SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.

Patent Trials and Appeals Board

Jun 1, 2020

14890367 - (D) (P.T.A.B. Jun. 1, 2020)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
14/890,367 11/10/2015 Hiroki YOSHIKAWA 168518 5855
25944 7590 06/01/2020
OLIFF PLC
P.O. BOX 320850
ALEXANDRIA, VA 22320-4850
EXAMINER
CONLEY, OI K
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1725
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
06/01/2020 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address(es):
OfficeAction25944@oliff.com
jarmstrong@oliff.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
____________

Ex parte HIROKI YOSHIKAWA and HIROMICHI KAMO
____________

Appeal 2019-005052
Application 14/890,367
Technology Center 1700
____________

Before BEVERLY A. FRANKLIN, MONTÉ T. SQUIRE, and
JANE E. INGLESE, Administrative Patent Judges.

SQUIRE, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL1

Appellant2 appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s
decision to reject claims 14–16, 22, 23, and 26–29, which constitute all of
the claims pending in this application.3 We have jurisdiction under
35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We AFFIRM.

1 In this Decision, we refer to the Specification filed Nov. 10, 2015
(“Spec.”); Non-Final Office Action dated Oct. 18, 2018 (“Non-Final Act.”);
Appeal Brief filed Jan. 10, 2019 (“Appeal Br.”); Examiner’s Answer dated
May 6, 2019 (“Ans.”); and Reply Brief filed June 14, 2019 (“Reply Brief”).
2 We use the word “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in
37 C.F.R. § 1.42(a). Appellant identifies Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. as
the real party in interest. Appeal Br. 1.
3 Claims 1–13, 17–21, 24, and 25 are canceled. See List of Claims filed
Jan. 10, 2018.
Appeal 2019-005052
Application 14/890,367

2
CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
The invention relates to a negative electrode active material for use in
a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery and the non-aqueous electrolyte
secondary battery, and methods of producing same. Spec. ¶ 1; Abstract.
Claim 14 illustrates the subject matter on appeal and is reproduced below
from the Claims Appendix to the Appeal Brief:
14. A negative electrode active material for use in a
non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, comprising:
a mixture of a silicon-contained material and a carbon
material, the silicon-contained material being a silicon oxide
represented by a general formula of SiOx (where 0.9≤x