Appeal No. 95-5092
Application 08/032,581
Appealed claims 1-4, 7 and 8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over Aldrich in view of Schlauch. Claims 5, 6 and 9 stand rejected under 35
U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Aldrich in view of Schlauch and Senda.2
We have carefully considered the respective positions advanced by appellants and
the examiner. In so doing, we find that the prior art cited by the examiner fails to establish
a prima facie case of obviousness for the claimed subject matter. Accord-ingly, we will
not sustain the examiner's rejections.
The appealed claims require adding soluble ferrous ion to the waste water stream
in a ratio of ferrous ion to hexavalent chromium of from about 0.5 to 5.0. Aldrich, the
primary reference, although treating waste water by adding soluble sulfide ion and soluble
ferrous ion, discloses that the ferrous ions "are added in milliequivalent amounts equal to
about 10 percent of the milliequivalents amounts of hexavalent chromium present in the
waste water." (Col. 3, lines 17-19). Aldrich further discloses that "[i]f desired excess
ferrous ion can be added up to about 20 percent of the milliequivalent amounts of
hexagonal chromium." (Col. 3, lines 19-21). Accordingly, it can be seen that Aldrich's
maximum amount of 20% ferrous ion is two and half times
2The examiner has withdrawn the rejection of claims 1-9 under 35 U.S.C. § 251. See paper
no. 15.
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