Appeal No. 2002-2063
Application No. 09/635,093
solvents described by the examiner are suggested by Furness and
found at column 9, lines 42-61.
Appellants particularly urge that the list of solvents must
be read in one particular context, in that high boiling aromatic
solvents must be used for the polyisocyanates, pointing to the
specific examples as support therefore. (Appeal Brief, page 8,
lines 17-23). We, however, differ in our reading of the Furness
reference.
We find that Furness recites that the polyisocyanate can be
employed in a solution of the solvents “hereinbefore described.”
(column 10, lines 35-37). The appellants would have us interpret
this solution as reflecting the solution of the examples (Appeal
Brief, page 7, lines 1, page 8, line 14). Alternatively, they
urge that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that
the polar solvents in the list are for the polyisocyanate
component, and the auxiliary solvents, being polar, must be for
the polyisocyanate component.
We decline to be so restrictive in our reading of the
reference. While solvent selection must be done to ensure proper
solvation of the components, the solvents/auxiliary solvents are
not assigned mandatory uses in Furness. Indeed, it appears to be
left to the choice of the skilled artisan as to which solvents to
select for which component. Finally, the two component binder
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