Appeal No. 1997-3389
Application No. 08/449,956
formulation. To the extent that some concentration ranges
recited in the claims may differ slightly from those disclosed
in the references, we have no doubt that it would have been
obvious within the purview of 35 USC § 103 to optimize
component proportions absent any showing of unexpected
results. See In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 276, 205 USPQ 215,
219 (CCPA 1980); In re Aller, 220 F. 2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ
233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
In this regard, we also note that appellants claim that
sodium carbonate is present in their composition in an amount
which is "at least 72 weight percent of the detergent builder
ingredient". The detergent builder is claimed as constituting
"about 40-90 weight percent" of the total composition. Viewed
in this light, the claimed carbonate concentration actually
overlaps the broad range of "5-70 weight percent" disclosed by
Boucher (col. 2, l. 27) considering that the percentages given
by Boucher relate to the composition as a whole rather than to
the detergent builder component alone. Similarly, the
concentration of sodium carbonate employed in working example
I of Mazzola also is within the scope of the instant claims.
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