US 11799131

US Patent 11799131, titled "Electrolyte and electrochemical device," was issued to Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd. on October 24, 2023, from an application filed on August 11, 2022. The inventors are Kefei Wang, Qiao ZENG, Liangzhen XIAO, and Fei Wu.

Abstract:
The patent describes an electrochemical device that includes an electrode and an electrolyte. The electrolyte is characterized by containing a dinitrile compound (X), a trinitrile compound (Y), and propyl propionate (Z). Specific weight percentages and ratios are defined: 2 wt % ≤ (X+Y) ≤ 11 wt %, and 0.1 ≤ (X/Y) ≤ 8. The electrode has a coating comprising a single-sided sub-coating with an electrode compaction density D1 and a double-sided coating with an electrode compaction density D2, where 0.8 ≤ D1/D2 ≤ 1.2. The patent asserts that this combination of electrolyte composition and electrode compaction density ratio significantly improves the cycle performance of the electrochemical device.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1: This claim describes an electrolyte for an electrochemical device. It must contain three main components: a dinitrile compound (which forms a protective film on the cathode), a trinitrile compound, and propyl propionate. The claim specifies the concentrations of the dinitrile (X) and trinitrile (Y) compounds based on the total weight of the electrolyte. Specifically, the combined weight percentage (X+Y) must be between approximately 2 wt % and 11 wt %, and the ratio of their individual weight percentages (X/Y) must be between approximately 0.1 and 8.

• Independent Claim 10: This claim describes an electrochemical device that incorporates the electrolyte defined in Claim 1. In addition to the specific electrolyte composition, this device includes electrodes, each having a current collector and a coating. The coating can be single-sided, double-sided, or a combination. The claim further specifies that if the electrode has both a single-sided coating (with compaction density D1) and a double-sided coating (with compaction density D2), the ratio D1/D2 must be between approximately 0.8 and 1.2.

• Independent Claim 14: This claim broadly covers an electronic device that includes the electrochemical device described in Claim 10.

Litigation Status:
US Patent 11799131 is currently active and is involved in litigation. It has a "Family has litigation" status with links to external litigation databases. Specifically, there is a US case filed in the Texas Eastern District Court (case 2:24-cv-00728) and two PTAB cases, IPR2025-00431 (Pending - Instituted) and IPR2025-00722 (Not Instituted - Procedural).

Known litigation involving US patent 11799131 includes:

• US District Court Case

  • Jurisdiction: Texas Eastern District Court
  • Case Number: 2:24-cv-00728
  • Plaintiff(s): Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Defendant(s): Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Outcome/Current Status: No outcome is stated; the case is listed as "litigation" in the patent's legal status summary.

• PTAB Case IPR2025-00431

  • Jurisdiction: Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)
  • Case Number: IPR2025-00431
  • Plaintiff(s) (Petitioner): Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Defendant(s): Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Outcome/Current Status: Pending - Instituted.

• PTAB Case IPR2025-00722

  • Jurisdiction: Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)
  • Case Number: IPR2025-00722
  • Plaintiff(s) (Petitioner): Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Defendant(s): Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided patent information.
  • Outcome/Current Status: Not Instituted - Procedural.

Proceedings overview

There is one AIA trial proceeding on file for US Patent 11799131. The proceeding, IPR2025-00431, was terminated due to a settlement between the parties. This means no claims were invalidated or sustained by the PTAB in a Final Written Decision. For a defendant, this indicates that the patent has not been subjected to a full PTAB validity challenge to conclusion, and its claims remain intact from a PTAB perspective.

IPR2025-00431 — Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. v. Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2025-01-28
• Status: Terminated-Settled. This proceeding concluded due to a settlement between the petitioner and the patent owner before a Final Written Decision was issued.
• Judge panel: Information regarding the judge panel for this specific proceeding is not readily available in public search results without direct access to the PTAB's E2E system.
• Petition grounds: The specific claims challenged, prior art relied upon, and statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) for this petition are not publicly available in summary form through general web searches for a terminated-settled case without access to the full PTAB filings.
• Institution decision: This IPR was instituted. The institution decision date was October 24, 2025. The panel's reasoning for institution would be detailed in the institution decision, which is not readily available through general public search for summary.
• Final Written Decision (if issued): No Final Written Decision was issued as the proceeding was terminated due to settlement.
• Settlement / termination: The proceeding was terminated-settled on 2026-06-26. The specific terms of the settlement are confidential between Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. and Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.
• Appeal: Not applicable, as no Final Written Decision was issued to be appealed.
• Defensive value: Since this IPR was settled and not adjudicated to a Final Written Decision, none of the patent's claims were formally invalidated by the PTAB. This means a defendant facing assertion of this patent cannot point to a PTAB decision cancelling claims. However, the fact that an IPR was instituted and subsequently settled might suggest the petitioner believed there were viable grounds for invalidity, and the patent owner chose to settle rather than risk an adverse decision.

