Appeal 1997-1635
Application 08/319,667
What claim 1 requires is (1) mixing an organic sulfonic
acid with an impure methacrylic acid, (2) mixing an amine with
impure methacrylic acid and (3) distilling the impure
methacrylic acid with the amine present (i.e., the amine, but
not the organic sulfonic acid, must be separated in the
distillation). Nothing is said in claim 1 about the organic
sulfonic acid being separated by distillation "jointly" with
the amine.
Counsel's attempt to limit the scope of claim 1 to "the
back 40 acres of the farm" fails upon penetrating analysis of
the claim, in light of the specification. Regretfully for
applicants, it is manifest that claim 1 actually covers the
"whole farm." We now turn to the details of the "farm" where,
as will become apparent below, Japan describes the "farm's"
principal crop.
2. Prima facie obviousness
Actual Example 1 (Japan, page 7) would appear to describe
an embodiment within the scope of claim 1, at least as we
interpret claim 1. Impure methacrylic acid is made by gas-
phase catalytic oxidation. Thereafter, the methacrylic acid
is passed through a column containing a strongly acidic
- 14 -
Page: Previous 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007