Appeal No. 1999-1810
Application 08/288,433
claim 1 include brine (specification, page 4, lines 5-8;
examples 1-4). Bissot indicates that very pure brine free
from soluble iodine-containing salts is available (col. 2,
lines 9-10) and, in example 1, discloses use of purified,
saturated brine containing no detectable iodide (col. 9, lines
16-17 and 24-25). The teaching by Bissot that seawater
contains 0.05 ppm iodine (col. 1, lines 17-18) indicates such
a concentration of iodine is detectable and that, therefore,
nondetectable levels of iodine are below 0.05 ppm.
The appellant argues that Bissot’s disclosure of iodide-
free brine is merely speculative because Bissot does not
disclose how to make such a solution (brief, page 4). Bissot,
however, does not speculate that iodide-free brine may be
produced but, rather, indicates that it is available and uses
it in an example. There is no indication in the reference
that one of ordinary skill in the art could not make the
iodide-free brine used by Bissot, and the appellant has
provided no evidence to that effect. Accordingly, we are not
persuaded by the appellant’s argument.
The appellant argues that claim 16 is patentable over
Bissot because Bissot fails to teach or suggest the
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