an electron transport layer (see LP-SnO2/HP-SnO2 in fig. 1 of the original document); and
a second electrode (see IWO in fig. 1 of the original document) that are arranged sequentially (see the fig. 1 of the original document);
wherein
the hole transport layer (LP-NiOx/HP-NiOx) comprises a body layer (HP-NiOx) and a surface layer (LP-NiOx) disposed on a side (or the top side) of the body layer (HP-NiOx) close to the perovskite layer (see fig. 1 of the original document),
the hole transport layer (LP-NiOx/HP-NiOx) comprises nickel oxide (NiOx) containing trivalent nickel ions, and
an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer (LP-NiOx) of low power sputtered NiOx is less than an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the body layer (HP-NiOx) of high power sputtered NiOx (see the first paragraph of “3. Results and discussion” of evidentiary reference to Zhang et al.).
As the sputtering power increases, the content of Ni2+ (or divalent nickel ions) in the dopant free (DF) NiOx decreases and the content of Ni3+ (or the trivalent nickel ions) increases (see the first paragraph of “3. Results and discussion” of evidentiary reference to Zhang et al.). As such, the atomic percent of the trivalent nickel ions (Ni3+) in the surface layer (or the NiOx layer being sputtered at low power, LP-NiOx) is less than the atomic percent of trivalent nickel ions (Ni3+) in the body layer (or the NiOx layer being sputter at higher power, HP-NiOx). The reference to Yuan et al. is deemed to be anticipatory.
Alternatively, Yuan et al. discloses the surface layer (LP-NiOx) being sputtered at low power (see the notation in fig. 1 of the original document; [0023-0025], [0045], [0048] of the machine translation). Yuan et al. does not explicitly state an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer (LP-NiOx) of low power sputtered NiOx is less than an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the body layer (HP-NiOx) of high power sputtered NiOx.
Zhang et al. teaches ss the sputtering power increases, the content of Ni2+ (or divalent nickel ions) in the dopant free (DF) NiOx decreases and the content of Ni3+ (or the trivalent nickel ions) increases (see the first paragraph of “3. Results and discussion” of evidentiary reference to Zhang et al.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to find the atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer (LP-NiOx) of low power sputtered NiOx is less than an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the body layer (HP-NiOx) of high power sputtered NiOx based on the teaching of Zhang et al.; because Yuan et al. teaches changing sputtering power to form a stepped band structure with different energy bands (see fig. 4 of the original document; [0008], [0012], [0021-0024], [0038] of the machine translation), and Zhang et al. teaches modulating (or changing) sputtering power of depositing NiOx would change the band gap (or band energy, see page 43 of Zhang et al.).
Regarding claim 7, Yuan et al. discloses a perovskite battery as in claim 1 above, and teaches the surface layer and the body layer each having a thickness of 5-20nm (see [0030-0035], [0045]) and more specifically 5-10nm in the example (see [0048]). As such, Yuan et al. discloses the perovskite battery has (1) a thickness of the surface layer being 5-10 nm, which is right within the claimed range of 2-15nm.
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.
Claim(s) 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan et al. as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 2, Yuan et al. discloses a perovskite battery as in claim 1 above, wherein the atomic percentage (or the content) of the trivalent nickel ions (Ni3+) decreasing in a gradient manner along the thickness of the hole transporting layer from the body layer to the surface layer close to the perovskite layer (see claim 1 above). Yuan et al. also teaches changing sputtering power to form a stepped band structure with different energy bands (see fig. 4 of the original document; [0008], [0012], [0021-0024], [0038] of the machine translation), the hole transporting layer (or a multilayer ultrathin oxide film) comprising at least two layers (see [0008-0009], [0023] and [0032] of the translation), and the energy level difference between the hole transport layer and the perovskite layer does not exceed 0.4eV (see [0036]).
Yuan et al. does not explicitly disclose the atomic percentage of the trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer decreases in a gradient manner along a thickness direction of the surface layer from a side close to the body layer to a side away from the body layer.
However, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the perovskite battery of Yuan et al. by having the trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer decreases in a gradient manner along the thickness direction of the surface layer from a side close to the body layer to a side away from the body layer, or by adding additional surface layers such that the atomic percentage of the trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer decreases in a gradient manner along a thickness direction of the surface layer from a side close to the body layer to a side away from the body layer to form a stepped band structure with different energy bands, because Yuan et al. teaches forming a stepped band structure with different energy bands and suggests using more than two layers (e.g. comprising at least two layers) to achieve the difference between the hole transport layer and the perovskite layer does not exceed 0.4eV.
