Appeal No. 1997-3354 Page 5
Application No. 08/469,809
As acknowledged by Appellant, Brumbaugh also describes chelating agents (sequestrants)
including those of the present invention (Brief, page 5; also see the specification at page 7, lines 2-8).
Included are, for instance, salts of nitrilotriacetic acids and the salt of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid
(col. 7, lines 1-8). Brumbaugh indicates that the preferred sequestrant, citric acid, can be added up to
a level of 10 percent (col. 7, lines 7-8).
Brumbaugh does not describe the workable levels for the other sequestrants. However, the
workable level would have been obtainable through routine experimentation. We further note that the
workable level is dependent on the amount of metallic ions to be subjected to sequestration. Based on
the fact that one of ordinary skill in the art would have formulated the detergent to sequester generally
the same amount of metallic ions no matter which of the described sequestrants were chosen, the
workable levels of the other sequestrants would be expected to be similar to the level of up to 10
percent given for the preferred sequestrant. Therefore, the workable range for the chelating agents of
Brumbaugh reasonably appears to overlap the range recited in claim 13.
Brumbaugh describes a composition containing all of the components of the composition recited
in claim 13 in overlapping amounts. Brumbaugh also discloses the addition of two surfactants.
However, as correctly pointed out by the Examiner, the use of the transition phrase “consisting
essentially of” in the claim does not necessarily work to exclude the addition of these surfactants.
“[T]he phrase ‘consisting essentially of’ limits the scope of a claim to the specified ingredients and those
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