Looking at Patent Law: Patenting a Solid State Lithium-Metal Battery–A Case Study

Abstract

In this installment of the “Looking at Patent Law” series, we present a case study of the prosecution of a patent directed towards “Pulse Plating of Lithium Material in Electrochemical Devices” assigned to QuantumScape Corp. of San Jose, CA. This case was chosen to coincide with the focus of this issue of Interface on solid state energy conversion. The case illustrates overcoming novelty rejections by conducting an examiner interview to clearly understand the prior art issue and amending the claims accordingly to distinguish from the prior art. In addition, the case includes an election/restriction requirement due to multiple inventions claimed in the original patent application. This requirement resulted in three distinct patent applications with two patents issued and the third patent application currently pending. Finally, the case illustrates the factors considered in a non-publication request. With this case study, we hope to demystify the patent prosecution process and better prepare electrochemical and solid state scientists, engineers, and technologists to interact with their patent counsel regarding their inventions.