Appeal No. 2002-1698
Application No. 09/401,691
page 5). The examiner’s aforenoted viewpoint and concomitant
argument are misplaced.
The claim 12 recitation of active sites “that can be joined
by electrochemical polymerization” and “that can be joined
chemically in solution” defines, not a method of production as
the examiner believes (i.e., according to the examiner, “[t]he
claim clearly includes the process limitation ‘that can be
joined’”; answer, page 5) but rather, a characteristic of these
sites, namely, their capability of being joined by specified
chemical mechanisms. At a minimum, the active sites of Leising
must likewise possess this capability and his polymer must
comprise at least two precursor polymers linked by first and
second active sites having the requisite capability associated
therewith. As the examiner seems to appreciate, the Leising
reference contains no disclosure of active sites that possess the
characteristics or capabilities under consideration.
It is well settled that a chemical compound and its
properties are inseparable. In re Papesch, 315 F.2d 381, 391,
137 USPQ 43, 51 (CCPA 1963). In claim 12, the properties of the
monomers and polymers made therefrom are defined, in part, by the
capability of the monomer active sites to be joined by
electrochemical polymerization and to be joined chemically in
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