Appeal No. 1998-3205
Application No. 08/272,438
aqueous emulsion-polymerized polymeric binder having a glass transition
temperature from about -35ºC to about +25ºC.”
We are mindful that when the PTO shows sound basis for believing that the
products of the applicant and the prior art are the same, the burden of persuasion
shifts and applicant has the burden of showing that they are not. In re Spada, 911
F.2d at 708, 15 USPQ2d at 1658; In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ
430, 433 (CCPA 1977). On this record, however, the examiner has not established
a sound basis to justify shifting the burden to appellants to demonstrate that the
compositions of Bors or Smith are not the same or substantially the same as that of
appellants. It is not enough, as the examiner seems to believe, that the prior art
discloses an aqueous emulsion-polymerized polymeric binder containing an
amount, by weight, of at least one copolymerized ethylenically-unsaturated active
methylene monomer, which embraces the amount recited in appellants’ claims. On
this record, appellants alone disclose a method for improving the gloss retention on
exposure to light of a dried coating formed from a coalescent-free aqueous coating
composition containing an
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007