Appeal No. 95-3484
Application 08/098,236
identical or substantial identical and that, consequently,
appellants had the burden of providing competent objective
evidence to the contrary (decision, pages 3-4). The board
found the evidence relied upon by appellants to be deficient
and affirmed the rejection (decision, pages 4-7). Appellants
subsequently narrowed the recited range of the ethylene
content of the copolymer to 40-60 mol%, which is outside the
range disclosed by Biswell. The examiner now rejects the
claims over Stearns in view of Biswell, and the issue of the
propriety of the examiner’s rejection over this combination of
references is before us in the present appeal.
We have carefully considered all of the arguments
advanced by appellants and the examiner and agree with
appellants that the examiner’s rejection is not well founded.
Accordingly, we do not sustain this rejection.
Stearns discloses an ethylene-propylene copolymer having
an ethylene content of 29-71 mol%, preferably about 40-60
mol%, and a number average molecular weight of 300-4000 (col.
1, line 68 - col. 2, line 1; col. 3, lines 50-52; col. 5,
lines 13-16; col. 6, lines 55-57; col. 10, lines 6-10), which
is useful as a lubricating oil (col. 1, lines 59-61).
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