Application No. 16/930,439
`Reply to Office Action of April 11, 2024
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`Docket No.: 083710-3083
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`Introduction
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`REMARKS
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`After entry of the foregoing amendments, claims 1-16 are pending in this application, of
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`which claim 1
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`is independent. Claims 8-14 were previously withdrawn from consideration
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`pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b). By this response, claim 1 is amended and claim 16 is newly added
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`herein. These amendments are made withoutprejudice or disclaimer of subject matter and without
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`conceding the correctness of any rejections, and Applicant respectfully reserves the right to pursue
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`the original, previously presented, or cancelled subject matter in this application or continuing
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`applications. All amendments made to the claim and new claim are fully supported by, for
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`example, claim 1 and paragraphs {00161 and [3018] of the specification as originally filed. Hence,
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`no new matter has been introduced.
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`Entry of various comments regarding the claims and/orthe art, in the Office Action, should
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`not be construed as any acquiescence or agreement by Applicant with the stated reasoning,
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`regardless of whether or not these remarks specifically address any particular commentfrom the
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`Office Action.
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`Reconsideration of this application for allowance of all pending claims is hereby
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`respectfully requested in view of the amendmentsto the claims and following remarks.
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`Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103
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`1. Claims 1-7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
`Japanese Publication No. 2006244734 (“Tomita et al.”), in view of “Type AsMX6
`ternary halides Type V” (“Bohnsack”).
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`Regarding claim 1, the cited references fail to teach the feature:
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`“A solid electrolyte material represented by a composition formula LiaYpMeXe-aFa,
`where
`M includesat least one kind selected from the group consisting of metalloid elements and
`metal elements other than Li and Y;
`X 1s at least one kind selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, and I;
`O<a;
`0<b;
`0 <c; and
`0<d<6.”
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`The Office Action asserted that paragraphs [0006] and [0007] of Tomita teach a sold
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`5
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`

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`Application No. 16/930,439
`Reply to Office Action of April 11, 2024
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`Docket No.: 083710-3083
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`electrolyte material represented by a composition formula Li3-2xMxIni-yM'yLezLz, where M and M'
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`are metal elements. The Office Action interpretated that Tomita teachesa solid electrolyte material
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`consisting of Li, M, X, and F, represented by Li3-2xMxIn1-yM'yLe-zLz, where 0<x<1.5, 0<y<1; M is
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`a metal such as Ca, Sr, Ba, and Mg; M' can be Y; and L and L'are each independently halogen
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`atoms (see, paragraphs [0036] and [0037] of Tomita). The Office Action asserted that when x=0
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`and y>0, the solid electrolyte material consists of Li, M, X, and at least two halogen elements
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`selected from F, Cl, I, Br, where M includes In, Y, and a metal such as Ca,Sr, Ba (AssertionI).
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`The Office Action asserted that Tomita’s solid electrolyte material reads on the presently claimed
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`composition whenat least one of L and L'is F with the other being any one of Br, Cl, and L
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`Moreover, the Office Action asserted that Bohnsack teaches a lithium ion conductive
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`solid electrolyte represented by the generally formula A2MX¢é(it appears to be A3MXe) including
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`LisMBre (M=Y). Then, the Office Action asserted that it would have been obvious to modify
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`Tomita’s composition wherein y=1 (Assertion IT) because solid electrolytes of the form Liz3MX¢6
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`where M is Y, which is known to have goodlithium ion conductivity (see, 3. Results and
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`Conclusion of Bohnsack).
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`Applicant disagrees.
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`Regarding Assertion I, Applicant submits that when x=0 and y>0, the composition
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`formula of Tomita is Li3Ini-yM'yLe.zLz and the claimed M in claim 1 corresponds to In and M'. In
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`this regard, the asserted M in Tomita includes In and M', where M' can be Y, Fe, Nd, Co, Zn, Sb,
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`etc. (see, paragraph [0037] of Tomita). However, the asserted M in Tomita cannot be a metal
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`such as Ca, Sr, Ba, because Ca, Sr, and Ba are included in M of Tomita rather than in M'of
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`Tomita, and M is not present in Tomita (x=0). Therefore, the Assertion I is unreasonable.
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`Since the Office Action considered x=0 and y>0 in Tomita, the composition formula of
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`Tomita is Li3Ini-yM'yLezLz. The Office Action further asserted that y=1 (Assertion ID),
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`Applicant submits that it is unreasonable to do so, because in Tomita, y cannot be 1 (0<y<1). It
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`appears the Office Action intended to modify the composition formula of Tomita Li3Ini-yM'yLe.
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`zLz into Li3YLezLz, where Le-zLz includes F andat least one of Cl, Br and I. Applicant submits
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`that such a modification cannot be achieved, as y cannotbe 1.
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`Assuch,claim 1 is not obvious overthe cited references. Therefore, claim 1 andall
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`clams dependent thereon are patentable.
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`Application No. 16/930,439
`Reply to Office Action of April 11, 2024
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`New Claim
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`Docket No.: 083710-3083
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`Applicant believes that new claim 16 is patentably distinguishable over the applied
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`referencesat least because of its dependency on claim 1. Favorable consideration of the new claim
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`16 is respectfully solicited.
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`Conclusion
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`In view of the above amendments and remarks, Applicant submits that this application
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`should be allowed and the case passed to issue.
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`If there are any questions regarding this
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`Amendmentor the application in general, a telephonecall to the undersigned would be appreciated
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`to expedite the prosecution of the application.
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`To the extent necessary, a petition for an extension of time under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136 is
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`hereby made. Please charge any shortage in fees due in connection with the filing of this paper,
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`including extension of time fees, to Deposit Account 505992 and please credit any excess fees to
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`such deposit account.
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`Respectfully submitted,
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`RIMON,P.C.
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`/Yanyan Wang/
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`Yanyan Wang
`Registration No. 77,541
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`8300 Greensboro Dr., Suite 500
`McLean, VA 22102
`Phone: (571) 765-7724
`Date: July 8, 2024
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`Please recognize our Customer No. 53080 as
`our correspondence address.
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