Regarding claim 3, modified Yuan et al. discloses a perovskite battery as in claim 2 above, wherein the atomic percentage of the trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer decreases in a gradient manner along a thickness direction of the surface layer from a side close to the body layer to a side away from the body layer (see claim 2 above). Yuan et al. also teaches changing sputtering power to form a stepped band structure with different energy bands (see fig. 4 of the original document; [0008], [0012], [0021-0024], [0038] of the machine translation), the hole transporting layer (or a multilayer ultrathin oxide film) comprising at least two layers (see [0008-0009], [0023] and [0032] of the translation), and the energy level difference between the hole transport layer and the perovskite layer does not exceed 0.4eV (see [0036]).
Modified Yuan et al. does not disclose the atomic percentage of the trivalent nickel ions decreases along the thickness direction of the surface layer with a gradient of 0.5-4 nm.
However, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the perovskite battery of modified Yuan et al. by forming the surface layer to have the atomic percentage of the trivalent nickel ions decreasing along the thickness direction of the surface with a gradient of 0.5-4nm, because Yuan et al. teaches forming a stepped band structure with different energy bands to achieve the difference between the hole transport layer and the perovskite layer does not exceed 0.4eV.
Regarding claims 4-6, modified Yuan et al. discloses a perovskite battery as in claim 2 above.
Modified Yuan et al. does not disclose a difference between atomic percentages of trivalent nickel ions in two adjacent gradients is 2-20% as claimed in claim 4, an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in an outermost gradient of the surface layer in direct contact with the perovskite layer is 1-15% as claimed in claim 5, or the atomic percentage of the trivalent nickel ions in the body layer is 20-65% as claimed in claim 6.
However, as the performances of the hole transporting layer and the perovskite battery and the efficiency of the perovskite batteries are variables that can be modified, among others, by adjusting the atomic percentages of the trivalent nickel ions; the precise atomic percentages of trivalent nickel ions such that the difference between atomic percentages of trivalent nickel ions in two adjacent gradients is 2-20%, an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in an outermost gradient of the surface layer in direct contact with the perovskite layer is 1-15% , or the atomic percentage of the trivalent nickel ions in the body layer is 20-65% would have been considered a result effective variables by one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made. As such, without showing unexpected results, the claimed atomic percentages of the trivalent nickel ions as claimed cannot be considered critical. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have optimized, by routine experimentation, atomic percentages in the perovskite battery to obtain the desired balance between the performances of the hole transporting layer/perovskite battery and the efficiency of the perovskite battery (In re Boesch, 617 F.2d. 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980)), since it has been held that where the general conditions of the claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. (In re Aller, 105 USPQ 223).
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Corani et al. or Yuan et al. as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Kanei et al. (US 2021/0013412).
Regarding claim 12, Corani et al. and Yuan et al. disclose a perovskite battery as in claim 1 above.
Corani et al. and Yuan et al. do not disclose an apparatus comprising the perovskite battery of claim 1, and the perovskite battery is used to supply power to the electric apparatus.
Kanei et al. discloses an electric apparatus (see mouse in figs. 8-9 or keyboard in figs. 10-12, or devices in figs. 13-18) comprising a perovskite battery (see photoelectric conversion element shown in figs. 1-7) being used to supply power to the electric apparatus (see figs. 8, 10 and 13-18).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the perovskite battery of Corani et al. and Yuan et al. in an electric apparatus to supply power to the electric apparatus as taught by Kanei et al., because such use would involve nothing more than an intended use of the perovskite battery of Corani et al. and Yuan et al.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-7 and 12 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-5 of U.S. Patent No. 11,849,596. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because said instant claims 1-7 recite the limitations which are also recited in conflicting claims 1-5 of U.S. Patent No. 11,849,596 as claims 1-5 of U.S. Patent No. 11,849,596 recites a perovskite battery comprising a first electrode (see conductive glass substrate in claim 1), a hole transport layer (see claim 1), a perovskite layer (see claim 1), an electron transport layer (see claim 1), and a second electrode (see an electrode in claim 1), wherein the hole transport layer comprises a body layer and a surface layer disposed on a side of the body layer close to the perovskite layer (see the contact surface of the hole transport layer in contact with the perovskite light absorbing layer), the hole transport layer comprises nickel oxide containing trivalent nickel ions (see claim 1), and an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the surface layer is less than an atomic percentage of trivalent nickel ions in the body layer (see the ratio between simple substance nickel and trivalent nickel recited in claim 1).
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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