Appeal No. 2002-0865
Application No. 08/940,996
Appealed claims 2-6 and 11-18 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over Bush in view of Fan.
We have thoroughly reviewed the respective positions
advanced by appellants and the examiner. In so doing, it is our
opinion that the examiner has failed to establish a prima facie
case of obviousness for the claimed subject matter. Accordingly,
we will not sustain the examiner's rejection.
The examiner's rejection begins on shaky ground when she
states that Bush provides motivation to combine the two cited
references by explaining that "under elevated temperatures and
high shear fields monomer emulsion can break down quite readily
resulting in phase separation . . . [which] would inevitably
lead to formation of gels. (see col. 1, lines 56, 68, col. 2,
lines 1-3)" (page 5 of Answer, second paragraph).1 As properly
noted by appellants, the paragraph bridging columns 1 and 2 of
Bush fails to mention any breakdown of emulsion under elevated
temperatures and high shear fields. Indeed, the paragraph
bridging columns 1 and 2 of Bush reads as follows:
Another problem in the commercial production of
hompolymers and copolymers of vinyl and vinylidene
halides is the formation of undesirable polymer buildup
1 The examiner may have mistook the Fan disclosure for that
of Bush.
-3-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007