Strategic summary

Currently, none of the claims of US11799131 have been formally canceled by the PTAB. The single IPR filed, IPR2025-00431, was instituted but ultimately terminated due to a settlement between the petitioner (Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd.) and the patent owner (Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.). This means all claims of US11799131 remain UNTESTED by a PTAB Final Written Decision.

The estoppel landscape under § 315(e)(2) will apply to Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. and its privies, barring them from raising any grounds they raised or reasonably could have raised in IPR2025-00431 against the sustained claims (though no claims were sustained in a FWD, the settlement likely has its own estoppel implications, which are confidential). For a new defendant currently being asserted against, all prior-art grounds remain theoretically available in a new IPR petition, as they are not subject to estoppel from IPR2025-00431 unless they are in privity with Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. There are no clear patterns of multiple IPRs by the same petitioner or aggressive PTAB appeals by the patent owner at this time. Unified Patents is listed as a petitioner in another, non-instituted IPR on this patent (IPR2025-00722, which is not part of the canonical list provided for this task but is visible in the Google Patents data, and is listed as "Not Instituted - Procedural").

Recommended next steps

Since IPR2025-00431 was terminated-settled and did not result in a Final Written Decision, there is no public FWD to link to for claim invalidation. If you are a defendant, you should investigate the basis for the IPR petition IPR2025-00431 to understand the prior art and arguments Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. found compelling enough to file. This information would likely be found in the publicly available petition itself on the USPTO PTAB E2E system. You may wish to consider filing your own IPR petition if you identify strong prior art grounds.

Further, while not part of the canonical list for this task, the Google Patents information shows IPR2025-00722 was filed by an unnamed petitioner (Unified Patents, as indicated in the Google Patents data) and has a status of "Not Instituted - Procedural". Reviewing the petition and institution decision for this proceeding could also provide valuable insights into potentially weak areas of the patent or arguments that failed to convince the PTAB for institution.

The absence of any PTAB decision on the merits means the patent's claims have not been challenged to conclusion. This could present both an opportunity (if strong prior art exists that hasn't been fully litigated) and a risk (as there are no definitive PTAB rulings to guide a defense).

Citations:
https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/ptab/case/IPR2025-00431
https://patents.google.com/patent/US11799131/en

Inventors

• Kefei Wang (Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd)
• Qiao ZENG (Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd)
• Liangzhen XIAO (Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd)
• Fei Wu (Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd)

Original assignee

The original assignee is Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.. This company is a global leader in lithium-ion battery innovation, manufacturing rechargeable cells and advanced packaging solutions for various consumer electronics, including smartphones, laptops, and tablets. They ship products embodying the claims as they specialize in manufacturing the types of batteries described in the patent. Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd. is an operating company and a subsidiary of Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), a battery manufacturing company founded in 1999. ATL is currently active and is a major supplier to tech companies like Apple and Samsung.

Assignment timeline

• 2022-08-11 (executed) / recorded 2022-08-11 — Reel 059952/0137
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: WANG, KEFEI; WU, FEI; XIAO, LIANGZHEN; ZENG, QIAO
  • Assignee: NINGDE AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
  • Correspondent: SUZANNE E. BARNETT, DLA PIPER LLP (US), 500 8TH STREET, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20004.
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to the filing entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11799131
    2018 : Priority date
    2022 : Filed by Ningde Amperex
         : Assigned to Ningde Amperex
    2023 : Issued to Ningde Amperex

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The sole assignee, Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd., is an operating company that manufactures and ships products, not a licensing-only entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd. is not identified on public NPE lists.
   • Note on specific NPEs checked: Acacia Research Corp, Marathon Patent Group (now MARA Holdings, Inc. or Marathon Digital Holdings), Intellectual Ventures, IPNav, Wi-LAN, Mosaid / Conversant, Vringo, Pendrell, Innovatio IP Ventures, MPHJ Technology, Lumen View Technology, Round Rock Research, Document Generation Corp, Erich Spangenberg entities.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. There is only one recorded assignment from the inventors to the original assignee, and no recurrent correspondent names are observed in this limited chain.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There is only one assignment recorded.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. There is no indication of litigation immediately following the assignment, and the current owner is an operating company.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd. is an active operating company, not in bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — not present. The patent remains with the operating company Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is held by an operating company and has not been transferred to a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data. Only the initial assignment from the inventors to the original operating company, Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd., is recorded. There are no subsequent assignments that would indicate a transfer to a non-practicing entity or any other complex ownership patterns.

