Appeal No. 1996-2112
Application 08/210,217
styrene butadiene copolymer to bituminous compositions disclosed
by Mitchell which contain predominant amount of linear styrene-
isoprene-styrene polymeric component with reasonable expectation
of improvement of visco-elastic characteristic of the resulting mixture
[Answer, pp. 4-5].
We find this position lacks merit.
From our reading of the applied prior art, we find that the examiner has erred on two
important points in his analysis. First, we do not find that Mitchell lists styrene-isoprene-
styrene block copolymers via reference to U.S. 3,978,014 as stated in the rejection.
Rather, Mitchell specifies that the A-B-A type block copolymers of the invention described
therein consist of styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymers. Mitchell, col. 3, lines 25-
33. Nor do we find that the section of the 3,978,014 relied on by the examiner teaches that
the A-B-A type block copolymers disclosed therein are styrene-isoprene-styrene block
copolymers. Thus, component (B) of the claims (see, e.g., claim 1) is not taught or
suggested by Mitchell. Since the primary reference does not disclose all the claimed
components as alleged by the examiner, the rejection is fatally defective from the outset.
This defect notwithstanding, we feel compelled (because it is an important point
with respect to Rejection III discussed below) also to point out that we disagree with the
examiner’s interpretation of Barlow. Barlow discloses that
The use of both a linear and a radial block copolymer results in
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