Appeal No. 2001-2457
Application No. 09/168,979
due to their extremely close boiling points. Furthermore, the
cuts are not done by the examiner’s definition as Kanne teaches
that even by selecting the optimum plate for discharge, there
will be some concentration of higher-boiling C6 -components in
the C5 cut which can affect the desired cyclopentane purity
(page 5, ll. 6-9; see the Reply Brief, pages 1-2).
Accordingly, we determine that the examiner has provided
insufficient evidence or reasoning that the initial
distillation step of Kanne would have suggested the initial
distillation step of the claimed subject matter within the
meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). Therefore we cannot sustain the
examiner’s rejection of claims 21-30 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
over Kanne in view of Derrien.
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