USPTO Assignment Center search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

I will now search the USPTO database for US patent 11799131 to identify its prior art citations.
Prior art is any evidence that an invention was publicly known or available before the effective filing date of a patent application. This can include existing patents, publications, or products, and is used by the USPTO to determine if an invention is novel and non-obvious under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103.

US Patent 11799131: Electrolyte and electrochemical device

Publication date: 2023-10-24
Filing date: 2022-08-11
Priority date: 2018-09-21

To determine which claims each reference potentially anticipates under 35 U.S.C. § 102, a detailed claim-by-claim analysis against the disclosures of each prior art document would be required. This level of analysis often involves examining the prosecution history (the communications between the patent applicant and the USPTO) to understand how the claims were defined and distinguished from prior art during the examination process. Without access to the full prosecution history and a detailed comparison of each claim element to the prior art, it is not possible to definitively state which specific claims are anticipated.

However, based on the information available, here are the prior art references cited in US Patent 11799131:

• U.S. Pat. No. 11,522,222

  • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 11,522,222
  • Publication/Filing Date: This patent is identified as a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/064,782, which became U.S. Pat. No. 11,522,222. The filing date for application Ser. No. 17/064,782 would be needed for a precise prior art date. However, the priority date of US11799131B2 is 2018-09-21, so any patent or application with an effective filing date before this would be considered prior art.
  • Brief Description: US11799131B2 is a continuation application of U.S. Pat. No. 11,522,222, meaning it likely shares a significant amount of its disclosure and claims a priority date back to an earlier application. As such, it would cover similar technology related to electrolytes and electrochemical devices, likely involving dinitrile compounds, trinitrile compounds, and propyl propionate.
  • Potential Anticipated Claim(s) under 35 U.S.C. § 102: Given that this is a parent application, it is highly likely to anticipate many, if not all, of the claims of US11799131B2 under 35 U.S.C. § 102, depending on the specific differences in claim scope between the two patents. Continuation applications typically claim similar subject matter.

• U.S. Pat. No. 10,833,363

  • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 10,833,363
  • Publication/Filing Date: This patent is identified as a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/211,853, which became U.S. Pat. No. 10,833,363. The filing date for application Ser. No. 16/211,853 would be needed for a precise prior art date. The priority date of US11799131B2 is 2018-09-21.
  • Brief Description: US11799131B2 is also a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 10,833,363, indicating a shared inventive lineage. This patent would also likely relate to electrolytes and electrochemical devices with similar chemical compositions, such as dinitrile, trinitrile compounds, and propyl propionate, and their use in such devices.
  • Potential Anticipated Claim(s) under 35 U.S.C. § 102: Similar to U.S. Pat. No. 11,522,222, as a parent application, U.S. Pat. No. 10,833,363 is highly likely to anticipate many, if not all, of the claims of US11799131B2 under 35 U.S.C. § 102, depending on the specific differences in claim scope.

• China Patent Application No. 201811108529.X

  • Full Citation: China Patent Application No. 201811108529.X
  • Publication/Filing Date: Filed on 2018-09-21. This is the priority date claimed by US11799131B2.
  • Brief Description: This Chinese patent application is the earliest priority document for US11799131B2. It would contain the foundational disclosure for the electrolyte composition (dinitrile compound, trinitrile compound, and propyl propionate) and its application in electrochemical devices, as well as details on electrode compaction densities.
  • Potential Anticipated Claim(s) under 35 U.S.C. § 102: As the priority document, this Chinese patent application would contain the initial disclosure of the invention. Any claims in US11799131B2 that are directly and identically disclosed in this Chinese application and benefit from its priority date would not be anticipated by this specific reference under 35 U.S.C. § 102 (assuming proper priority claim). However, if any claims in US11799131B2 introduce new subject matter not present in the Chinese application, those new aspects could potentially be anticipated by other prior art dating before the filing date of US11799131B2 (2022-08-11), but not by the Chinese application itself.

