Appeal No. 2001-0175
Application No. 08/857,585
composition of the mixture always undergoing change" (page 7 of
principal brief, last paragraph).
We are not persuaded by appellants' argument inasmuch as we
agree with the examiner that Eberly is not confined to the field
of oil reforming. As pointed out by the examiner, Eberly
provides the general teaching that "[i]t has been found that for
general catalytic or adsorptive uses, the aluminosilicate
zeolites having higher silica to alumina ratios will be preferred
due to their higher stability" (column 2, lines 39-42, emphasis
added). Furthermore, appellants' argument is not particularly
germane to the claimed subject matter on appeal inasmuch as
appellants' claims broadly define an adsorbent structure having
no specific utility, but are not directed to a process for
adsorbing gas from an exhaust.
It is also pointed out by appellants that "the retention of
a high BET, that is, a specific surface area at a high
temperature is also influenced by the alkali metal content of the
zeolite" (page 10 of principal brief, last paragraph). However,
as explained by the examiner, the claimed alkali metal content of
0.1% by weight or less encompasses 0%. Accordingly, the appealed
claims do not require any amount of alkali metal. This is in
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