Appeal No. 1998-1357
Application No. 08/348,744
is certainly capable of storing gasoline. It is also our view
that one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized
that mica has the inherent property to at least meet a two-
hour fire wall rating, as required by claim 108 on appeal.
Mica is a rock-forming mineral having as one of its properties
noninflammability, thus making it inherently fireproof. 2
Moreover, Kettlewell infers that mica is necessarily fireproof
since the expanded mica is produced from ground mica in a
direct fire furnace at an expanding heat of 2200 degrees F
(page 1, column 1, lines 7-13). It is our view, that a person
of ordinary skill in the art would have known all the inherent
properties of mica and not just those properties which make
mica a highly efficient insulator taught in Kettlewell.
2To merely establish the level of knowledge in the art
with regard to the properties of mica, we note GMS Industrial
Pty Ltd article "What is Mica" at
http://www.generalmica.com.au/info.html which states, under
the subheading Useful properties of Mica, "[Mica] is fireproof
and noninflammable, unaffected by temperatures up to 1200 to
1600 degrees F." Also, U.S. Patent 4,015,393 "Panel with Core
and Method of Constructing" discloses mica and cement as known
materials selected by artisans for their property of
noncombustibility in the fabrication of fireproof doors which
are required to meet different fire codes and regulations.
See particularly, column 1, lines 9-17. Copies are attached
to this decision.
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