Appeal No. 2001-0172
Application 08/932,771
aromatic monomers and mixtures thereof ” in “a process for preparing addition polymers,
especially homopolymers and copolymers of olefins, diolefins, hindered aliphatic vinyl
monomers, vinylidene aromatic monomers and mixtures of the foregoing and to the resulting
polymer products” (page 2, lines 7-9 and 40-42; emphasis supplied). In this respect, Stevens
‘815 states that
“[a]ddition polymerizable monomers” include for example ethylenically unsaturated
monomers, acetylenic compounds, conjugated or nonconjugated dienes, polyenes,
carbon monoxide, etc. Preferred monomers include the C2-10 α-olefins especially
ethylene, propylene, isobutylene, 1-butene, 1-hexene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, and 1-
octene. Other preferred monomers include styrene, halo- or alkyl substituted styrene,
vinyl chloride, acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate, methylmethacrylate, tetrafluoroethylene,
methacrylonitrile, vinylidene chloride, vinylbenzocyclobutane, and 1,4-hexadiene.
[Page 5, lines 46-51.]
The reference discloses that “[t]he polymerization is usually conducted according to
known techniques for Ziegler-Natta or Kaminsky-Sinn type polymerizations,” wherein “[a]
catalytically effective amount of the present catalyst and cocatalyst are any amounts that
successfully result in the formation of polymer. Such amounts may be readily determined by the
routine experimentation by the skilled artisan” (page 8, lines 46-47 and 55-58). Stevens ‘815
further discloses that “[p]referred polymers additionally demonstrate properties of homogeneous
polymers as defined in USP 3,645,992, ie. [sic] ethylene copolymers having substantially random
comonomer distribution within a given molecule and substantially the same ethylene/comonomer
ratio between molecules” (page 12, lines 42-44). The polymers and interpolymers can be
characterized by their melt index (I2) as determined by ASTM 1238 (pages 9, 12 and 20).
Stevens ‘815 exemplifies the homopolymerization of ethylene (e.g., Examples 3 and 7)
and the copolymerization and terpolymerization of ethylene with a variety of comonomers,
including α-olefins, using titanium and zirconium CG catalyst compositions, wherein the
polymers have a melt index of <0.1 and above. See, e.g., Examples 1-7, 11-57, 59, 62, 63, 67,
68, 69, 71, 76, 80, 82, 84, 87, 89, 100, 102, 104, 105 and 106. The same polymerization
procedures used in Examples 11-32, which employs titanium CG catalyst compositions, are
followed in Examples 33-42, except that zirconium CG catalyst compositions are used and result
in interpolymers having different melt indexes. The same polymerization procedures used in
Example 80, which employs a titanium CG catalyst composition, are followed in Examples 33-
- 5 -
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007