Appeal No. 96-2885
Application No. 08/146,862
composition that is difficult to separate by conventional
distillation.
While appellants maintain that Lee does not specifically
disclose a two-component mixture of HF and CC1 FCF , we find
2 3
that the reference teaching of CF CCl F as a fluorocarbon of3 2
particular interest, as well as other two-component azeotropic
mixtures of HF and a fluorocarbon, would have suggested the
claimed azeotropic mixture to one of ordinary skill in the
art. Moreover, we are satisfied that it would have taken no
more than routine experimentation for one of ordinary skill in
the art to determine that a mixture of HF and the disclosed
CF CCl F is an azeotrope at particular concentrations.
3 2
We now turn to the rejection of claims 4 and 8-10 under
§ 102/§ 103 over Lantz. Since appellants do not dispute that
Lantz discloses mixtures of the claimed components at the
claimed concentrations, we agree with the examiner that Lantz
discloses azeotropic compositions of the claimed components,
notwith-standing the fact that Lantz does not describe the
compositions as such. We say this because an admixture of two
compounds at the proper concentrations either exhibit the
properties of an azeotropic mixture or do not. Hence, since
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