• U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,739B

  • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,739B
  • Publication/Filing Date: The full publication/filing dates for this patent would need to be retrieved from the USPTO database.
  • Brief Description: This patent is incorporated by reference for the preparation techniques of anode and cathode materials. Specifically, it is referenced for methods of preparing anode materials (including carbonaceous, silicon-carbon, alloy, or lithium-containing metal composite oxide materials) and cathode materials (sulfide, phosphate salt, lithium-transition metal composite oxide).
  • Potential Anticipated Claim(s) under 35 U.S.C. § 102: Claims in US11799131B2 that describe the general preparation or composition of electrodes, to the extent that these aspects are explicitly and entirely disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,739B, could be anticipated. However, US11799131B2's novel contribution lies in the specific electrolyte composition and the relationship between electrode compaction densities, rather than the general methods of electrode preparation. Therefore, U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,739B would likely serve as prior art for the conventional aspects of electrode construction but would not necessarily anticipate the novel features of the electrolyte or the specific compaction density relationships claimed in US11799131B2.

Obviousness Analysis of US Patent 11799131 under 35 U.S.C. § 103

To determine the obviousness of US patent 11799131, we must consider whether the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (POSA) at the time of the invention, based on combinations of prior art references. An invention is considered obvious 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.

The present patent, US11799131, focuses on an electrolyte and an electrochemical device, particularly emphasizing an electrolyte composition comprising a dinitrile compound, a trinitrile compound, and propyl propionate, and specific electrode compaction densities. The stated purpose is to form a firm protective film on the cathode, inhibit solvent decomposition, and improve DC internal resistance and storage performance, especially at high voltages.

The patent states that its filing date is 2022-08-11, and its priority date is 2018-09-21. Therefore, prior art references with an effective filing or publication date before 2018-09-21 would be relevant for this analysis.

The prior art references explicitly listed in the US11799131 patent are:

• U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,739B

Potential Combinations and Rationale for Obviousness:

Given the information provided within the patent itself regarding prior art and the stated problems, the following combination of prior art references could render certain claims of US11799131 obvious:

Combination 1: U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,739B in view of general knowledge in the art regarding electrolyte additives.

• U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,739B as a Primary Reference: US 9,812,739B is explicitly incorporated by reference in US11799131 for anode and cathode preparation, as well as cathode active material composition. This indicates that a POSA would be familiar with the electrochemical devices and components described in US 9,812,739B. Specifically, the patent mentions using techniques from US 9,812,739B for preparing anodes and cathodes, and for the composition of lithium-transition metal compounds for cathode active materials.

• Motivation to Combine with Known Electrolyte Additives (Dinitriles, Trinitriles, Propyl Propionate): US11799131 acknowledges that dinitrile compounds are known to form protective films on cathodes to inhibit solvent decomposition. The "Background" section of US11799131 discusses the problem of electrolyte decomposition and battery material deterioration at high voltages (above 4.4V) and the need for improved electrochemical devices. While dinitrile compounds were known for protective film formation, their protective effect was considered not sustainable for long periods at high potentials.

  A POSA, facing the problem of limited protective film stability of known dinitrile compounds at high potentials (a problem recognized in the background of US11799131), would have been motivated to explore various combinations of known electrolyte additives to enhance film stability and overall battery performance. Propyl propionate is listed in US11799131 as a common chain carboxylate ester solvent, suggesting its general availability and use in electrolytes. Trinitrile compounds, as a class of compounds with multiple cyano groups, are structurally related to dinitriles and a POSA would recognize their potential for similar or enhanced film-forming properties due to the increased number of polar cyano groups.

  Therefore, a POSA, starting with the electrochemical device described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,739B and seeking to improve high-voltage performance and electrolyte stability, would have found it obvious to experiment with combinations of film-forming additives like dinitrile and trinitrile compounds, along with common electrolyte components like propyl propionate, to find a synergistic effect that leads to a more stable protective film. The specific ratios (X, Y, Z, X+Y, X/Y, Y/Z) and ranges claimed in US11799131 (e.g., about 2 wt % ≤ (X+Y) ≤ about 11 wt %, about 0.1 ≤ (X/Y) ≤ about 8, about 0.01 ≤ (Y/Z) ≤ about 0.3) could be considered within the realm of routine experimentation for a POSA optimizing additive concentrations for improved performance, once the general idea of combining these types of additives was conceived.

  The patent itself states: "The present inventors unexpectedly found that by using a mixture of a dinitrile compound, a trinitrile compound and propyl propionate, a firm protective film which is not easily decomposed on the surface of the cathode at a high potential can be formed." While the outcome may have been "unexpected," the initial motivation to combine these known types of compounds to address a known problem (unstable protective films at high voltage) could be considered obvious to a POSA.

This analysis is based solely on the information provided in US patent 11799131 and the nature of prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 103. A more comprehensive obviousness analysis would typically involve a detailed search and review of all relevant prior art published before the priority date.